Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
Jul 17th 2008, 3:00 pm
#1
Account Closed
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 141
Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
Hey all,
In the process of requesting letters of recommendations to help with opening accounts when we get over to Canada.
They have all came back stating they would gladly give me a letter of reference at a cost of 10.00 GBP a pop! Plus they want the address and or fax number of the company requesting this.
I just want a letter from my bank for the attention of no company stating I have had an account for x years and ran the account within conditions etc. I have also requested this with our utility company and they have came back with the same crap!
Have I asked for the wrong thing? Is a Letter of recommendation the same as Letter of reference?
Cheers,
Ian
In the process of requesting letters of recommendations to help with opening accounts when we get over to Canada.
They have all came back stating they would gladly give me a letter of reference at a cost of 10.00 GBP a pop! Plus they want the address and or fax number of the company requesting this.
I just want a letter from my bank for the attention of no company stating I have had an account for x years and ran the account within conditions etc. I have also requested this with our utility company and they have came back with the same crap!
Have I asked for the wrong thing? Is a Letter of recommendation the same as Letter of reference?
Cheers,
Ian
Last edited by iananddave; Jul 17th 2008 at 4:34 pm.
Jul 17th 2008, 4:33 pm
#2
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2007
Location: Nova Scotia
Posts: 387
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
One of our banks charged us the £10, the other - nothing. The mortgage reference was £25 I think - but we still paid it. Would rather have the letters with UK credit history details than nothing at all.
The worst one was the doctors surgery. They wanted £25 each to copy our notes and a 'per page' photo copy charge - I went nuts! There are 5 of us and the youngest was under a year. We could have been looking at nearer £180 for our own records. They finally agreed that this was a little unreasonable, but even so, I still ended up paying around £60.
I think you are asking for the right thing - we asked the same of our banks and insurers too, how long we'd been with them, payments on time etc etc etc. Some charge, some don't.
The worst one was the doctors surgery. They wanted £25 each to copy our notes and a 'per page' photo copy charge - I went nuts! There are 5 of us and the youngest was under a year. We could have been looking at nearer £180 for our own records. They finally agreed that this was a little unreasonable, but even so, I still ended up paying around £60.
I think you are asking for the right thing - we asked the same of our banks and insurers too, how long we'd been with them, payments on time etc etc etc. Some charge, some don't.
Last edited by Nicola N-A; Jul 17th 2008 at 4:35 pm. Reason: muppet at spelling
Jul 17th 2008, 4:44 pm
#3
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Back in Blighty!
Posts: 1,424
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
Hey all,
In the process of requesting letters of recommendations to help with opening accounts when we get over to Canada.
They have all came back stating they would gladly give me a letter of reference at a cost of 10.00 GBP a pop! Plus they want the address and or fax number of the company requesting this.
I just want a letter from my bank for the attention of no company stating I have had an account for x years and ran the account within conditions etc. I have also requested this with our utility company and they have came back the the same crap!
Have I asked for the wrong thing? Is a Letter of recommendation the same as Letter of reference?
Cheers,
Ian
In the process of requesting letters of recommendations to help with opening accounts when we get over to Canada.
They have all came back stating they would gladly give me a letter of reference at a cost of 10.00 GBP a pop! Plus they want the address and or fax number of the company requesting this.
I just want a letter from my bank for the attention of no company stating I have had an account for x years and ran the account within conditions etc. I have also requested this with our utility company and they have came back the the same crap!
Have I asked for the wrong thing? Is a Letter of recommendation the same as Letter of reference?
Cheers,
Ian
Get your Equifax reports which will show your good account management/credit worthiness and in a way understood here in Canada as Equifax is here in Canada too.
Bring your letters of no claims (not no claims bonus) for auto insurance.
As for opening accounts, we had no problem with Banks accounts, unsecured credit cards, mortgage, line of credit, utilities, renting an apartment and cell phone contracts. Did not have to pay a deposit for anything.
I will be very happy to recommend my insurance broker and my bankers.
Feel free to pm me with any questions you may have and any details you need.
Rob
Jul 17th 2008, 7:03 pm
#4
Around and around...
Joined: Oct 2007
Location: Leeds, until my escape!
Posts: 48
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
One of our banks charged us the £10, the other - nothing. The mortgage reference was £25 I think - but we still paid it. Would rather have the letters with UK credit history details than nothing at all.
The worst one was the doctors surgery. They wanted £25 each to copy our notes and a 'per page' photo copy charge - I went nuts! There are 5 of us and the youngest was under a year. We could have been looking at nearer £180 for our own records. They finally agreed that this was a little unreasonable, but even so, I still ended up paying around £60.
I think you are asking for the right thing - we asked the same of our banks and insurers too, how long we'd been with them, payments on time etc etc etc. Some charge, some don't.
The worst one was the doctors surgery. They wanted £25 each to copy our notes and a 'per page' photo copy charge - I went nuts! There are 5 of us and the youngest was under a year. We could have been looking at nearer £180 for our own records. They finally agreed that this was a little unreasonable, but even so, I still ended up paying around £60.
I think you are asking for the right thing - we asked the same of our banks and insurers too, how long we'd been with them, payments on time etc etc etc. Some charge, some don't.
Jul 17th 2008, 7:55 pm
#5
talking Ter Sami
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: hybrid territory
Posts: 1,107
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
Only those records held on computer. For youngsters' medical records I would expect this to be pretty much everything but perhaps not for the adults. We were offered our basic computer-held record for GBP10 then copies of the detailed paper records for an additional photocopying fee (up to a maximum charge per person of GBP60 I think) if required. We have a British trained GP here in Canada so the years of scrawl and abbreviations may have meant something to him but we hadn't bothered with the photocopied extras. He did actually look through the computer printouts we gave him though.
Jul 17th 2008, 8:05 pm
#6
Banned
Joined: Aug 2007
Location: New Caledonia
Posts: 1,810
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
We came with none of that. Never had any need of it, we just seem to pick up where we left off in the UK with utilities and banking. No deposits for utils, got credit cards right away and a line of credit if we needed it.
Jul 17th 2008, 8:09 pm
#7
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Sep 2004
Location: Windsor, ON; Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,713
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
My Ontario utility specifically stated (credit check or) letter of reference from other Canadian utility, so I guess a foreign one wouldn't have helped you here anyway. Worth getting if it's free, but maybe not if it's a tenner a time.
Jul 17th 2008, 10:11 pm
#8
especially the mint one
Joined: Feb 2008
Location: Toronto
Posts: 178
Re: Requesting letters of recommendation from UK companies
just wanted to chime in to make sure you didn't get the wrong idea from the good fortune of a few members - it looks like you're coming to Toronto and if you're planning on renting here you would be well advised to get the credit report and employer letter (offer of employment) if you want one to live in a high-demand place. There are landlords that might take you without these things, but I'm sure there are also properties that you wouldn't want to live in. A good credit report and proof you can pay the rent will go a long way! good luck!
