Establishing credit

So I'm at the end of my rope here.  In the US I had great credit.  I come here and even Orange won't approve switching my husbands phone to my name.  I've contacted Experian (to no avail, no answer via email) to change that I can't be on the electoral role.  My US Amex doesn't / won't report to my UK credit even though they say they will.  It's been 9 months and after several attempts its still not showing up. 

Anything I can do?  I eventually want to buy a car, a house, etc.  I don't apply for citizenship for another two years and don't want to be considered financially insecure for that long of a period.

Kat

So I'm at the end of my rope here.  In the US I had great credit.  I come here and even Orange won't approve switching my husbands phone to my name.  I've contacted Experian (to no avail, no answer via email) to change that I can't be on the electoral role.  My US Amex doesn't / won't report to my UK credit even though they say they will.  It's been 9 months and after several attempts its still not showing up.  

Anything I can do?  I eventually want to buy a car, a house, etc.  I don't apply for citizenship for another two years and don't want to be considered financially insecure for that long of a period.

Kat

You could try for a "high risk" credit card, use it for everyday purchases and pay it off in full each month (avoiding the huge interest rates).

Try

ww.luma.co.uk

There is a guide here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

Hi Kat,

I'm in a similar situation as I came here on a fiancée visa and have not yet worked here.  Athough I have not yet applied for any credit, it makes sense to me that I'd be seen as risky -- I don't have any history in the UK beyond a bank account, and I do not currently have any income.

All that said, I'll be looking towards establishing credit once I have some income to match.  Here are a few threads that I've bookmarked for reference:
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=72602.0
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=75888.0

They've got some good-looking advice in them, including links to other threads and some outside sites.  I hope they're useful to you, too.

When you contacted AmEx, did you inquire about establishing an AmEx account here?  If so, what did they say?

Good luck!

[quote author=EloiseMX link=topic=79081.msg1068903#msg1068903

When you contacted AmEx, did you inquire about establishing an AmEx account here?  If so, what did they say?

Good luck!
[/quote]

I tried that and of course they told me that I didn't qualify because I'm not on the electoral role.

You could try for a "high risk" credit card, use it for everyday purchases and pay it off in full each month (avoiding the huge interest rates).

Try

ww.luma.co.uk

There is a guide here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards

Shandy I just went to their site and one of the qualifications is to be registered on the electoral role.     I feel like I'm in a nightmare!  Lol.

Kat

Have you actually started building any UK credit yet? If you haven't done anything to build any credit in the last 9 months, then it's not surprising that you're having trouble getting anywhere at the moment.

One thing you can do is contact the electoral roll directly and ask them to put a note on your account - it sounds a bit odd, since you aren't eligible for the electoral roll yet, but actually, having a note on your account will confirm that you are who you say you are, and live at the address you say you do.... so it can help you to start building credit - and it can help with the whole 'not on the electoral roll' issue as you will actually come up when they search for it.

See here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2004/jan/15/expatfinance.consumernews

Most people who are relatively new to the UK won't be able to take out a mobile phone contract until they have built some UK credit, so if you don't have a phone yet, it's a good idea to get a pay-as-you-go one first, instead of trying to get approved for a contract. Then when you've started building some credit, you can try for a contract phone.

Slightly off topic, but in terms of buying a car, you can get used cars at really reasonable prices here - anywhere from a couple of hundred pounds up to a few thousand, depending on make, model and year. So, if you don't have a decent credit history yet, you could always consider buying a used/second-hand car from a private seller and paying in full for it by cash/cheque. My parents have been buying decent used cars from private sellers for over 20 years now, and they've served them well - the cheapest they bought was about £800 and the most expensive was about £3,000.

Just got off the phone with my electoral role, they've never heard of making a note but will research it and get back to me.  I emailed experian a few weeks ago to put a Note of Correction on my account saying that I'm ineligible for voting but have heard nothing back.  I opened a bank account here in the UK within a week of my arrival, so that is on my credit report.  I don't have a bad score at all just the electoral role is causing an issue.

Kat

May be worth trying for a store card, I think that to order online from Next you have to apply for their card. As I'm sure there are loads of 18 year old girls doing it, I would assume they are used to people not having credit. I think I had a proper credit card before I applied, but I wasn't a citizen yet, and I had no problems.

As I understand it (and I am no expert, nor have I tried to do this), the note needs to go on your record with the reporting agencies, not with the eletoral roll.

