Error on Electoral Register and Credit Report

*shez*

I really hope someone can help me with a problem I am having with my local council and credit file. Back in November I had two friends come to live with me in my house that I currently own and have a mortgage on. I registered both friends with the local authority council tax, as I had previously had single person occupancy, so everything was above board. A local council rep came around late one evening asking to update the local authority register, and one of my friends updated this with him over the doorstep, however we can only assume that she misunderstood what he was asking and rather than just adding both of them on they crossed me off the list!


I have only just found out today that I have not been registered as living at my property, under the electoral register since December 2013. I found out whilst running a credit check today with noddle, the report only has me as living in my current address up to 17.02.2014.


I rang the local electoral office and they have confirmed that I have not been included on the list because my friend signed to say that I did not live there and that it would not be rectified as the December 2013 list had been published. I questioned why they had not taken note or questioned the postal declaration that I sent off in Nov/Dec which included myself and my two friends as living at the property. They have stated that they did not receive this!.



I’m not sure what to do next, they have now added me to the electoral role as of today, but said that this won’t be formally updated to external reports (credit reference agencies) until December 14 as they are currently going through their canvas period so don’t send monthly update reports. My main problem is that I will be applying for a new mortgage probably in Nov or Dec as my house is currently on the market. This will affect my credit rating as technically I have no record of where I have been living during 2014. Does anyone know how I can sort this out, as the council are just saying that their system can’t be changed?


I can't believe that one single error can affect my perfect credit report and that as the coucil state can not be amended.

Many thanks

Experian_company_representative

Hi Shez
I can see why this would be a frustrating situation for you, particularly if you are going to be applying for a mortgage.

Local councils publish new electoral registers each December, using information they collect from households in the autumn. Due to the amount of data held in the registers it can take a number of weeks after it has been published for credit reference agencies to update all of their records.

There are a few actions you can take in the meantime. If you apply for credit could also supply the company concerned a copy of the letter of confirmation from your local council so they can take this into consideration.

In addition you would also be able to add a “notice of correction” to your credit report (once you have obtained a copy) to explain your situation to potential lenders.

Hope this helps!
Regards
Neil

*shez*

Thanks Neil for your very helpful advice.