Electoral Registrar

oranabana

Help... trying to find out if we are required by law to provide the names of the occupants of the house to the electoral role, or whether we can choose not to (albeit not being able to vote)?

We keep getting harrassed from the electoral people, but the landlady is away on holiday, so not sure?!

Thanks
(may not be the right forum to ask, nothing to do with saving money, but thought maybe someone of you knowledgable people might know)

jonnyb

don't know the answer re the law, but strongly suspect you need to give your details.
you can choose to opt out for non credit purposes anyway

why would you not want to give your details ?

barnabee

You are required by law to register to vote, even if you do not intend to vote. If you do not register or you give false information, you could be fined £1,000.

If you have been sent a form it is against the law not to complete and return it.

In looney Camden however they will let you off:

Why do I need to fill in the form?
Firstly, you are required by law to give the information asked for on the form every year. In law, you could be fined up to £1000 for failing to provide this information if we took you to court. In practice, we do not take people to court but if you do not provide the information you are breaking the law.

crawley_girl

barnabee wrote:

If you have been sent a form it is against the law not to complete and return it.

In looney Camden however they will let you off:

LOL! How daft to admit to that. I'm sure that will encourage people to complete the forms and return them! LOL

:heartpuls CG :heartpuls

irishjohn

The law states that you are required to register anyone who is eligible to vote. The are not however required to vote.

The following are important points.

Anyone over 18 who tries to carry out even the simplest financial transaction - open a bank account, a mobile telephone contract, a loan agreement, a mortgage application etc, will be turned down if they do not exist on the current electoral register.

It is also important to note that although your local authority sends out a form to be completed in October, you have the responsibility for keeping them updated if you move house mid year.

If you do not want your details used for anything other than electoral purposes, prevention of money laundering, fraud and other crimes and jury services, you need to "opt out" of the edited register as this is sold to any organisation which wishes to purchase it.

oranabana

irishjohn wrote:

The law states that you are required to register anyone who is eligible to vote. The are not however required to vote.

where can I read that please?

irishjohn wrote:

Anyone over 18 who tries to carry out even the simplest financial transaction - open a bank account, a mobile telephone contract, a loan agreement, a mortgage application etc, will be turned down if they do not exist on the current electoral register.

I find this to be untrue, I have just irecently opened a new bank account and agreed to a new mobile contract and that was before being registered on the Electoral Register. So either they did'nt bother checking, or else..?!

irishjohn wrote:

If you do not want your details used for anything other than electoral purposes, prevention of money laundering, fraud and other crimes and jury services, you need to "opt out" of the edited register as this is sold to any organisation which wishes to purchase it.

Apparently this will still allow a lot of crime prevention, and credit check companies to look up your details. So I think that 'opt-out' really just means that they cannot sell your information.... but correct me if I am wrong.

Plus - Thanks to all the replies - guess I need to move to Camden!

jonnyb

there are 2 versions of the electoral roll.
the full register is available to any organisation involved in granting consumer credit, (and probably fraud and crime prevention agencies) even if you opt out.

the edited register, which does not allow the opt outs to be seen, is for organisations not directly involved in granting consumer credit.

katastrophy

Hi

I used to work as an electoral registrar and everyday I encountered people unable to get credit because they were not on the register. Also the big credit agencies often don't pay for the monthly updates to the register and when they buy the annual register I have NO idea what they do with the data but they often tell people they are not on the electoral register when I had the printed version in front of me that clearly shows they were wrong. I took a lot of angry phone calls from people demandng to know why they weren't on the register when they had filled the forms out. I'd tell them they were and they would tell me very angrily that I had better sort it out with the credit agencies then. It's disgraceful that the credit agencies don't apply the data more rigorously. Anyway I digress... My point was I agree it's the first and easiest thing you need to do if you want to help your credit score. It is against the law not to fill out and return your annual canvas form although in practice no one has ever been taken to court for this as the council simply wouldn't have the resources.

When you apply to go on the register opt-out of the edited version and make sure you keep the letter you are sent telling you you have been added. This is very important as it is proof if you need to argue with the credit agencies, and we used to charge £10 for a letter saying you were on the electoral role and I know some other councils charged £25 and this was a good few years ago!

smoove

jonnyb wrote:

there are 2 versions of the electoral roll.
the full register is available to any organisation involved in granting consumer credit, (and probably fraud and crime prevention agencies) even if you opt out.

the edited register, which does not allow the opt outs to be seen, is for organisations not directly involved in granting consumer credit.

So would it be best to get the opt out version? I only want companys that need to see my details to be able todo so, not every tom !!!!!! and harry.

smoove

anyone please?

kenshaz

Why would you not want to be on the electoral register,the right to vote is a fundamental right not easily won,we have it because we live in a democracy ,and we can remove the government if they exceed their power.
The fact that financial institutions use it as a tool seems to have superseded its real function to elect governments ,some have died for it's existence.