Establishing credit

Been there, done that. It's a pain.

As others have said, you simply can't be on the electoral register until you're a UK citizen. Don't waste your time with them. You can and should do a "notice of correction" with the credit agencies like experian.

My top tip is to ask your own bank (in branch, in person if needed) for a basic credit card. Use it religiously, don't go over limit and don't miss a payment. Pay in full each month is best really. In 6 months, you'll have no trouble with a mobile phone account. After a year or two a car. Then a house soon after.

It's a pain, but there's no shortcut. You're a new person here in their eyes.

Good luck!!

Just chiming in to say too that I started with a bank credit card as well - low limit, etc  -  once I was OK with that, I was able to get a mobile contract and eventually a personal loan. 

Ug, I had perfect credit in the USA.

I have had no luck with the electoral roll.

No luck with catalog credit cards.

No luck with my bank.

No luck with Orange.

I've been here for almost two years.

Oh well. At least I'm not in debt!

I've not tried one of those pay as you go cards.

LaraM, I had great US credit as well, but it just doesn't transfer over! I now have great UK credit (we recently went through mortgage applications and etc and DH and I were able to get approved with no trouble), but I've been here since 2008, so I've had longer to work at it.

I think a lot may depend on the bank you are with? For what it's worth, my HSBC account came with a credit card (with a very low limit) that has since been increased quite a bit. I got both at the same time when I went into the bank. I brought my husband with me, as he had business accounts at that branch and we got in to see a bank manager quite quickly, but we've never had a joint account.

 The most significant jump for the credit card was when I got a job and suddenly had more cash! I've never had a phone contract here, just pay as you go, because I don't need one to get the phones I want, and it works out much cheaper. And we've always bought our cars used (with cash), so we've not needed loans there either. I've never bothered about the electoral roll, although I'm happy to be on it now as it means I got my UK citizenship!

Just like in the US, it's more of a steady and slow process without any one "thing" that magically makes your credit "worthy". Definitely go in person to your bank and see if they can work with you (they sometimes have more leeway than an online form would allow)... Maybe check out Tesco/John Lewis etc as well for their credit offerings. 

HSBC would only give me a joint account. My hubby banks with them, and has his personal and business account with them. We went in, but no love.

I think things were different years ago, with the bank account situation for expats. I have only been here 2 years.

I was able to get a Lloyds TSB account with nothing but my passport - not even a job or any money, after being here about 6 months. They gave me a debit card.

But, they refused me for a credit card.

Even tho all of the household bills are in my name. And they are all paid on time, in full.

Orange will still not allow me to switch my phone into my name. Two years later.

So, I don't know... Whatever.

Again, I guess it is good to not be in debt.

Part of it may also have been that I bank at a branch in the middle of Manchester City Centre, that specifically targets local businesses, the immigrant community, and students (including international ones). They directly market to those groups, so I imagine that they've got some sort of comfort level with a more transient population.

DP has also been in the country about 9 months, and recently got 2 credit cards and a phone contract. The first thing we did when we moved over, was to add him to my bank account (Natwest).  The account has an overdraft, so I think maybe that is reported to the credit agencies?  In any case, around October/November he tried to contact the three credit reporting agencies, and after about 3 months finally managed to get notices of correction added about the electoral roll issue.  It took a lot of back and forth with him having to order the reports, and having to provide proof of address etc (difficult when you only get one bank statement every quarter!).  About a month ago, he applied for a credit card with Natwest and one with Amex (he already has a US Amex card too).  The credit limits on the cards are on the low side, but hopefully that will increase with time. 

Sorry everyone, it's taken me ages to get back to everyone.  Ok when I first got here my husband added me to his Santander account, so we've had a joint one for nearly a year. 

I've already emailed experian several times with no response in adding a note of correction.  I did this nearly two months ago, then again a month ago, then again a week ago.  I get their generic email response "we'll get back to you in 3 days unless other needs arise". 

With Orange, my husband has a business account and was going to transfer a phone to me, this is where Orange declined me. 

On another note, I have a job interview with RBS tomorrow and I'm hoping this credit situation doesn't affect my ability to get a job with them.  I am definitely missing my good credit in the US right now.

katmatutat, Break a leg on the interview!!!! xoxoxox

Sorry everyone, it's taken me ages to get back to everyone.  Ok when I first got here my husband added me to his Santander account, so we've had a joint one for nearly a year. 

I've already emailed experian several times with no response in adding a note of correction.  I did this nearly two months ago, then again a month ago, then again a week ago.  I get their generic email response "we'll get back to you in 3 days unless other needs arise". 

With Orange, my husband has a business account and was going to transfer a phone to me, this is where Orange declined me. 

On another note, I have a job interview with RBS tomorrow and I'm hoping this credit situation doesn't affect my ability to get a job with them.  I am definitely missing my good credit in the US right now.

Three mobile are notoriously lax about checking for credit. Might be worth trying them.

Shouldn't effect your RBS application. I used to hire for LTSB and they're looking for pretty serious bankruptcy type issues. Good luck!

Just throwing this out there because it wasn't so long I was having this major issue of building credit as well. I turned to Capitol One Credit Card and they have be fantastic to work with!

They treat you like a newbie card holder for a while with your first card at a £200 limit (which I paid off each mo before they accrued interest), but after 6mo, they raised it to £800 and then all the sudden Barclays (who I bank through) was offering me a credit card with a £2,000 limit.

It may take a bit of time, but maybe it would help to check out Capitol One as well and see if they can help you get the ball rolling!

Maybe I will try that.
Capital One in the USA are sort of known for being rather horrid, but if you don't carry a balance with them, I guess that does not matter, right?

Thank you for the tip!

Hi...

Went over to moneysavinexpert forums (theyre great! and the people who post on it are financial advisors, just normal folks) and searched for a thread that could help and saw this note:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=46661757&postcount=16

Hello  I am a EU citizen and have been a UK resident for nearly 13 years and have been on the electoral role for nearly 11 years. After 2 years being a citizen in the UK she can be added to the electoral role as they do actually register if you are a non citizen and what country you are from.  If in doubt, check out the direct gov website

Granted the thread is almost 3 years old, but it might be of help to some folks (in the future)

Going through there it appears the way to get credit as non-UK/EU person is to be working and to have that regular salary for a year... Which rings a bit true for myself. I came in as a UK citizen an still had a hell of a time getting a bank account when I first arrived, but to work you need a bank account. Luckily my partner had an old account he didnt use and let me deposit my pay into there. Once I was settled for about 6 months I was finally able to get a basic bank account with NatWest and almost a year to the day, I received a proper debit card and a £500 overdraft.

Could always try registering over there and explaining your situation and they might be able to provide you with lots of tips

Try the Capital One UK Secured Card. It sucks, but you pay £200 to "secure" your credit limit of £200 and it builds your credit as they report it to the credit reporting agencies. www.capitalone.co.uk [nofollow]

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!

Further to this post - I recently placed an order with them & rather than paying for it direct, I put it on my account. However, I returned everything that I ordered in the end (I've been shopping for swimsuits), and only had to pay for the initial delivery charge of something like £3 - so I briefly carried that balance, but paid it off before it rolled over for interest to be applied. Suddenly, my credit limit has increased from £200 to £400!