Since arriving back 6 weeks ago, i have managed to open a current bank account, and also get myself on the electoral register at my daughters address although it will not show up until December. The only other thing i have done is get car insurance so far. When i opened my bank account the kind lady manager told me it would help me to get a credit scoring.

My question is, how do i know when i have a high enough credit score to get say a car loan or UK credit card? Is there any set standard, or is it a bit hit and miss? When i lived there before it wa snever an issue i just had my banks credit card and the odd car loan and wa snever an issue, but of course now i been gone so long i am starting from scratch. I was told that after 6mths or so Lloyds will prob give me a credit card, but i am more concerned about a car loan when my husband finally comes over, and also credit scoring for getting a rental.

Sorry I cannot help on this one but I would like to know myself. We have not lived in England for 9 Years and it never crossed our minds about credit ratings.....so I will keep watching and reading any replies you have.

Good luck
Jackie in Perth

Hi FFFF

I know there's a company called Experian who do credit checks. You can check your credit score rating on-line...not sure how it works but here's their website.

www.experian.co.uk

Hope it helps

Debi

pay everything by direct debit,mad i know but if you open a store card even if you use it once to get the starting discount then that shows you are committed to a payment and also get a mobile contract,
my cousins girlfriend never had credit and could'nt get a mortgage because she had no credit - she payed every thing she owed by cash ! and she was advised the same to get store card or catalogue or buy something and pay monthly so that way they can score you on your finance and how you manage it,its wrong the way they do it over here they encourage you to borrow more and get into debt,but ! they will raise the borrowing amount and lower the interest rate,so the more you take the more they give and next thing TA DA !!!!! your in debt and they real you in and the interest rate then goes back up and you find that you then cant manage your finance,
yet it was mentioned on another post that in Aus it is the other way round no credit is good credit,here its more credit the higher the rating,that way they know where you are what your paying what your finances are and what situation you are in ! its like BIG BROTHER they are watching your every move !!!!!!!!!
sarah

get a mobile phone on a plan,store cards [already mentioned ].Basically any debt thats easily attainable ie credit cards with huge interest rates etc are the ways i built up a credit rating in the uk .Ofcourse the credit card must be paid by the end of the month .
I got told by the hsbc that its bad news if you have no credit rating at all because they like to see what your doing .So the answer is DEBT ,DEBT ,DEBT and your be laughing but just make sure you can pay it all .

You have to be really careful when applying for all the above...if you get refused, that will have the opposite affect on your credit rating.

Being rejected for any type of credit, loan, contract can damage your cedit rating for at least 6 months, if not longer.

Thanx for all your comments, but i did have the same thoughts as Debie. I dont want to start applying for stuff, not get it, end up with bad scoring because of that, and when the time comes get refused for the real things i want on credit.

I am figuring i might just wait until my name shows up on the new electoral register in December before trying anything. At least that and having a current bank account might help matters.