Last weekend I had a most embarassing moment and I just wondered if anyone else has had the same problem.
I finally decided to buy a piano after 15 months (on and off) of looking and trying.
I travelled early last Saturday morning down to a famous piano shop (V. Pianos) based in Throckmorton and after spending most of the day there trying various pianos and being looked after by Linda the proprieter,
I decided on my piano, it was a Kemble Mozart in black.
After choosing my stool and agreeing the price, Linda advised me I could borrow up to £2000 interest free for 9 months on the Arts Council, Take It Away Scheme.
So basically to fully fund the piano, I chose to put a sum of money in myself and borrow the full £2000 on the scheme.
We then sat down and filled in the relevant form, Linda then had to ring the company (who in turn contacted a company called EQUIFAX) to get my loan approved.
To my astonishment and embarassment, Linda told me I had been declined and the only reason given was a ref. no. to quote to Equifax.
I would just like to point out at this stage, that I have never defaulted on any loan I have had (not that I've had that many) or made any late payments, so I fully expected the loan to be approved.
I've written to Equifax to obtain a valid reason why they have advised a decline, however, as of this moment, I've had nothing back.
I just wondered if any other musicians out there had used this scheme and had they been successful or have you had the same issue.

I used it when I bought my clarinet in the summer.
I had no problem.

I got my mum to buy my new violin on the scheme. I just have to apy her £150 once a month now until the loan is paid off.

Couldn't do it myself as I am 17.

Great as I could never afford to pay £1500 up front.

My mum was not declined. She got the loan.

I suspect more people will find themselves in this position as the credit crunch hits - it will get harder to get loans. Unfair as it may seem, people who have had few loans and never overdraw etc can end up with poor credit ratings as they are 'untried' as lenders. I remember a friend being refused a loan and she was shocked as she had always managed her money extremely carefully, never had an overdraft etc - you get the picture? All of which is no comfort when faced with person in piano shop turning you down.. Argh, sympathies. Hope you manage to get your piano in the end. Perhaps your bank would be more likely to lend you the money?

But they would want you to pay interest on the loan.....

Sue....... Thanks for the advice, a friend has already said exactly the same and thinking about it, would probably be the best way to go, at least the bank know my history, albeit there will be a certain amount of interest.

Have you recently moved house? Are you on the electoral roll at your current address?

These two things will really really affect your credit file - because you don't have a 'background' visible on your credit file, the lender is likely to turn you down...

If anything is found to be in error on your file, you can get it corrected. If it turns out there is a genuine 'black mark' on there, you can add a comment/explanation.

Credit files go with a person, not an address (it used to go with an address, so the previous owner of the house you lived in might affect your ability to get credit). Anyone else living at your address currently shouldn't affect you either. However, your file will be affected by anyone with whom you are 'financially linked', e.g. joint bank account, mortgage. So I have a mortgage which is in my name and my husband's name. If he went off and did some naughty things with credit which was only in his own name, it would affect me trying to get things in my name only...

There are all sorts of reasons why you may have been declined. Maizie's mentioned a couple of them, and you've commented on a couple more yourself. I don't know your credit history, but some lenders are very cautious if someone has little or no credit history - if you've never had a bank loan, store card, credit card or any other kind of credit agreement, lenders have no basis on which to reach any conclusions as to how safe a risk you are, so may be over-cautious.

If you wish to obtain a copy of your credit file you will need to write to Equifax at PO Box 1140, Bradford BD1 5US, enclosing a cheque for £2.00. They will then send you a copy of your credit file with the information held on you that was provided to the credit provider.

Just a further thought - if you've asked any to be extra careful over any credit agreements (e.g. if you've been the victim of identify theft) this might also have triggered the rejection.

Maizie....... Thanks for the reply, I have been at this current address since 1985 and
am on the electoral roll.
My future son-in-law advised me to try a company called Experian, they offer a
30 day free trial to manage your own credit report. I’ve registered with them purely
out of curiosity.
Although there aren’t many of my loan reports on their website, what are on are
classed as satisfactory and everything appears to be OK.
You’re right about it shows who you are financially linked with, in this case it shows
my wife.
I am presuming that Equifax will have exactly the same information, however, I cannot
be certain and they seem substantially harder to contact.

This is quite possibly your reason. I've been refused credit cards several times, presumably because the credit card company I'm applying to has realised they're not going to make a bean out of me as I always pay my bill in full every month without fail.

[quote name='Deborah' date='Nov 22 2008, 02:23 PM' post='762507']

If you wish to obtain a copy of your credit file you will need to write to Equifax at PO Box 1140, Bradford BD1 5US, enclosing a cheque for £2.00. They will then send you a copy of your credit file with the information held on you that was provided to the credit provider.

Deborah....... Thanks for the reply, I wrote to Equifax last Monday asking for a valid reason why I had been declined and quoted the ref no. I was given, I must admit I haven't enclosed any money, I'm reluctant to be held to ransom by these people, when I know I haven't done anything wrong.