Opening another account - time at address

derelyth

Hi all,

In August I moved in to a flat with my partner and to help keep things separate I decided to apply for a Lloyds Classic account for Bills. This got declined, the only reason I can think of is for the time at address which was less than a month at the time. In the end I decided to use one of my Interest-Bearing CA's as our Bills account; utilising the Nationwide FlexDirect as it was due to pay it's last 5% interest in October.

Previously having lived with my parents since birth, I found a year or so ago I was easily able to apply for multiple accounts, ending up with 1xClubLloyds, 2xTSB, 2xTesco and 1xNWide.

With NatWest now offering a CB account for DD's, I was wondering whether if I used the switching service on the NWide account to move to a NatWest account, will I still be scrutinised from a "Time at Address" point of view?

Also had a long-term plan of opening 3x BOS Classic Vantage accounts to further my return, would the same scrutiny apply as above?

With the above questions in mind, am I right in now thinking banks look for a 6 month minimum Time at Address before considering you for an account?

Any advice appreciated

Cheers

Karl

Futuristic

If you have been registered on the electoral roll at the new address and lenders can see this, then it shouldn't cause a major issue. But I can only assume you haven't done this?

You will get a clearer picture if you sign up to get a credit report to see if there's any other negative factors on your profile. You can sign up to Noddle to do this:
https://www.noddle.co.uk

Kim_13

Lloyds and BOS are under the same group so may have similar criteria. Natwest may be fine, as each provider has their own system.

Time at Address probably has a much greater importance when they will be explicitly lending you money (loan, credit card, mortgage.)

colsten

They'll usually ask for your previous address if time at new address is too short for their liking. On its own, having moved is no reason for rejection.

derelyth

Futuristic wrote: »

If you have been registered on the electoral roll at the new address and lenders can see this, then it shouldn't cause a major issue. But I can only assume you haven't done this?

You will get a clearer picture if you sign up to get a credit report to see if there's any other negative factors on your profile. You can sign up to Noddle to do this:
https://www.noddle.co.uk

Thanks, we did send off the council electoral form as soon as we received it which was at least 6-8 weeks ago so I'd hope that it had been processed by now.

I'm wary of Noddle as I've heard some people have been charged by them?

Kim_13 wrote: »

Lloyds and BOS are under the same group so may have similar criteria. Natwest may be fine, as each provider has their own system.

Time at Address probably has a much greater importance when they will be explicitly lending you money (loan, credit card, mortgage.)

Thanks, that is true - I've been with Lloyds for about 10 years and have never been overdrawn or anything negative so I was surprised by the refusal considering account history but who knows...!

colsten wrote: »

They'll usually ask for your previous address if time at new address is too short for their liking. On its own, having moved is no reason for rejection.

I didn't think so either hence my surprise.

I presume a bank will hard-check credit file(s) upon application?

Futuristic

derelyth wrote: »

Thanks, we did send off the council electoral form as soon as we received it which was at least 6-8 weeks ago so I'd hope that it had been processed by now.

I'm wary of Noddle as I've heard some people have been charged by them?

Yes if you sign up to one of their add on packages, otherwise no. Noddle is widely used here and i'm sure a lot can vouch for its service. Clearscore is another but no so precise data.

colsten

derelyth wrote: »

I'm wary of Noddle as I've heard some people have been charged by them?

They only charge you if you subscribe to one of their chargeable services.

Sharon87

I had the same issue, I tried applying for the TSB account through moneysaving expert link as a good cashback offer expires today. But as I've been at my address for only a couple of weeks I got rejected. I doubt my addresses/electoral role have been updated yet. That's the only reason I see for the rejection.

20aday

OP if you wanted to go ahead in a few weeks' time and open an account with Lloyds Bank they offer a "soft search" facility on their website.

I spotted this the other week when having a look around on there. Despite being under the same group Halifax/BoS don't seemingly offer this service (yet).

I use both Noddle and Clearscore (as suggested above). Whereas Clearscore source their data from Equifax it does give indications as to what is 'affecting' your history (but ignore the "score" itself).

colsten

Good spot, 20aday. LBG Press Release: http://www.lloydsbankinggroup.com/globalassets/documents/media/press-releases/lloyds-banking-group/150709-lloyds-banking-group-release_eligibility-checker-final.pdf

Lloyds checker: https://secure.form.lloydsbank.com/application/pca_eligibility_check.asp

Halifax checker: https://secure.form.halifax.co.uk/application/pca_eligibility_check.asp

Couldn't find a BOS one.

I would say though that, going by the experience of people on here, a full search for a current account is unlikely to have much of a negative impact on anyone's credit record.

derelyth

OK, a slight update. I went through the Noddle sign up, very carefully so as not to sign up for anything that would cost me - all good. Looking at my report though, it said I wasn't registered on the ER after all!

I registered online but then decided to call my local council who explained that whilst I did fill in a form that they sent me, it was only to see how many people were in the property and that I should have received either a paper form to complete which would put me on the ER or notification to fill it in online! Neither of which happened...!

So now I'm to wait for the application to be processed and the info to hit my credit file. The lady on the phone did however tell me that they send it out on December 1st so I should be OK then. I'll also get my partner to fill in the application online tonight.

Thanks for the help all, I guess I'll hold off applying/switching accounts until Noddle has updated!