Credit Checking.

seven-day-weekend

We live in Spain, but have some UK Bank Accounts, all of which are quite happy to register to our Spanish address. We still have a house in the UK, where our son lives.

We have just become nationwide customers, through the take-over of Portman. I thought I would take the opportunity to open a Flexaccount and get a debit card so that we can withdraw cash free from Spanish cashpoints.

NW are not willing to register it to our Spanish address (although our existing account that came from Portman is registered to ot), but say they can credit check us on our UK address and register it there..

Now my question is, we haven't lived there for nearly five years! We do still have our names on one or two of the bills and we are registereed to vote in the UK as non-resident voters. We haven't had any credit for ages, other than the occasional use of a credit card (which is registered to our Spanish address).

I don't want to have the credit check done if it is going to come back negative. What do you more experinced people think will be the outcome?

Thanks for any replies.

seven-day-weekend

Sorry to bump my own thread, but does anyone have any comments please?

Extant

Nationwide_Flex_Account_Terms_and_Conditions wrote:

Applications only accepted from mainland residents of the United Kingdom

This is pretty much the same for any UK bank. Regular services aren't designed for you, and most banks offer specific products and services for people if your situation.

Part of the design of this account is going to be credit scoring, and their system is fairly obviously based around UK residents. So you can either try using your UK address and see what happens, or lump it.

I see what you mean about your existing accounts being registered to the Spanish address, but that means nothing for new accounts. Most banks will let you open the account in the UK as long as you live there and change the address if you move. Most of the time it's less than practical, though, and usually better to source a local account.

seven-day-weekend

Thankyou Barclays Manager.

I've had no problems opening new accounts from Spain with my other banks (Co-Op and LTSB) - so I didn't see why Nationwide should find it a problem.

Maybe it's to do with the credit crunch.

Do you think we would stand a chance of passing the credit check from our English address?

masonic

If you don't pass the credit search for a Flex account, then it probably indicates that you're going to have difficulty with any credit based product in the UK. In which case, the state of your credit file is probably not all that important - certainly one recent search isn't going to be anything to worry about.

seven-day-weekend

Thanks Masonic.

In any case, we will probably be resident in the UK again in 2010 - if we are still interested we can always open a Flexaccount then.

The reason we wanted to open it now is so that we could draw small amounts out at a time with no charge. Because of the abysmal exchange rate, we don't want to transfer 2-3 months worth of my husband's Teachers' Pension all at once, as we have been doing.

Thanks to Barclays Manager and Masonic for your help.

Extant

It's a problem for them because it's in their terms and conditions. They're a UK bank that targets the UK residential market. They're not really trying to target people who live in Spain who want to save money on cash withdrawals. As such their product will be designed with UK residents only in mind.

The UK resident clause is usually in every set of T&Cs somewhere. It's not really to do with the credit crunch. Looking at Lloyds for their "Current and Plus accounts," whatever the hell they are, it's just in a different bit:

Overdrafts,_Loans_and_Credit_Cards wrote:

How much we lend, if any, and the issue of a credit card depends on our assessment of your personal circumstances. You must be 18 or over, and resident in the UK, to apply. Overdrafts are repayable on demand.

As for the credit score, I have no idea - I hear Nationwide are quite picky with their Flexaccounts.

seven-day-weekend

Thanks Barclays Manager.

.As I say we've had no problems opening new accounts with LTSB.

But hey ho, it's not that important, I understand that they are not particularly interested in saving Spanish residents money. I'll wait till we're in the UK (we'll still be in Spain half the year so will still benefit) before opening the account.