Getting uk credit score
 

Morning all.
my family and I have recently moved to Canada under PR. Before that we live in a British army base in Canada with a uk post code.
we are trying to purchase a house here but need to show our uk score as well as our Canadian score.
has anyone managed to get there I’m score while they were in Canada?

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

Are you applying for a Newcomer Mortgage - it'ss a mortgage program to help newcomers who don't have credit ratings etc., and allows you to use alternate proof of credit worthiness. There are generally lower deposits etc., required under this program as well.You can read more here: New To Canada Program - Products - Genworth Canada
Homeownership https://www.ratehub.ca/new-to-canada-mortgage

No need for the credit rating for that usually :)

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

Thank you. We are going through a broker and they seem to have found us a good deal but the sticking point is we don’t have enough Canadian credit.
i will speak to our broker and see if they know anything about these.

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

I'm very surprised that your broker didn't suggest this for you - it was the first thing my broker offered! It's specifically for newcomers to Canada - requires less proof of 'credit score' - they will accept things like proof of utility bills being paid, rent paid, letters from a bank (even from the UK) that say you are in good standing or where you can show savings.. there's a list of things they will accept on the links given - Ratehub gives more detail https://www.ratehub.ca/new-to-canada-mortgage My son and I utilised it and neither of us had any credit rating in Canada at the time, just proof of having jobs and proof of income and a letter from the bank plus my son had cell phone payment proof. If your broker isn't suggesting it I'd find another broker! (I can give you the name of mine if you think it would be of any help)

The other thing you can use to prove your creditworthiness is to get an Equifax report from the UK.. you should be able to do it online.. CMHC will accept that (if you will have a low downpayment you will need Mortgage Insurance) https://assets.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/sf/pr...2-20fed16807e3
https://www.equifax.co.uk/credit-rep...E&gclsrc=aw.ds
:D

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

Try here for your credit report. Use you last UK address. Sign up for one month free trial, get the reports, then cancel the subscription

https://www.equifax.co.uk/credit-report-and-score.html

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

Thank you for your replies.
having spoken to our broker she informed me it is a new to Canada one but since Covid kicked off they nor want more info.
I tried exqifax report but I need to ring up for some reason. Have to wait till tues as it’s a bank holiday in the uk.

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

Probably because their records show that you no longer live at you old address in the UK and they cannot now find you anywhere in tge UK.

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

what about if you have a UK credit card and a UK bank account that have your Canadian address as your home address?

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

AIUI, although Equifax are an international company, they do not track people internationally and have separate operations for each country they operate in.

So you are asking Equifax UK for your credit report. They will look at your last UK address and see that it is now owned or occupied by a completely different person, they won't track you to Canada - all they will know is that you ceased to be at that address in the UK from a specific date and do not appear to have re-emerged anywhere else in the UK (they continually cross-check public records like UK voters lists etc.). This is why I am guessing you are having to call them. I easily managed to get a full credit report from them, but that was a few weeks before I left the UK, so I was clearly still at my normal UK address.

For example, I know for a fact that Equifax Canada and Equifax UK have a different numerical scale for each country. I had a chat with my banking adviser at TD Trust and asked if she needed to see my Equifax credit score. She didn't but glanced at it casually and said 'In Canada, that is considered a poor credit score' - although it was an excellent credit score for the UK - turns out that the range for Canada is quite different from the UK and she just saw the number - not the range!!

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

sure but my UK credit card is not counted on my Canadian credit score even though it is linked to my Canadian address..and you are saying it wouldn't be linked to my UK credit score either?

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

No I am not saying that.

Equifax UK get data feeds from all the credit cards, mortgage providers (and many other sources) etc. and link them to your customer record (a massive linking a de-dupe exercise in itself!). They will continue to get your UK credit card feed and add it to your record. Likely (but I don't know for certain) they may also get the address the CC have on file for you. So all this will continue to accrue in the UK. Their problem is they will not have a current and proven UK address for you (verified by X-ref to the electoral roll - which they also take a feed of etc,). Possibly (I am guessing) why you cannot get your credit report on-line without calling them - I got both of ours a few weeks before we moved for good and got them auto-generated from the website (i.e. without having to call).

Equifax Canada only get Canadian data feeds, NOT UK feeds. So any credit cards or mortgages you have in the UK will not be taken into account in Canada. This is of course a 'double edged sword), in that the Canadian credit score companies (it is not just Equifax) do not know your credit history from another country, so if it was poor, you are likely better off, but if it was good, then you get no 'credit' for that. All you can do is try to get a print of your full UK credit history and then hope that a Canadian institution will pay attention to that. I went to TD Trust and they were not in the slightest interested in my UK credit history - dunno if other institutions would be or not. Not a problem for us as we only wanted a credit card and we do not have or need a mortgage.

AIUI this is probably why there are 'newcomer mortgages' at all the banks. Not a new thing.

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

when i first lived permanently in Canada back in 2010 i used my equifax UK credit report to get a car loan from Ford for the same rate as someone with a good Canada credit score..i then went back to the UK at the start of 2014 at that point i had a very good Canadian score..however i closed everything down when i left..so when i came back in Jan 2017 my credit score had plummeted to bad as i had no transaction for 3 years..now i don' have mortgage have no debt and one credit card with a $1500 limit..i have paid off 2 car loans in that period and pay of my credit card in full each month and keep my revolving credit at less than 10% yet my credit score is still poor at 640 points it seems the only way to build your credit is take out more loans and or another credit card..neither of which i need..i dont like the fact you get punished on your score for living within your means and not wanting too much debt.

Re: Getting uk credit score
 

I know exactly what you mean, it is crazy but that is pretty much how it works. I have never taken a car loan or a personal loan (ever). I have only ever had a mortgage and a maximum of 2 current credit cards (which for the last 20 years I have always paid off every month in full) The only reason I have credit cards is the 'protection' they give against suppliers going bust on you (I got my money back straight away when Zoom went t*ts up while I was on a holiday in Canada!).

I was amazed at the detail Equifax UK had on me and what they tracked - the data feeds they get are truly amazing! It alerted me to the fact that I still had a couple of dormant bank accounts and credit cards I thought I had cancelled years ago, so I se about cancelling those to clean up my history. Getting your credit report is on the wiki 'before departure' to do list and I would highly recommend people do this AND read carefully what they have on you and do a general 'clean up' before leaving the UK. Of course there is more than one credit rating company in Canada and the UK. The other big credit reference agency in the UK is Experian. Equifax just happens to be one of the big agencies in both Canada and the UK.

If 'one' is concerned to 'up' their credit score, get 3 or 4 credit cards, pay them off promptly and take car and personal loans and pay those as good as gold.