Experian. etc credit file when abroad

Mibla

Hello,

Can someone please tell what happens with your credit data if you go abroad to the EU and give some but not all lender accounts your address abroad (which is a long term move)?

Will the lenders you gave the overseas address to continue to report to the UK CRA?
or will they report to the overseas CRA?
or will reporting be suspended until you give a UK address again?

Once you get back, will the performance while absent be retrospectively updated onto the UK credit file?

If some accounts remain registered to your UK address then you would still keep a credit file going while away but will the existing lenders to whom you have given the overseas address be able to check your UK credit file, e.g. if you need a bigger overdraft while away, etc?

What does Experian, etc mark on your file for UK accounts when you are now using an address overseas as your main address for that account?

I hope it's not too confusing, It's common to have a second home abroad but I heard some folk had problems.

Tixy

Your creditors will continue to report to the UK credit reference agencies.

Whenever you provide a change of address then they will add that to their entry on your credit files.

Mibla

So they will record the foreign address as a new/linked address on the credit file?

I read previously that people who went abroad and came back to the UK had problems because of having no credit record in the UK because UK CRAs weren't able to process data on people in other countries.

This may be because the UK CRAs must comply with their UK CCA licence and the Data Protection Act and the DPA only applies in the UK?

Tixy

because UK CRAs weren't able to process data on people in other countries.

That isn't exactly correct.

If you keep credit lines in the UK then you are maintaining a UK credit history.

People who have issues are usually those that have closed down all UK accounts and so have no recent UK credit history. And also because lenders often like people to have been resident in the country for 3years prior to the application.

Experian_company_representative

Hi Mibla,

Experian only holds information relating to UK addresses, so any accounts that you hold registered at addresses outside of the UK would not show on the report.

If you still have accounts open at a UK address while you are living abroad they would continue to appear on your UK credit report.

As Tixy has said people who have closed all their UK accounts and been out of the country for several years, tend to have difficulty when they come back as there is no longer any credit history for them.

Hope this helps!

Kind Regards
Neil

Mibla

Experian_company_representative wrote: »

Hi Mibla,

Experian only holds information relating to UK addresses, so any accounts that you hold registered at addresses outside of the UK would not show on the report.

If an account was in the UK and then you change your address with the lender to one abroad, what happens with the history built up before your move? I assume transactions prior to moving will stay on the credit file for 6 years but new transactions after the move date will not show.

For example:

Before you depart, your loan repayments for the last 12 months show the balance each month and a 0 status code. After, you go abroad, the account status details start to go blank one month at a time so that 6 months after leaving, the account status of the last six months for that account is blank and months 6-12 still show what your balance was and a 0 status code.

Is the above right?

The other possibility could be that your diligent account history vanishes overnight from your credit file because the account is no longer recorded at the address?

Once you give the lender your new address abroad, can they still run credit searches at your previous address if your current address is overseas?

Mibla

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to bump but just looking for an answer to my last post. Thanks