Hi all, just joined yesterday so go easy with me. Here's the situation; Myself and good wife are both employed with reasonable salaries, homeowner (with mortgage and lived there over three years), 2 x car loan, 1 x home improvement loan, 3 x credit cards (one with little on it, one with a 0 pc interest over a long period and the other has just come to the end of it's 0 pc period), and also a "next" account. I recently applied for an Egg card to do a 0 pc balance transfer (for the card which had run out) over a certain period of months. Egg replied with an offer of only a limit of a 1000 ??? (I need 5200 to clear the card's debt). They said it was because I had too much outstanding debt. After I signed with Experian and checked my status, I found that I had an excellent credit rating with no defaults (999 scoring!!!) but unfortunately all cards, loans, etc were only in my name and not shared with my wife as I had thought, hence I have too much debt in my name
We're hoping to spread it out somewhat and take advantage of the good interest free deals so we're moving the "next" account over to her and also that she takes out a card which clears the balance of the one which good deal expired. My wife is a foreign national hence not on the electorial list (I am though) could this be a problem? We are both on the mortgage papers and one of the car loans and never defaulted so I'm hoping so has a decent rating, but now you know the situation is there anything else I can try or maybe something she should do before applying for a card
Cheers
Al
Hi there;
credit card/loan companies have several criteria (sometimes known as "key checks"), With many credit card companies a position on the role of electors is a requirement, and an application could be declined based on this. I don't think there is a way round this... it will just depend on how strict the company are; quite a rediculous rule because there are other ways to proove identity but hey!
Also remember if you are applying for a few accounts don't do them all at the same time; a single application will only have a very small negative impact but a lot of applications may look bad!
hope this helps
Graham
How about Barclaycard, do they require one to be on the electorial list do you know?
How about Barclaycard, do they require one to be on the electorial list do you know?
Generally it is very difficult (although not impossible) to get a decent line of credit from anywhere unless you are correctly registered on the Electoral Role.
Credit card companies normally use the electoral register to verify an applicant's ID electronically. As your wife's not eligible, the best solution is to send all three credit reference agencies proof of residency and ask them to add a note to her file to verify this.
Presumably your wife has her own bank account. If Next agrees to transfer your account to your wife (make sure it's not simply the billing address that's changed), she will begin to build a credit history. As you know, provided that she always settles the bill in full each month, there are no interest charges.
Also, once the CRAs have proof of residency on file, she could approach the bank which holds her current account for a credit card. Once she has operated this and the Next a/c for 12 months, she'll find it easier to get the cards and credit limits you both want.
Actually, I have to disagree. I have had about eight differnet credit cards over the past five years, each with large credit limits (largest 11,500) and have only last month discovered that I'm not on the electoral roll. In fact I'm regustered on i t in my married name, but all my financial dealings are done in my maiden name. Credit searches didn't reveal that though, so I've been getting my cards effectively without being on the roll. I think it depends on a variety of things nowadays.
I agree.. its definitly not down to one factor..It just really depends how tight the regulations are, and when the policies were put in place..
For example; a firm I worked with outsourced applications for a while due to a high volume; it was realised afterwards that a large number of applications were approved without compliance to the required standard.
Other firms for example "vet" a certain number of applications for a check; so in all its not an exact science either way!
G
I agree it's not an exact science, but bear in mind the Op's wife is a foreign national. Also, this couple's credit facilities are all in her husband's name. This means she has no previous credit history in the UK and, from the lender's perspective, she's something of an unknown quantity.
OP, you probably need to be more concerned about actually getting her a credit card, rather than trying to select the best 0% BT card to shift your debts.
Lenders launch these 0% promotions, which are sometimes heavily advertised, to draw in new customers. Often they are flooded with applications and can afford to cherry-pick applicants. They are likely to see her lack of a payment history as too great a risk. This is not an insurmountable problem, but it takes time to build a good credit history.
For tips to improve her chances of credit card acceptance, have a look at the *Credit Rating: how it works and how to improve it guide*, especially Martin's *Manage and Improve your credit score* article ;)
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/credit-rating-credit-score#improve
Thanks for the tips all, I've spoken to the local council and they're sending a form right away. Apparently you can be on the electoral register even if you're a foreign national within Europe. I'm pretty sure she must have a credit history albeit not very advanced as we've had a mortgage in both names for the past four years and a car loan together for the past three. Everything else has been in mine. we have a shared bank account and a credit card with them (a standby card with a low limit to which I'm the main holder). Barclaycard has more or less said that they'll only take her if she,s on the electoral list, which they say (the councill) will be 2/1/09 plus the wait for the credit agencies to update their info. Does anyone know how often they do this? and also is it best to wait until sorted or can anyone suggest any cards which don't use this as a stipulation?
Cheers
Al
Hi again; The credit reference agencies update their systems quite regularly; For things like card balances this may be only once a month but for other things i'm not sure...
Your wife could sign up for a free trial to view her credit score after sending the electors form back .. this will confirm when she's on the role!
thanks
graham
I've spoken to the local council and they're sending a form right away. Apparently you can be on the electoral register even if you're a foreign national within Europe.
Aha, you didn't mention where she was from. Anyway, it's great news. Much easier for you than sending proofs of residency to the three agencies.
We have a shared bank account and a credit card (a standby card with a low limit to which I'm the main holder).This doesn't help your wife (credit history-wise), unfortunately. Couples cannot hold a credit card jointly. As the principal cardholder, you're solely responsible for the debt. Fingers crossed the other items are on her credit reports.
Is it best to wait until sorted?I would advise her to get her credit reports first and find out exactly what's on there. This, after all, is the information UK lenders see, when you apply for new credit facilities and it's available online or for just 2 per paper copy it arrives by post in 4-6 days. (For tips, see page 1 of the *How to obtain credit reports* sticky.)
Btw, once you have a hard copy, the CRAs seem happy to answer questions over the phone provided that she quotes her reference number. So if, for instance, she wanted to check that particular items like electoral status had since been updated, there's no need to order further copies of her credit reports ;)
Is it best to wait until sorted or can anyone suggest any cards which don't use this as a stipulation?By the middle of this month, there will be two public holidays in the frame which tend to slow down the processing of credit card applications so, if I were you, I'd play safe and wait until January.
Let us know how she gets on.
Very best
M
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