Building a Credit History from Scratch

DCFC79

HappilyNorth wrote: »

Thanks one and all.

Just to clarify, based on the differing opinions above, is having a sole account (whether you have a joint account which is reported to the agencies each month) an essential or not?

All depends how her credit file looks, you day its not the best so Id not bother with 1 as it could have an impact on you as your financially linked.

I personally wouldn't bother with catalogues.

lildoonbuggy

Ok, thanks for the advice. So to sum up:

Ask Nationwide for a sole account (does her salary have to go in there or could we just stick a few quid in each month?)
Register with 3 main reference agencies & Noddle
Take out the giff gaff £5 a month SIM only contract
Apply for JD Williams catalogue
Apply for Aqua card

Anything else?

Not sure if it's still the same but it used to require at least 2 years of address history to have your account confirmed for credit file updates. If you have issues though, try the Martin lewis

lildoonbuggy

Cont'd. - Martin Lewis credit Club which seems to be able to establish your idebtity earlier in the piece.

binaryuniverse

HappilyNorth wrote: »

Register with 3 main reference agencies & Noddle

Just to clarify on this, do not sign up to the 3 reference agencies directly. They will sell you costly products that you can get for free.

Experian, sign up to MSE's very own CreditClub.
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/creditclub

Equifax. Use Clearscore.
https://www.clearscore.com/

Callcredit. Noddle, or GiffGaff, if you join them. GiffGaff's has the odd 'feature' of updating daily.
https://www.noddle.co.uk/
https://www.giffgaff.com/money/free_credit_report/

username

Re. a mobile phone contract, the opposite. Credit builds credit and a mobile phone contract is the most basic form of credit. Go for a rolling monthly sim only contract. Sharing your mobile contract doesn't cut it.

If she simply has one of your additional lines (but the contract is still in your name) then it will have no effect on her credit record.

Also, with regards to a rolling monthly sim contract, it needs to be a postpay contract in her name, where they take a direct debit from your account and require a credit check to sign up.

Giffgaff is no good for this purpose, as it is just a pay as you go sim card that does not have any checks to get.

Also be aware that some networks may also require a security deposit to sign up to a contract of any kind if you do not have much if any of a credit history.

I would also advise that she does have an account in her own name.

HappilyNorth

Just called Carphone Warehouse to take out a SIM only contract and they advised they'd need at least 3 years address history.

I asked if that was the same with the networks directly and she advised some will take 2 years. My wife has only been in the UK for 16 months.

Is it even worth trying for a sub-crime card if we can't even get a cheap phone contract?

Makes you wonder how on earth one builds a credit history when you can't even get the most basic of credit facilities.

Mulder00

The things I did when I got to the UK first:

1. I added myself to the electoral roll (understood not everyone can, but as a citizen of a commonwealth country, I was allowed to).
2. Bought myself a starter pack in my home country which allowed me to open a UK current account to get proof of address.
3. Signed up with Experian and had my account confirmed (this involved sending proof of identity and address using my new current account and details of my previous addresses from my home country)
4.Rented a place and added my name to all the utilities (BT and British Gas)
5. After 5 months I took out a fairly large (£7500) personal loan from my current account provider and repaid it over 9 months.
6. Then started opening mobile contracts, credit cards and so on and of course made sure that I never missed a single payment for anything.

I managed to get a mortgage after being here for 4 years and haven't ever had any issue with obtaining credit (and I've done many, many credit applications as I link to earn interest on money obtained with no interest to pay back )

HappilyNorth

Thanks, Mulder! She's from Brazil so unfortunately it's a little different. May I ask what sort of % you put down for a mortgage deposit?

I just called Vodafone directly and she was accepted straight off the bat for a monthly contract (up to £70 per month) including handset. VERY surprised as she's never applied for credit before.

Very happy. Many thanks to everybody who has helped.

Should we apply for the sub-prime credit card now to strike whilst the irons hot or wait a little while as applying for 2 credit services in 1 day may look a bit dodgy?

Mulder00

That is great and REALLY useful that she has a Vodafone account.

Mortgage was 5% using Help to Buy.

(Also just realised with your credit card question, that I also opened a credit card with my current account provider (HSBC) during the early days. I never had to open a sub-prime or credit-builder type card - I was worried that it could have a negative impact on my credit score with some companies.)

HappilyNorth

So you think she could potentially be accepted for a non sub-prime card, like Barclaycard for instance?

Not sure whether to risk that or not as if she's declined I'm pretty sure that shows up as a black mark against your name..?