I have numerous maxed-out credit cards and a half-used store account and I'd like to pay them all off with a consolidation loan, to reduce the interest I'm paying and clear them all up quickly. I'm paying around £600 per month in minimum payments and about half this clears the debt. I rent at the moment and the reason for pushing to clear debt is because I'll very quickly save enough for a mortgage deposit and I dislike paying more in rent than a mortgage will cost.

Shopping around I found a £14000 unsecured loan which, taken over 5 years with no early repayment penalties, would cost £280 per month (in reality I'd probably make double that payment most months because I'd still be better off cash flow wise).

I can clearly afford this as I've never missed a payment and I've been in this situation for several years. In terms of credit score I'm also looking good, given my age and the fact I'm not a mortgage-holder I don't think it could be much better.

Why would I be denied this loan? Is there anything else I can do other than throw what little disposable income I have at my cards and wait it out? I don't want to try another provider immediately because of the impact of multiple credit applications on my score but without applying I'll never know if I could be saving myself a bundle of cash!