Non-UK national trying to check credit rating

cjd08

My wife (a non-UK national) tried to register with the Credit Club, however she could not get through the identification checks, presumably because she has not lived here long enough. She moved here in 2018. Prior to this she studied here in 2014, and again in 2016. Is there any way that she can check her credit rating?

[Deleted User]

If she has any credit activity, she'll find It at Experian, TransUnion or Equifax.

There are no universal credit ratings in the UK, so she just needs to check the data on each, if any.

CKhalvashi

I had to provide my passport and a copy of a credit card statement to one of the agencies last year as for some reason I couldn't be verified automatically.

Called them, was given the e-mail of the advisor I was speaking to whilst on the phone, had access to it within about 15 minutes of starting the call, so it should be reasonably easy to do.

I hope this helps.

DaMoon

Hi, you could try Check My File: https://www.checkmyfile.com/ who were originally recommended to me by my mortgage broker when I had a similar issue (mostly to do with addresses not matching up - long story). This company brings data together from all the major credit referencing agencies in to one file, so it can increase your chances of getting a match with which to pull the data from. It's worth a try and they give you a 30 day free trial. Make sure you cancel the free trial after you use it !!

cjd08

Thanks for your help everyone. Will using Check My File affect our credit ratings at all, given that I have already checked mine on the Credit Club? Is it a soft check? Also if I go direct to the credit agencies are these soft checks too?

[Deleted User]

You have no credit ratings, just credit files.  Checking them doesn't add or remove any of the account information.

PRAISETHESUN

As above - you have no credit "score" or "rating" - only a credit file containing information of your financial history. As long as the data is accurate and up-to-date that is all you need to focus on. Odds are though, she has a thin file which is why she is having issues getting access to her data.

I had similar issues when I first moved to the UK, here's what I did:

1) Register on the ER (assuming her nationality allows).

2) Request copies of your statutory credit reports from all 3 CRAs - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. They are legally obligated to provide you with this information if you request it, so this is where you need to start. If/when they cannot verify her, they should request additional ID to verify her identity - if they don't you may need to lodge a formal complaint to get the ball rolling. That should be all you need to do and after that process is completed she should get access to her files.

yksi

CheckMyFile is clean and you don't have to stress about it. They are also non-naggy and do exactly as they say they will.

I also had difficulties triggering a file when I first arrived in the UK - this is what's probably going on here, they can't ID her because they've not got enough data from financial companies which have her name & details on them. Definitely get on the ER if at all possible, even if she's only eligible for local elections. Does she have a bank account here? Both Nationwide and TSB will report a current account to CRAs which is another thing which would trigger the start of a file for her.

cjd08

Many thanks for your replies. She isn't eligible to vote unfortunately, so she was going to add a Notice of Correction to her credit files to explain why she isnt on the electoral register. We have a joint bank account in both our names though. We'll try Check My File and see if that works. If not then she may have to contact the agencies direct and request them that way.

[Deleted User]

cjd08 said:

She isn't eligible to vote unfortunately, so she was going to add a Notice of Correction to her credit files to explain why she isnt on the electoral register. 

Don't do that.  An NoC will just force a manual review but won't change the outcome. 

cjd08

Deleted_User said:

cjd08 said:

She isn't eligible to vote unfortunately, so she was going to add a Notice of Correction to her credit files to explain why she isnt on the electoral register. 

Don't do that.  An NoC will just force a manual review but won't change the outcome. 

Experian and Equifax recommend on their websites to add an NoC if not on the electoral register. Is a manual review bad? Sorry if that's a daft question, we're First Time Buyers and are new to all this.