Have you had difficulty sourcing a competitive loan? The credit crunch has made it harder for  consumers to get the right sort of loan, as application procedures become tougher and there are more hurdles to jump because lenders can pick and choose who they lend to.

One of the problems that borrowers can encounter is automated credit scoring. This is where you loan application is plugged into a computer and features of your credit history are run through a points system, which comes out with a total score on which the success of your application depends.

Of course if you have a poor credit record, with county court judgments and missed credit card payments, nothing is going to hide that. However, you can fail an automated credit score with something as harmless as not being on the electoral roll. There may be nothing suspicious about this - although lenders prefer borrowers to be settled at an address, preferably at a house they own.

You may, however, not be on the electoral roll simply because you have just moved house and not got round to registering at your new address. 

You could also fail an automated credit scoring test if you have a limited credit history. Perhaps you have lived abroad, been a student, or been such a careful spender that you have never applied for a credit card or loan before. If you have a  limited credit history for these innocent reasons you could also be scored low by rigid automated systems, meaning you miss out on good deals.

The key to getting round these problems is to ask for a manual credit score. If you are turned down for a loan, and you don't think it is for a good reason, go back to the lender and ask them to score you manually. If you have been turned down online, don't apply online again. You need to speak to someone to see if they can reassess you manually.

If the worst comes to the worst, go to your own bank, where they know your credit history. Even students usually have bank records, and you will probably have a better chance of obtaining credit with an institution that already knows you.

The current economic climate means even consumers with good finances can score low on tighter lending criteria. So, with banks being stricter than ever when it comes to approving applications, you need all the help you can get. 

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