This is a very simple question which more and more people are asking themselves these days, as banks and other loan companies tighten their lending criteria and restrict to whom they are prepared to offer personal loans or other forms of credit.

Many individuals may think that they are credit worthy and should be able to get a personal loan quite easily, but are then surprise when the loan company either rejects them for the loan, or increase the interest rate due to their credit score.

There could be number of reasons why someone is having difficulty in getting the loan they require, other than if they have a poor credit rating from previous missed payments or loan arrears and defaults.

Simple things such as changing jobs recently, or having several different jobs over a short period of time, could reduce a person’s credit score and chances of getting a loan, as this can show a lack of continuity. Therefore if someone is thinking about changing jobs and taking out a new loan as well, they should apply for the loan before they change jobs.

Ironically, someone who has absolutely no outstanding loan debts or a credit card could also have difficulty getting a loan, as they have no track record of regular loan repayments to show they can manage their money over a period of time.

If someone has moved house on a regular basis, this shows a lack of stability, as with changing jobs regularly, or if a person is not registered on the electoral roll, it could also impact on their ability to get a loan.

Taking out cash on a credit card is always a bad sign, as is making a large number of loan or card applications over a short period of time. Both of these activities will affect credit score.

Before applying for any kind of loan, check your credit file, as this will highlight any problem areas and give you a realistic idea about what type of loan you may be able to apply for and avoid any damaging or embarrassing loan rejections.

The current economic situation in the UK has left many consumers struggling to stay on top of their finances, with many falling behind on their personal loan repayments and other debts in order to be able to pay their other regular bills and commitments.

Some of the worst hit individuals are home owners across the country who are trying to keep up with large home owner loan repayments, as well as increasing utility bills and other debts, such as personal loans and credit card repayments.

The news comes from new research carried out by the bank Santander, who say that the average level of household bills has increased by around 71 per cent over the course of the past ten years, which is almost double the rate of inflation, which works out at just 38 per cent over the same period.

At the same time as this, the average salary in the UK has increased from £16,964 back in 2001, to £21,093 in 2011, which equates to an average increase of just 24 per cent, whilst at the same time personal loan and credit card debts still remain at a record level.

There is little wonder then, that many home owners are finding it difficult to make ends meet each month and are slowly falling further behind with their bills and loan repayments.

The survey found that around 80 per cent of consumers have felt the impact of rising utility bills over the course of the past year, with almost a third saying that they have reduced their standard of living in order to keep up with their bills.

With the situation likely to get even worse in the coming months, now is the time to shop around for alternative energy suppliers, as well as consolidating debt through a cheap loan deal, in order to reduce monthly outgoings as much as possible.

Following the recent mis selling scandal over Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policies in connection with a personal loan, home owner loan or other form of credit agreement, the flood gates seem to have opened with consumers claiming on their PPI policy for a loan, whether it was mis sold or not.

Whilst many people are currently claiming against their original loan provider who sold them their PPI policy, many of these claimants do not realise how long they might have to wait before they get a refund on their contributions.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) who deal with all PPI complaints in connection with a loan or other credit agreement have been completely inundated with complaints from loan customers to the degree where consumers may have to wait for up to twelve months before they have their complaint resolved, or even looked at.

In order to combat this problem and improve the service, the FOS is currently recruiting extra staff, simply to deal with PPI complaints from loan customers.

At present, the FOS is taking on an additional 100 new staff every month, to try and tackle the backlog of PPI loan complaints alone and aim to have a total staff of around 2,500 by next year, compared with the 1,800 they started with.

The FOS is currently receiving around 1,000 complaints every day with regard to mis sold PPI alongside a personal loan or credit card, up from just 400 at the beginning of 2011.

Natalie Ceeney of the FOS said “We have seen the number of PPI complaints rise significantly over recent months to the extent where we are now receiving over 1,000 every working day. Our plans include significant expansion to our capacity so we can resolve 260,000 in the coming year.”

Since the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scandal hit the UK financial services industry a few years ago, there have been a growing number of claims made against providers, rom customers who have been mis sold a PPI policy in connection with a personal loan, home owner loan or credit card.

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), the organisation who deal with this type of complaint have been inundated with new cases from loan customers, to the degree where they have been forced to take on additional staff to deal with the extra workload.

Almost half of all the PPI loan complaint cases which were received by the FOS last year, had been submitted via a claims management company, acting on behalf of the loan customer making the complaint.

However, following investigations into many of these complaints, it was found that in many cases the complaint was actually invalid, even to the point where some customers had a different type of protection policy for their loan and not a PPI policy at all.

This has prompted the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) to investigate the actual claims management firms handling these loan PPI cases and it has uncovered several cases of poor practice and rogue techniques from some firms who are allegedly acting on behalf of the loan customer.

As a result of the investigations, the MOJ who are responsible for claims management regulation have taken action against a large number of firms, revoking the licences of a total of 734 separate claims management firms over the course of last year.

The government has said that it needs to clamp down on claims management companies who exploit loan customers with PPI policies for their own profit and it seems likely that we will see further action in the near future, even with the possibility of a change in the regulator for such companies.

Household debt is becoming one of the biggest problems for many families and individuals across the UK at the moment. Personal loans, credit card and overdraft debt as well a home owner loans and mortgages are all taking their toll on disposable income levels which are already being stretched by the rising cost of living.

Between February and December last year, the average amount spent on household loan debt fell by around £18.50 per month, excluding repayments on home owner loans, showing that many borrowers were making a special effort to repay their loans and other debts, according to a recent report from Credit Action.

However, by January this year, this pattern had been reversed, with the average level of household loan debt increasing by around £532 and outstanding loan balances only reducing by £3 in February.

The average household debt in the UK now stands at £8,002, excluding home owner loans and debt levels have risen to an average of £56,058, if home owner loans and mortgages are taken into account.

Total debt levels on personal loans, credit cards and other debts stood at £1.457 trillion by the end of February this year, which is almost as much as the GDP of the whole country. This equates to a figure of personal loans and card debts of £4,235 for every adult in the UK.

More and more people are turning to debt charities for help and 318 people are still entering insolvency every day. Thousands of pounds worth of personal loans are written of daily and a property is repossessed every 15 minutes.

Michelle Highman of Credit Action said “Prior to January we’d witnessed an encouraging long term trend of falling average household debt. Unfortunately, since then it seems to have stalled. These developments show the importance of staying on top of your money.”