NiHao

I was wondering what those of you who have returned did about buying a car?

Were any of you able to get a loan for a car purchase without any UK credit history?

Thanks for any info!

London1947

I had moved back to the UK nearly two years ago. I opened an account with Lloyds hoping in time to have built up some credit rating. On applying with Lloyds they told me that my credit was ok but short residency, they declined a loan. So i applied to Honda UK to buy a Honda car, but had the same problem. That is until Honda asked for my banking info in the US and it showed income going into it and i told them that i transfer funds if and when needed. So i gave the car dealership the printed info and was approved, go figure. Hope this helps.

lgabriel73

so you still had regular income going into your US account even after your move back?

London1947

Only social security and a private pension. I lived and worked 30 years in the US i still own a house in Virginia of which my Daughter lives in. I do go back for a couple of months a year i have duel citizenship US/UK. So to answer your question you can get a loan perhaps not from a bank though.

lgabriel73

My guess is that the OP probably doesn't have any payments going into any foreign accounts. If you don't have any monthly paychecks or ss checks going into an account you won't be able to get a loan until you have established a job and credit history in the UK.

NiHao

Thank you for the replies.

London1947, that is very useful to know. We most likely could arrange to have income paid into our US account for a few months after we move because my husband will be working for the same US company he is with right now.

Thanks so much for sharing what your experience was.

London1947

Not entirely true. I don't have a job, if you want to know about opening a UK bank account with no hassle let me know i would be glad to explain.
Where are you in the US? or are you still there?

lgabriel73

If you notice I said monthly paychecks or SS checks. You have to be able to show regular payments coming in. You have regular income going into your account from your pension and SS so they know that you have regular income. If a person doesn't have any regular income coming in it is highly unlikely that will be eligible for a loan.

If you have some info on opening a bank account it I would love to hear it and Im sure many other on this forum would. I am in the US, going home for 2 weeks over xmas then planning big move in April/May.

London1947

Ok, let's see, first of all if you have a US bank account and you have the ability to transfer US funds to a UK bank. It's not that they want to see if you have weekly or monthly income that want to see you have the funds to do so. Opening a UK bank account can be somewhat difficult. Let me explained what happened to me. I went to open an account at ( Nat West ) i gave them a check to which they replied that they had to do a credit check even though i was giving them money, and of course i told them i have no credit history in the UK. I then went into ( Lloyds Bank ) and they opened an account with only my UK passport assuming that you have a UK passport that is, and a resident address.
Obviously i have no idea of your fiances so i can only generalize. But if you do have US funds and can transfer in order to pay commitments here and you can show evidence of said funds you may well be able to qualify for a car loan. However as i explained before it would be highly unlikely you would get a loan from any bank. As i said i went to a Honda dealership and got a loan through their own finance company ( Honda UK )

lgabriel73

Thanks for the info on the bank. I won't have the problem with a car loan as I will have cash for that but seems people run into problems getting a bank account open. I will be staying with my parents so won't have any bills in my name which seems to be the barrier for getting an account open.

Englishmum

The very first thing you should do when moving back to the UK is to have your name and address added to the electoral register (also called the electoral roll). Most of the credit agencies eg. Equifax, Experian etc. check to see if anyone applying for credit is registered at a residence:

https://www.gov.uk/electoral-register

https://www.gov.uk/get-on-electoral-register

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...d.php?t=758777

Look at the last FAQ from the Experian credit agency here:

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/faq/AR8.html

lgabriel73

Thanks Englishmum, I actually downloaded the form yesterday.

andyridder

There is a new online loan company called klickcredit.com (<a href="klickcredit.com"> klickcredit.com </a>). Anyone can get loan within 5 minute with any credit history. You don't need anything without some proves . Isn't it good?

britwhore

I managed to get a car loan from MINI but I had to jump through quite a lot of hoops!!! I did print out bank statements for the last 3 months in the UK and the US so they could see that I had money. They did ask why I just didn't pay for the car in cash (as I had the funds) but when I explained I was trying to build my credit they understood. So they accepted my application but I had to pay a higher interest rate.

However car payments are an excellent way to build credit. I also got a high interest credit card (almost 55% a month!!!) but paid it off in full every month so didn't have to worry. They would only give me £250 revolving credit until I "proved" myself. In less than a year my credit went from poor to excellent thanks to the car and credit card. Make sure you sign up for experian.