BlightyBoy

I found out about this way of getting a UK credit report and thought it may be useful to others. It seems it's only £2!

http://www.experian.co.uk

Patrick

Why would your credit report be of any use to us?

scotch03

If its a crap report you could decline his business if he wants his computer fixed - unless he pays cash and lots of it.

Patrick

FYI, your UK credit report is as about as much use as spaghatti tampon! Save your £2 and buy yourself a beer, that is far more use to you!

Patrick

excpomea

I found it very imortant.
When we moved here in 99 we had no credit history so hence could get no credit.
This meant we had to wait around for about 7 months trying to establish our credit history.
Someone at experion suggested we try to obtain our UK report.
This we did and the bank took this as part of our credit picture when deciding on wether to give us a mortgage for a house.

They gave us the mortgage and now we live in a lovely 4 bedroom home with pool and all the other usual Florida trimmings.

ladyofthelake

Any mortgage company about to lend you a vast amount of money will do a UK credit check on you. It's in their best interest.
Other types of creditors are just not interested in what your credit was like in the UK, and I suspect that showing them an experion report will make diddly squat of a difference.

Patrick

I really doubt the bank did more than give it a passing glance you probably still got the same amout of points an american would get with little credit history. A financial institution in america is governed by American laws and british financial institutions are governed by British law and never the twain shall meet. Whatever you did in the UK is dim a distance memory and you will be lucky if US banks recognize their existence never mind anything else.

Saying that MBNA America called MBNA Europe to establish a credit history to give me a card.

Thankyou for being a Mark19664 about your house

Patrick

BrigieDarling

They never checked my UK report!

Shack is falling over and hopefully we'll be able to afford one of them new fangled refridgerators next year... that is if I can fit the darn thing in with Grandad... he can always keep his teeth in the ice cube tray.

me and Todd's got ta sleep with all the yungens still, but what the hey! At least it's ours.



Happy now Patrick?

If anyone has an old washer please let me know cos all that black stuff bubbling out of the ground is getting on me nerves!

Pulaski

Sorry to have to disgree with you but in most cases the bank cares relatively little about your credit history, however they do care a whole lot more about the value of the house.

As the buyer has to pay a mortgage indemnity premium if they borrow more than 80% the bank knows full well that if the buyer defaults they can seize the house and sell it (and American Banks aren't shy about doing that), and if they don't get all their money back from the sale they claim on the indemnity.

It pains me to say this, but Patrick is absolutely right; despite what some people think, or think that they experienced, your UK credit history cannot be imported to the US, except in a small number of cases where the same company operates in both countries and can be leant on to give you credit e.g. HSBC, MBNA, Bank one, and Amex.

So, despite what you might think, your UK credit history still doesn't make a whole heap of difference.

ladyofthelake

Well, yes I realise all that. That's why it's possible to get a sizeable loan for a house within months of being here, but not a $1500 credit card. The cards are stacked in their favour. Are you saying though, that they (motgage lenders) don't bother to find out who they are loaning to? I know our lenders certainly wanted to know. We had been in the US for 2 months, so there was no record of us here, they had to check the UK.

Pulaski

Having a SS number, and record of your employer, and the time you have been employed is about all they need to know to decide whether you are suitable for a mortgage.

In any case almost all mortgage loans are "sold-on" within a few months (rarely more than six) and then securitized, with the loss born by, and shared among, the bond holders. So the original lending bank doesn't really even care if you default after six or more months!

excpomea

You have some valid points there Pulaski, all the same isn't Experian a major US / UK company? As is Amex, Bank one ect.

It was easier to get a mortgage than a credit card for the very reasons you mention, they could seize it back from us.

Hell I couldn't even get a mobile phone when I first got here. Not without having to lay out about $300 as a security deposit due to lack of credit.

I'm sure that my credit score/history was never such a big deal when I was living in the UK, you just never thought about it. Where as here we are always thinking what we can do to keep it clean or raise the FICO score.

I suppose you just get used to it.

Pulaski

Yes, but I think that the British Data Protection Act rather screws up the flow of information from the UK to the US!

Having said that American expats seem to have as much trouble getting credit in the UK as us Brits do when we first arrive in the US.

excpomea

Your right there about the Yanks in the UK.
My wife moved there in 96 from NY.
She had a hell of a time trying to open a bank acct.
It was quite amusing because the hospital she was due to work in would not pay her unless she had a bank acct, but the bank would not let her open an acct because she was an American. Poor thing had to get a letter from the Hospital to straighten things out.

The banks excuse was that it was to prevent money laundering.

Pulaski

Bah! Banks! They're all weasels!