Credit and the electoral roll

i had a credit card within 6 months of being here.  woudl have to check statements but i think it might have been a bit before that.  bank account through Natwest, credit card through them as well.  came over on WP, not amazingly high salary.

since then, the only credit card i've been denied for is IKEA, and that was probably b/c i had just moved 1 month earlier.

I just found the form I mentioned in my previous post.  It is from the District Council and is called 'Register of Electors 2006'.  It's from the Electoral Registration Officer.

Part C of the form is titled, "If there is no-one eligible to vote" and option (d) is "Property is occupied only by foriegn nationals."

Does that mean that the council will add you to the electoral role as a non-citizen resident? 

No they won't. They just need to record why no-one at the address is registered to vote.

I ordered my credit score and report from www.equifax.co.uk [nofollow] yesterday.  I scored excellent on everything except for one area which was marked 'very poor'..........the electoral roll.  This pushes me out of the 'excellent' category to halfway into the 'good' category.

I was told that I can add a "Notice of Correction" to my report. Maximum of 200 words that all creditors will see when they review my report, and which will be sent to anywhere I've applied for credit in the last six months.  You can write something like "Although I am a permanent resident in the UK, I am an American citizen and therefore not eligible to be on the electoral roll.  I am happy to provide proof of my address by any other means (bank statements, tenancy agreements, utility bills, etc.) if requested. Thank you."

 

is there any way to order your UK credit report for free?

in the US, or specifically NJ, I can order from all three agencies, once a year for free.  must be a state law or the like.

is there any way to order your UK credit report for free?

in the US, or specifically NJ, I can order from all three agencies, once a year for free.  must be a state law or the like.

There is a similar thing in the UK (www.annualcreditreport.co.uk). I just used it this week and it's okay but for me ultimately unhelpful. It seemed that it could only grab onto a name and address to pull information so I only got information for the name I supplied. I have bank items under two versions of my maiden name (don't ask, it's an HSBC thing) and other things with my married name. The only thing showing on the report were items under my married name that I supplied. There's no indication of which agency (if any) is holding the info either.

www.annualcreditreport.com is available nationwide in the US. It was rolled out region by region when it started.

I was told that I can add a "Notice of Correction" to my report. Maximum of 200 words that all creditors will see when they review my report, and which will be sent to anywhere I've applied for credit in the last six months.  You can write something like "Although I am a permanent resident in the UK, I am an American citizen and therefore not eligible to be on the electoral roll.  I am happy to provide proof of my address by any other means (bank statements, tenancy agreements, utility bills, etc.) if requested. Thank you."

You can do this, whether the credit-provider will read it, or even take action after reading it is a different story.  They should, but then again, they shouldn't automatically decline you for not being on the electoral roll anyway!  I'll quote my post from another thread which is relevant if you get declined for credit (and applied whether a notice of correction exists on your file or not):

Most lenders have an appeals process, and if you're declined credit, write to them enclosing documents to verify your identity (certified photocopy of passport and recent utility bill) and your income/ability to make repayments (3 months bank statements or payslips).
They rarely volunteer this information (because it's more paperwork for them if you appeal) but if you supply the correct information and it checks out, your credit could be approved.  Regardless, they should write back to you with a decision.

This isn't just a "why not try this" suggestion, this is from someone who worked in underwriting at a credit card company.  If a financial institution is a member of the FSA (pretty much all of them) then they must be fair and equitable in their lending policies - refer them to the Banking Code if you feel this is not the case.