Bleech

What was the best piece of advice you had before moving here?
Easilly for me it was to get an equifax credit report before we left (cheers Rich), that's been invaluable and has helped us out on so many occasions like getting a mortgage, bank account, car even saving us a shed load on the electricity bill deposit.
Maybe we could gather a list to help anyone else on their way?

Butch Cassidy

'buy now house prices are gonna sky rocket'

We did, they did and on paper we have 'made' $150k

Rich_007

Ah so that's why you have a never ending beer fridge eh ?

Rich

grumpy

We got our credit report - didn't do a thing for us, still had to pay security deposits on utilities or go on pre-authorised plan which is what we wanted to do anyway. Never, ever been in debt, always paid everything on time, credit card always paid in full before due date, but what does the bank over here do? Grants us a credit card, but keeps $2000 in a separate account for three years!!
What p's me off and makes me Very Very Grumpy is the inconsistency in this country - different rules in different places, so just when you think you've got it sussed, it all goes pear-shaped.

Rich_007

Yah it's a big country :: east and west is different worlds apart.

Adds to the challenge/excitment of it all.

Rich.

love_it_here

..we got a credit report, a reference from our bank manager and letters from all our utility providers eg british gas. We also got letters from our old car insurance companies which ICBC are really anal about.

Deer Hunter

Don't forget to put an address on your shipping! We made that mistake (even though the company said it wouldn't be a problem!!) and we didn't get our stuff until a 1 1/2 months after we arrived despite timing the send to arrive when we did.

Bleech

I forgot all about our letter from the insurance company , so our first insurance quote on an old $2000 GMC Safari (which was hanging!) cost us $700 for 3 months!!!!! They wanted $2800 for the year which was more than the car was worth
So I Emailed the old insurance company and asked them to send me a letter stating my no claims, bought a considerably bigger truck and ICBC accepted the quote no problems. Insurance went down to $1800 for the year on the new truck
Another thing to put on the list, letter from Insurance company.

Mans

I brought insurance ref letters too.......did no good at all......I was told by all the insurance companies that you have to build up your no claims from start again in Canada....another inconsistancy in this vast country

How does one get an equifax credit.....is it too late for me as I have been here in Canada for 6 months?

Another item to add seems to be getting an amex card.....they seem to be the only people who will transfer your credit/charge card over to Canada.

RGDS
Mans

Almost Canadian

No - anyone can get one from this website http://www.equifax.co.uk/

or an experian one from here http://www.experian.com/

I haven't checked if you need a UK address to obtain one - if so, do you have someone friendly that you could send it to who would then be able to post it to you ??

Good luck

R2D2

We also got the equifax credit report, took it with us when we tried to finance a car from a dealers..................they read it, said yes we know equifax, BUT, they wouldn't recognise it. Said they don't even recognise US reports let alone all the way from Blighty !

I was spitting fur and said to the guys that we were probably a lot less risky to lend to than half the Canadians who come in and he agreed. Still couldn't get the low finance rate though.

kt0157

Just tell him to stick his tappets up his waste gate and go to another dealer. On principle. Mindless rules and stupid robots will dominate unless we all push back against this crap and ensure there's a downside to just saying "against the rules" or "we don't do it that way".

K.

mjanovitz

We got 0% 4 years on a new Hyundai SUV, they accepted and actually asked for our UK credit reports.

Guess it depends on the dealer. I am actually waiting for the fall as everything seems to be going ok so far.

Best advice was being able to transfer Amex, and letter from car insurance company. I know that has already been said, but they were the main two and felt I should put it in so my post was in keeping with the title of the thread!

Posidrive

This may just be an Alberta thing, but I get impression that it all depends upon the broker, how honest they are and how much they want your business. From my experience some will just think of news immigrants as a way of making a quick buck, whereas others will go the extra mile to get you the best deal in order to build a long term relationship. My history paperwork was not perfect but the deal we ended up getting for both family cars plus the home insurance ended up being less than some quotes for my car alone when I first arrived.

Shop around!!!

Butch Cassidy

Well said that man.