Electoral Register (Bad Credit Rating)

tryingtofindmyfeet

How the hell do I sort the problem out regarding the electoral registar section of my credit report? Rather than it being 'Satisfactory' it is showing as 'Warning'

I'm really trying to increase my rating but don't know how to solve this one!

Helllllllp!

techno_geek

Do you mean that you want to register on the electoral roll? If that's the case then just telephone your council and ask them to send you the form.

tryingtofindmyfeet

I am certain I am registered however my credit report states the following:

You are presently shown as registered on the electoral roll but your registration at your current address is for two years or less

I can't actually do anything about this can I? I only moved into my current address 6 months ago...

jonnyb

you can't do anything about it.
the "warning" is very misleading - from annual credit report I'm guessing.

it just means that most lenders like to see 3 years or more at your current address, but if that is not the case then they will usually check previous addresses, so there should be no problem.

James

The following system may not solve your problem right now. As more of the financial institutions become aware of this system, it should enhance this part of your report to Satisfactory.

The ID Theft Protection system follows your Credit File and NOT your address.

Details here:

It's ideal if you are about to, or move addresses on quite a regualr basis.

jonnyb

James, your post is utterley irrelevant to the original poster's question.

ID verification, and credit history check are 2 completely separate items, as I had to explain to one of my customers this morning. ID verification can be achieved without any reference to the electoral roll.

Lenders may still want to verify 3 years history, if that is their policy, irrespective of whether they can confirm the identity of the person.

pauli

Hi, I had exactly the same problem after I moved house last July. According to the Equifax website they only update the electoral register information once a year from local authorities (in December) I found this out in November so I didn't do anything about it, but you could maybe try writing in with proof that you are on the electoral register and asking for it to be added to your account? I don't know if that will work but it might be better than waiting. Good luck!

James

jonnyb wrote:

James, your post is utterley irrelevant to the original poster's question.

ID verification, and credit history check are 2 completely separate items, as I had to explain to one of my customers this morning. ID verification can be achieved without any reference to the electoral roll.

Lenders may still want to verify 3 years history, if that is their policy, irrespective of whether they can confirm the identity of the person.

I can't agree The Credit Reference Agencies via Credit Files have two purposes.

1. Identification Verification, primarily based on the Electoral Register.

2. Providing Credit Histories to prospective lenders.

The essence of what I suggest, is that it shouldn't take too long for the CRA's and lenders to realise that the system I suggests follows a persons Credit File and not their address.

Where ID crooks benefit at times is by hijacking someones file and moving their address - the system I suggested deters this.

jonnyb

James, I work for Experian. I know that a credit check and an ID check leave 2 separate footprints on a person's credit file - they are totally separate items. A lender can evaluate an individual from a credit risk point of view without taking any steps to confirm their ID, and they can also verify their ID without actually seeing data on their credit file and performing a credit check.

The ID verification process is NOT based primarily on the electoral roll; there is a lot more data used - see the extensive list below. I have seen plenty of examples where the individual is not listed on the voters roll but scores a high ID verification because of other relevant information recorded against them.

I have no argument with your system for preventing ID hijack, but it did not address the OP's question, which was not about ID hijack.

Information and Data Sources

e-identitycheck uses data from Experian's Consumer Information Databases which contain over 440 million records from a variety of independent sources.

Voters Roll
The Voters Roll holds the details of everyone who is registered to vote at almost every address in the UK, the Isle of Man and Jersey. This information is fully updated every year and amended on a regular basis to produce a record of everybody over the age of 18, or who will soon be 18.


Postal Address File
Gives the address of every property in the UK, including postcodes, as supplied by the Post Office and regularly updated.


Public Information File
The Public Information File is compiled by Experian using information from Registry Trust Limited, official gazettes and the insolvency service. It includes details of all County Court Judgments, Scottish decrees, bankruptcies, administration orders, voluntary arrangements, and certificates of satisfaction.


Home telephone database
Holds in excess of 16.5 million UK telephone numbers.


Post Office Re-direction File
Data from the Post Office National Change of Address (NCOA) File is used for fraud identification purposes to identify where a fraudster has set up a postal re-direction away from the supplied current address.


Accommodation Address File
Contains data (138,000 addresses) taken from the Experian Business Information - Limited Company and Thomson databases.
Used to identify fraudsters (making credit applications or buying goods using stolen credit card details) using addresses that are not their current residential address but from where they can collect any mail sent to them.


Sanctions data
Data relating to high risk individuals in the context of money laundering activities. Includes data from the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the list of non-co-operative countries and territories (NCCT), Bank of England and the list of Politically Exposed Persons (PEP)


Additional deceased data
Data associated with the process of probate and from Undertakers is used to contribute to the verification process.


CAIS (Credit Account Information Sharing)
CAIS is by far the largest source of consumer credit histories in the UK. It holds information on over 270 million credit accounts. E-identitycheck uses only the non-financial data associated with CAIS records for customer verification purposes.


CIFAS (The UK's Fraud Prevention Service)
CIFAS was established in 1988 to share information between members on known and suspected fraud cases. CIFAS data is only available to CIFAS members.


CAPS (Credit Application Previous Search)
CAPS is the UK's largest file of information relating to credit applications made by individuals.

2Ronnies

As someone who has to move around a lot, the old 'electoral roll' problem is one that I have encountered before. After much righteous indignation for having been refused credit despite being a model citizen etc etc I contacted Experian and they told me that the problem was that my address was different to that quoted on the electoral roll. If you do move a lot this can be the case more often than not - and even if the addresses do match then you probably haven't been resident for long enough.

As I was in a job that involved moving and therefore was being stitched by the system, I asked Experian what I could do. They were surprisingly helpful and suggested that I could put a note of explanation onto my profile to explain why I moved around so much. I was allowed to draft a short statement which is (as far as I'm aware) still on my profile. I'm not sure if it works all the time because I don't often apply for credit, but I haven't been refused since.

It might be worth a try if you are a forced vagrant like myself :A