The struggles in obtaining credit when you are new to the U.K.

blon

@litheplay: A different experience indeed, maybe we picked the wrong bank to begin with? We also both had job offer letters with a statement of the salary when we went to Santander - we didn't strand in the U.K. and only then started looking for a job.

I'm also curious how you got into Noddle as you have to provide 5 years of address history in the U.K. when you sign up online. This is also what their customer service confirmed to.

We considered to go the HSBC route mentioned by somebody here but for reasons I don't remember we did not take it. Mainly it was that we thought it would be unnecessary or not help much.

I should also note that we were with Barclaycard in our home country long before moving but that that did not help us at all when we asked for a U.K. Barclay credit card.

@fart: We DO NOT use credit cards for credit BUT as payment facilities. We never paid any interest on them as we always repay in full immediately. Credit cards are a financial innovation like smartphones or mobile telephony are innovations. On a basic level, you do not absolutely NEED them but they make life easier and safer, for example when you're abroad, when you do online shopping, or because you do not have to carry hundreds of pounds in your wallet.
Moreover, you cannot build up a good credit history (which you would need to get a mortgage at good rates) without using credit.

dktreesea

fart wrote: »

Yes but why would someone fret about not having those things? Except for the cashback it's not like any of it is life changing. Cash is infinitely better because you're not in debt.

If OP can comfortably afford to live without credit i don't see why it would be such a big deal that they couldn't obtain any?

I'm buying a house at the moment and can afford to buy outright, yet the missus' mother and father both have advised us to get a mortgage...it's like some people actually like owing money.

You sound like my Dad. He bought his first and second house outright. Here's the thing. If he had taken out a £3,000 mortgage in 1965 (which he would have been able to borrow comfortably) when he bought his second house, instead of a house worth just over £300k he would have now owned a house worth well over £1million.

My advice would be to take the mortgage and buy a house a bit better than you think you can afford, in a nicer area than where you could afford to buy outright. In the long run, buying better quality will pay off.

ChopperST

fart wrote: »

Only if they're interest free.

All cards have up to a 56 day interest free period.

Provided you pay in full and on time there's nothing to pay.

dktreesea

blon wrote: »

@litheplay: A different experience indeed, maybe we picked the wrong bank to begin with? We also both had job offer letters with a statement of the salary when we went to Santander - we didn't strand in the U.K. and only then started looking for a job.

I'm also curious how you got into Noddle as you have to provide 5 years of address history in the U.K. when you sign up online. This is also what their customer service confirmed to.

We considered to go the HSBC route mentioned by somebody here but for reasons I don't remember we did not take it. Mainly it was that we thought it would be unnecessary or not help much.

I should also note that we were with Barclaycard in our home country long before moving but that that did not help us at all when we asked for a U.K. Barclay credit card.

@fart: We use credit cards as a payment facilities and never paid any interest on them. Credit cards are a financial innovation like smartphones or mobile telephony are innovations. On a basic level, you do not absolutely NEED them but they make life easier and safer, for example when you're abroad, when you do online shopping, or because you do not have to carry hundreds of pounds in your wallet.

Barclays are having to tap their shareholders for a massive injection of capital. They probably aren't in the "chasing new customers" game at the moment.

All is not lost. You have probably both started work by now? Wait 3 or 4 months, then try approaching a bank you haven't considered as of yet. See what they would offer you to shift your business to them. And monthly fees for current accounts aren't the waste of money they at first seem. They cover stuff like mobile phone insurance, breakdown cover on your vehicle and travel insurance.

litheplay

blon wrote: »

I'm also curious how you got into Noddle as you have to provide 5 years of address history in the U.K. when you sign up online. This is also what their customer service confirmed to.

We considered to go the HSBC route mentioned by somebody here but for reasons I don't remember we did not take it. Mainly it was that we thought it would be unnecessary or not help much.

I should also note that we were with Barclaycard in our home country long before moving but that that did not help us at all when we asked for a U.K. Barclay credit card.

I don't remember any issues when signing up for Noddle... I believe I was asked for a credit card number and also history of addresses (probably was able to add overseas address? can't remember). Are you in Callcredit's database? Order the £2 statutory reports from Experian, Callcredit, and Equifax and see what info they have for you.

And if I were you I'd stop applying for credit cards for at least 6 months.

Also, I would switch banks right now, ask for a regular bank accounts with an overdraft facility (Barclays, HSBC), and close your Santander basic account - if it isn't on the credit reports. Go into the branch, don't apply online, and take your job contracts with you. Then once you have that bank acct for a min of 6 months go talk to them about credit cards.

Granariesgirl

blon wrote: »

Hi all,
This forum is full of stories about people struggling to re-build a good credit history after periods of financial distress or outright bankruptcy in their earlier life. Let me tell you that this is nothing compared to the difficulties people face in trying to obtain decent credit when they are new to the U.K., even after a year of residency. From what I read, you have a better shot at decent offers by banks if you have been bankrupt earlier than if you come here for the first time and are an unknown in the databases of the credit scoring agencies....
Would be especially thrilled at reading about the experience of people who've been in a similar situation, i.e., moved to the UK.

