Royal Mail Address vs Electoral Roll Address

firsttimestudent

Hello all

I'm continuing with my university soon and will be moving to a new flat with my friends.

According to Royal Mail, my new address is in this format:

Flat xx, Somewhere Court
Some Address
City AA1 BB1

According to the Electoral Roll address, my address is in this format:

xx Somewhere Court
Some Address
City AA1 BB1

I recall having read somewhere in this forum a long time ago about banks being confused by credit reports due to variations in the way addresses were reported.

Is it wise for me to, when changing my address with my banks, to use the Electoral Roll address (to ensure consistency), or should I use the Royal Mail system, or do you think it won't matter anyway?

Many thanks!

PBA

When the bank inputs your new address they'll almost certainly just key in the flat number and postcode and then find it from the post office PAF file, so the exact details you tell them won't matter. If the only difference is the word Flat then the systems should be clever enough to spot that they're the same address. The next time you get a voters roll letter from the council amend the address so it matches the post office address, then the problem should be solved forever.

Incidentally, while you're at uni I'd suggest having your post sent to a parental address rather than your rented place. This avoids the negative impact on your credit file of moving each year, and with online banking these days there isn't any real need for a monthly statement except to file it.

username

Incidentally, while you're at uni I'd suggest having your post sent to a parental address rather than your rented place.

And just use 'redirection' so your statements and any mail gets to you.

Although, you may find this may become a problem if you are buying stuff online, some places insist that the goods are shipped to the cardholder's address with no exceptions, so they may end up going to your parents' address.

smithja

Each CRA deals with this differently.

Experian will link together the different variations of your address but state when one variation is searched all details are displayed. They may need convinced the address on the electroal roll is the same property as that on the Royal Mail database.

Equifax can only hold one variant, it could be either and it might take a few phone calls to get your electroal roll entry added to your record. As you will have to persaude them the two address are the same property.

Callcredit make the claim that their systems are inteliigent enough to link everything together despite different formats. It is nonsense, they come up with a combination of what Experian and Equifax require, they will add linked address even when it is the same property but will require persuaded again the electoral roll entry is you.

I have found Equifax to be very helpful and they use simple common sense when it comes to the question of are these the same properties, as the prblem occurs all of the time. Apparantly it is particularly prevelant here in Glasgow. But it is more difficult to get anyone at the other two to use their brain, you will get a lot of template replies about why it cannot be done unless you start up high and write to the CEO.

PROLIANT

I have 43 linked address on my Experian file, some to my previous address and quite allot to my current address..from my current address if that makes sense, almost a circular reference to the same record if you like, this is because banks etc use different post code databases for their application system and will differ slighly.

doveman

I can sympathise because my Experian report showed my address as

xx Name
Road
City, AA1 BB1

and

xx Name
yy Road
xx Some Road
City, AA1 BB1

and

xx Road
City, AA1 BB1

where xx is my flat number, Name is the block of flats I live in and yy is the road number of the block. The first variation matches the electoral roll, the second might be technically correct but doesn't come up in any database when entering my postcode and the third is at the other end of the road!

I managed to get it amended so that it shows the electoral roll address as my main entry but it's also linked to the second variation, in case anyone uses that.

I don't know if it helped but I contacted my Council's electoral roll department who gave me the reference number for my entry, which I passed on to Equifax.

I believe you can register on the electoral roll at any time now, rather than having to wait for the annual update, and generally you should do this ASAP, to ensure that your credit files show your new address. For some reason, I wasn't registered on the electoral roll at my present address until 2001, despite moving in 1999, so I'm never sure how to answer the "How long have you lived at your present address?" question, as in truth it's 9 years but according to my credit file it's 7 years.

olly300

firsttimestudent wrote: »

Is it wise for me to, when changing my address with my banks, to use the Electoral Roll address (to ensure consistency), or should I use the Royal Mail system, or do you think it won't matter anyway?

Many thanks!

]

Makes no difference unless there is a house on the road with the same number as your flat.

If there is make sure you specify on all the addresses you write down that you live in a flat. And make sure you check the address.

The house and the flat should have different postcodes there are lots of organisations whose staff can't comprehend this so I've had letters going missing and received letters for other people.

Oh and as a student you are allowed legally to be linked to two addresses on the electoral roll. So ask your parent's nicely to keep your registered at home until you are no longer a student.

You may find like I did that if you apply for things i.e. a credit card at your term time address you will be turned down but if you apply for the same thing at your parent's address you get accepted, and then can change the address.

janbanan

I just phoned Experian to ask why one of my credit cards wasn't showing on my report.

Apparently they needed to add some variations to my address on my file. The following day all accounts that were appearing before had disappeared, and a bunch of new ones (which I had forgotten about) appeared! The one I queried was still missing though!

Phoned back this morning, and they made another attempt. We'll see what will show tomorrow....

Is this common? I must say I have lost the little faith in credit reference agencies!! Seems like the omission of "flat" in the address, and/or a few phone calls is all that is required for any information they have on you to "disappear"! In my case, I want all accounts visible, and it's proving to be quite a mission!

agsnu

Yeah, I had similar problems. Not helped by the fact that one of the banks insisted on recording my address as Building, N Blah Road rather than Flat N Building, Blah Road.

janbanan

What's more annoying - my monthly subscription has just ended, and I will to pay for another month, just to correct their mistakes!!

I only became aware of the problem when I phoned to cancel. I asked for a few days extension free of charge due to the fact they made a mistake, but they refused...

agsnu

janbanan wrote: »

What's more annoying - my monthly subscription has just ended, and I will to pay for another month, just to correct their mistakes!!

Why on earth do you say that? You can get a statutory report for £2 here. If you contact them about mistakes, they will send you an updated one for free. No need to sign up for CreditExpert at all.