New address blacklisted

shippers

We have recently bought a new property and moved in 2 weeks ago. The property was previously rented for 4 years and apparently the tenants would not pay the bills. We have had the hassle of getting the pre pay electricity meter changed back so that we can pay direct debit and we are unable to get any credit such as a mobile phone contract!! We have no debts only the mortgage and don't miss bills so how do we prove that it's the tenants who lived at the address previously with the bad credit history not us!! It's getting really stressful. O2 wanted a £100 bonus up front refundable after 3 months if all bills are paid! Surely we shouldn't be punished for someone elses problems. Any advice would be greatly appreciated :mad:

withabix

You won't be on the electoral register at your new address yet.

That is most likely to be the problem, not the previous tenants.

ADDRESSES are not blacklisted, PEOPLE are.

IWantToBeFree_2

I was under the impression that addresses couldn't be blacklisted as debts could only be registered against individuals and not the property itself.

Maybe you could just be feeling the pinch of the credit crunch, if you don't have any debts aside from the mortgage which sounds like its new, people might not want to lend to you as you haven't got much of a credit history to prove that you will pay on time.

shippers

Thanks for the advice. We are on the electoral register and received a letter confirming we've been added. We have had a mortgage for 2 years now with no problems I just can't understand it. I am going to ring the legal advice team on house insurance tomorrow and see if they can help. I opened a letter that came to our house addressed to one of the previous tenants and it was about debt and talking about baliffs! I lost sleep over it so my bfriend rang them up the enxt day to confirm these people no longer lived there and to not sned any more letters. Maybe it'll just take time but I'm not sure.

postingalwaysposting

Never open mail thats not addressed to you! Return it to the sender and write on there 'no longer at address' then when they start reciving all the letters back they will know to look elsewhere.

IWantToBeFree_2

Have you ever had credit cards/loans/contract phones etc?

shippers

I will never open a letter again thats not addressed to me. I have sent every other back as it only opens a can of worms and sends me worrying and its not my right to open other peoples mail - I know!! :rolleyes: We have credits cards but nothing on them and I'm on orange sim only now.

IWantToBeFree_2

Due to the fact that addresses shouldn't be blacklisted, maybe you could try build up a bit of a credit profile by spending on the credit cards (only a small amount) and setting up direct debits to pay the balance in full every month.

This way you are showing to potential creditors that you are using credit and are making the relevent payments. In todays climate, even those with great credit ratings are struggling to get credit as lenders are tightening their belts, it might be that organisations are wary of lending money to someone who doesn't have much credit history aside from the mortgage.

Despite being in debt I have a pretty good credit rating due to the fact that I have loads of sources of credit and never miss payments, I used to be a lenders dream but recently struggled to get credit, most notably with BT for the phone line at our new house, they too required a deposit which will be refunded in 3 months.

If you can afford the £100 deposit for the phone contract, maybe you should pay it, as it will once again help with the credit history, just see it as savings...

withabix

shippers wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. We are on the electoral register and received a letter confirming we've been added.

It usually takes a 'little while' for your registration to appear on data accessed by the credit reference agencies.

Remember it is originating from local authority offices where there is no reason to get anything done at any speed...