MalcolmB provides an example of a note here: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=75888.msg1041748#msg1041748

He also provides an email address that he used for Experian: http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=75888.msg1050170#msg1050170

Can you get a credit card connected to your bank account? I had a HSBC credit card linked to my first bank account with them and was able to build credit that way.

Kat,  I think you are misunderstanding somewhat.  Of course, it does effect our credit rating to not be on the electoral roll, but it's just a part of it. I am not on the electoral roll, but I have a mortgage, credit card, and car loan in my name and an excellent credit rating.

You say you have an excellent credit rating, but you don't.  You will have a pitiful one.  That's the nature of starting in a new country.  You won't have a credit rating since you haven't built any credit whatsoever. To do that you'll need things to start out.  If you have steady income, your bank will usually work with you.  That's where I started out.  Once they saw I had monthly solid income, they were happy to give me an overdraft and a credit card with my bank account.  That's where I started.  Others have started with the riskier credit cards, and you can get them without being on the electoral roll.  It's just one of the parts of your credit check that determines eligibility.

As for the notice of correction, many of the others are right, you don't file it with the electoral roll.  They can't do anything for you.  You file it directly with the credit reporting agencies, of which there are three major ones (and other minor ones).  Some of them won't just take it from an email or something.  I had one that I was able to send a letter in the post to with a notice of correction, but the others I had to actually get a copy of my credit report and THEN file a notice of correction that something in the report they sent me wasn't sufficient. I don't think sending an email would cut it, and even if it did, they take their sweet time getting back to you and it will be a bit before it shows up in searches. 

The nice thing about that search is that if there's a notice of correction, a real person has to handle your search, so it takes it out of the realm of an automatic computer refusal based solely on numbers and you have a higher chance of them being reasonable, but like others have said, you're probably going to have to start with the higher risk credit things at first to build up some actual credit history, just having a bank account just won't cut it.

just read the other thread to see that some others had sorted it through an email address, so I guess it can be done. I had to take other steps though, but it's been several years.

I started on the slippery slope (!) by getting a catalogue account... I started with Freemans, but there are others, like Kays, Littlewoods, JD Williams.  Might be worth a try. 

I started on the slippery slope (!) by getting a catalogue account... I started with Freemans, but there are others, like Kays, Littlewoods, JD Williams.  Might be worth a try. 

Yeah, I was given a catalogue line of credit & I didn't even know it, lol! I ordered stuff from time to time from JD Williams, etc - but I always pay for it at the time directly. Once you've done an order or two, they seem to extend you some credit - I think mine is only £200 because I don't really ever use it (in terms of carrying a balance & paying it off) but it's definitely on my credit file. I didn't realise I had it until I was doing my in-person interview for my UK passport & they were going through all the identity questions...asking me what lines of credit would be assigned to my name here. I said 'our mortgage' (held jointly with DH) & they prompted me for 'any catalogues?' I had no idea I had one, but said the only one I could think - which was where I'd ordered from. Lol!

Yes, it does take some time to build up a new credit rating when you have moved country. I'm surprised tho' that Orange won't allow you to have a contract, perhaps you could try to apply for one of their low cost monthly sims?

Getting a low limit credit card with your current bank is one way to start, and having your name added to the utility bills and rental agreement should help.

did you see the last resort bit at the bottom?

If you've been rejected for the 'expensive' cards above, there's a last resort option. The Cashplus Creditbuilder* is a prepaid card, meaning you have to load it with cash before spending, rather than having a credit facility which costs £4.95. However, you cannot be rejected for it!

To help rebuild your credit rating, during your application click 'yes' when asked if you're interested in adding Creditbuilder. You'll then be charged a £4.95 monthly fee and as long as you pay the fee every month for a year, this info will be passed on to credit reference agency Experian. So you pay a £60 charge in £5 monthly instalments to be able to build your credit score. To get the facilty you need to provide proof of ID and address.

If you go this route you must...

NEVER EVER EVER miss a monthly payment.
It gets reported, leaving you in an even worse position

Crucially, no credit check is needed to get the card, so is open to absolutely all. After 12 payments, it should show on your credit history as a fully repaid loan agreement (as the charge is technically a loan), making you a more attractive customer to many companies, hopefully meaning you can apply for better credit card and loan deals. Though you are, of course, paying £65 for it!

If you're after the best value prepaid card, don't go for this, read our full Prepaid Cards guide. For more details on this, including pros and cons, read Cashplus Creditbuilder discussion.