Thanks for reading this,
Bob

:rotfl:...this is the closest I could get to a "rolling around laughing bitterly" Smiley!

Boy, does your experience ring a bell with me, tho' luckily we at least had a property in our names & a basic offshore bank account thanks to an inheritance, opened to pay bills on said property.
Opening the Offshore account was annoying & slow but we got there in the end & we weren't doing it under pressure.
Coming "home" was a shock: couldn't get a basic mobile contract (while waiting for landline to be connected) as no "credit" history in the UK, no credit card for same reason...
The UK banks' transfer facilities are shockingly low security - just sort code & account no. - don't even ask for SWIFT or BIC & account name too to prevent errors.:eek:
The utilities, especially telephone, were monumentally slow & their timekeeping for appointments was phenomenally bad when everything was being set up.
And the Council Tax people...:mad: THREE TIMES we did the DD, received the confirmation & they "lost" it each time & threatened to take us to court for non-payment! We had words & they apologised. :cool:

HMRC are a laugh (another bitter one) - the Income Tax declaration is Byzantine in its complexity & there is nobody to help you AT ALL, ANYWHERE. The tax system in this country is tailor made for aiding rich people with an accountant while royally shafting ordinary folk who can't afford one. Quite frankly I can't see the advantage in being a Non-Dom as you pay shedloads of tax more than a normal person if on a normal salary like us - but hey, we can't afford an accountant...
But nigh on 2 years later, we've settled in & are now considered to be an OK credit risk, which makes life easier.
Tho' we still haven't got the hang of this HMRC lark - that bugs me as I was dead good at all that tax stuff in France!

blon

litheplay wrote: »

I don't remember any issues when signing up for Noddle... I believe I was asked for a credit card number and also history of addresses (probably was able to add overseas address? can't remember). Are you in Callcredit's database? Order the £2 statutory reports from Experian, Callcredit, and Equifax and see what info they have for you.

And if I were you I'd stop applying for credit cards for at least 6 months.

Also, I would switch banks right now, ask for a regular bank accounts with an overdraft facility (Barclays, HSBC), and close your Santander basic account - if it isn't on the credit reports. Go into the branch, don't apply online, and take your job contracts with you. Then once you have that bank acct for a min of 6 months go talk to them about credit cards.

As things stand right now you cannot open a Noddle account if you do not have a full 5 years of address history in the U.K., you can't enter foreign previous addresses (it already fails when entering post codes).

Will consider switching from Santander to Barclays. Did not think it would make such a big difference?! Otherwise I would have just asked Santander for the 1-2-3 in a month as they told me I would be eligible after one full year.

@dktreesea: We arrived on a Thursday and started work on Monday, so we have almost worked for 12 months now. We are on a 6-digit household income, so I do not think that our jobs or salaries are the issue.

@Granariesgirl: Thanks for this delicious post. I also think companies around here are very inefficient customer-service-wise. Most of the time you can only talk to them over the phone and then it's like talking to robots (the same as when you email them - standardised reply texts). Service is also extremely slow. Best example: HMRC who talke 6-8 weeks to issue you with a UTR (tax number) for you self assessment. When a company says they send you over some documents it easily takes 7-14 working days.

tripled

blon wrote: »

Hi all,
On the bank account side, it's no better. We needed an account when we arrived in order for our rent and salaries, so went to Santander where the only account type we were eligible for was the basic account. The account has nothing, no debit card, no credit card, forcing us to pay with our foreign-currency cards much of the time.

Plenty of banks offer "basic" accounts with a debit card. Halifax and Co-Op are two examples I can think of. There's nothing stopping you having more than one current account either, so you can open one of them and you no longer have the issue of a 10k limit plus you have a debit card

I would suggest you stop applying for new credit and let your file rest for a few months, it sounds like you have quite a lot of searches on there recently which won't do you any favours.

dktreesea

The thing is with having Aqua cards, not to mention a basic bank account, these are the sorts of things that can flag concerns for the mainstream banks. They show up on your experian or equifax files usually. Now, while you may never have been in arrears or had any problem with them, they make you look like subprime customers, because you are using facilities that are usually used by those who have poor credit history.

If you don't have any joy with Barclays, maybe go into HSBC and find out about opening an Advance account with them. It will do wonders for your credit rating, having a non-basic, or even a non-free current account.

andyuk01

dktreesea wrote: »

The thing is with having Aqua cards, not to mention a basic bank account, these are the sorts of things that can flag concerns for the mainstream banks. They show up on your experian or equifax files usually. Now, while you may never have been in arrears or had any problem with them, they make you look like subprime customers, because you are using facilities that are usually used by those who have poor credit history.

If you don't have any joy with Barclays, maybe go into HSBC and find out about opening an Advance account with them. It will do wonders for your credit rating, having a non-basic, or even a non-free current account.

Only you can see what type of card you have, when someone else searches your credit file they will just see Credit Card / Unsecured Loan / Communications etc etc

The limit, utilisation, payment history, time open can all make a difference but the type of card doesn't