So you have never taken out a loan? You don't have a credit card and you don't have a mortgage? You always pay cash? You're a student, a recent widow, a divorcee or from an ethnic minority group who have a tendency not to have any lines of credit? If you are any of the above then your credit score will not necessarily reflect your ability to pay as you have little or no credit history whatsoever. This will make it difficult to obtain any form of loan and in these circumstances you may have to take out a bad credit loan.

How prevalent is this?

Fair Isaac estimate that 50 million consumers do not have enough credit information on file to generate a credit score. This means that they are being turned away by lenders for things such as a personal loan.

Why does this happen?

Lenders will conduct a credit check. As there is little or no historic data available to measure the risk in loaning the individual money they will not meet their credit score criteria. More and more often, such consumers have to take out a bad credit loan to finance any large ticket purchases like cars as their credit score limits their financing options.

Is this fair?

It seems ludicrous that this is the case, but you have to look at it from the perspective of the lender. If someone walks into your bank or applies online to a lender for a loan, and their credit score is so low or does not exist, the automatic decision you would make is to reject the client. They appear to be too much of a risk.

Establish your credit history

The only way to remedy this is to start establishing a credit history. There are many specialist lenders who offer bad credit loans and bad credit car loans. They accept clients with little or no credit history far more readily. The bad credit loan will have higher interest rates than a standard consumer loan, but if clients make sure they pay on time and in full this will improve their credit score dramatically. They should just make sure that the lender does file credit reports, as not all of them do! In time, a credit score will be established and they can move on to apply for loans with much more favourable interest rates.

Peter Siu is a successful freelance writer providing valuable advice for consumers when applying online for credit cards, student credit cards as well as other personal & mortgage loans. You can visit his sites at http://www.uscreditcenter.net and http://www.ukcreditcentre.com - His numerous articles offer moneysaving tips on a number of topics.