Simon Gray, of Credo Asset Finance, with a 'computer says no' moment.

'I've just been turned down for finance but I've got a credit score of 999. I can't understand it, I'm so frustrated.' I hear it all the time – it must be frustrating, annoying and beggars belief.

I also have a first-hand experience. I don't often talk about my personal finances but am happy to here to prove a point. I, too, have never missed a payment to anybody. I've credit cards with Visa and Mastercard – one I pay off monthly, one has a balance on it. I have a couple of cars on HP (I practise what I preach!), a mortgage and a couple of buy-to-let mortgages. All have been conducted in an exemplary manner. Imagine my surprise while shopping in a major city outlet, paying for my goods on a Visa card and using one of its rewards points card. The assistant said if I signed for its Mastercard I'd get a £50 voucher sent to me and enhanced rewards points, so why not? I answered all the questions, owner, 15 years etc, even gave my net monthly income, and that of my wife. When the assistant said 'I'm afraid your application has been declined' I couldn't help being embarrassed but took it on the chin knowing how some credit companies operate.

You can conduct your finances perfectly well but sometimes it's just the total credit – including mortgages etc – that results in 'computer-says no!' I'm not alone and in the end many people stop even asking for credit to ease the embarrassment.

There are still sensible lenders who do not use the same daft credit scoring basis. With IT doing everything for us, even deciding whether we can borrow money, how refreshing to know some lenders, like Credo in Norwich, make a manual decision based on what they see, what they have learned through experience and what their head and heart tell them. If you want to speak to a real person, someone who will listen and understand, I suggest you speak to a local broker, like Credo, where years of experience mean that sensible lending is not a thing of the past.

Credo Asset Finance is at 85 Yarmouth Road, Norwich, NR7 0HF. Phone 01603 703180, email sales@credoassetfinance.com, visit www.credoassetfinance.com, Twitter @CredoFinance, Facebook www.facebook.com/#!/CredoAssetFinance