newlifeinparadise

Hi all
As part of our prep to move to the states in the autumn, I am wondering whether we should be getting financial references from any of our accounts in the UK - and indeed, if this is even possible.

We have been successful in opening a bank account in the US and just waiting to hear if we have a credit card with that bank also. Likely yes.

We recently open an amex credit card in the UK and plan to do a global transfer to the USA when it is 12 months old.

I am just wondering if we should contact our current bank account providers, our mortgage providers, credit card providers and ask for letters of reference - to show that we had credit and were customers in good standing.

Obviously we have a credit report in the UK with the three agencies but from what I understand, this is not accessible to US credit providers.

If we should be getting these financial reference, how do I go about doing so?

It's worth noting that I'm not telling any of these financial places that we are moving abroad. We are simply giving them a family address in the UK. Nothing dodgy, just don't want the complication and don't want post coming to the US as we will be moving fairly frequently in the first year.

Any thoughts oh wise board members? :-)

Wibblypig

I guess it would depend on what you expect to use them for?

We haven't had the need for them, moved here last September.

When doing research before moving over last year we found that everywhere said it was a waste of time and money (if you have to pay for them) as companies wouldn't use foreign credit reports unless it was also a well known US credit report company too.

Awesome Welles

Nothing dodgy....
If you owe them anything - these current account, mortgage and credit card providers - don't you have something of an obligation to tell them that you are leaving the country?

newlifeinparadise

Sorry you must be confused by something I wrote. I don't owe them anything. I will have no outstanding balances when we leave. If we use any of the accounts in the US, I will just make payments as normal over internet banking.

Bob

Don't bother getting them till nearer the time as old ones more than a month old aren't worth anything.

They aren't worth much anyway except possibly for getting a mortgage. Even then, they won't hold that much weight, it's all about putting a large deposit down, show salary and that you've got a status to allow you to stay in the US long term.

newlifeinparadise

Thanks Bob. I could ask for them in August before we go. How do I go about asking them and what exactly do I ask for?
Ie,do I call the general call centre and say hello, I am an existing customer who is moving abroad and I would like a financial recommendation/reference?
Is that what you did?

GeoffM

Get a print out of your Experian etc credit report. It doesn't cost anything and, in our case at least, helped with both a house rental and a car loan. Those were with family owned business rather than large conglomerates. As Bob says, don't do it until just before you come here. For something that is free, it's worth doing just in case it might come in useful, despite most people here saying it will be useless. I'm certainly glad I did it.

AMEX, ask when you get here, even if it's before 12 months. Somebody recently got it after only holding a UK card for 2-3 months. A credit limit of $5k seems common, regardless of the UK limit.

I've never heard of credit references. I had no need for bank statements either.

ChocolateBabz

When we moved 4 years ago, we jumped through hoops to get our mortgage. We got a copy of our credit report in the UK - think it was only about 15GBP. We provided 2 years copies of electric bills, gas bills, credit card statements, council tax bills - everything and anything we could lay our hands on, to the extent of breaking into our storage box to fish stuff out. All this and putting down a 65% deposit!

I think if you can get a letter from your bank re your bank account and a mortgage reference (you may have to pay for these) and scan your last year or so of bills to take with you it certainly won't hurt. I would ask your local bank manager for a letter stating that your account is in good standing and just ask your mortgage company for a mortgage reference letter.

Bob

There are 3 credit bureaus', you ask them for your credit history, not your bank or credit card company.

newlifeinparadise

Thanks for the responses guys. I just got my reports from both experian and equifax (can't seem to get one from call credit but apparently they are fairly irrelevant anyway)
So I'll be sure to get them again in August.
I've just asked my mortgage provider and they said to put the request in writing, so I'll see how I get on with that too.

GeoffM

Must admit, thinking about it while having a shower, I wondered what the point of a credit reference from a bank/mortgage would do when the credit report itself shows all the payments you've made, the balances, any missed payments, etc. Probably far more detailed I would have thought.

newlifeinparadise

Geoff, interesting you would say that. Neither of my credit reports show my mortgage with Nationwide Building Society. They only show current accounts and credit cards. My husband has the same, neither of them show his HSBC mortgage or his Bank of Ireland mortgage!
Can other people see their mortgages on their credit reports?

denzil75

You might want to let them know if you are planning on using any cards associated with these accounts. Our bank (HSBC) always calls to query any out of the ordinary transactions on our cards and will block the cards if the bank suspects fraud. Obviously if you aren't giving them a contact number they can't do this so you might find yourself with a card you can't use. When we moved over I told them of our residential address but gave them my parents as a correspondence address. We've had no mail in the States but a few calls to check some transactions which I have to say in this day and age I quite appreciate.

newlifeinparadise

good thinking Denzil, definitely worth considering doing this. My main issue is that I am doing all the admin now and that we won't have our US address until 2 weeks before go (as we are getting a corporate apartment for a short time) so even if I call my credit card company for example, to let them know, I can only give them the UK correspondence address anyway.
Ultimately we are going to see what we want to keep and what we want to close once we've been there a while and once we're out of corporate housing, I'd be happy to write to any UK providers and let them know our US address.

MrsWaring

Sorry to intrude on your thread, but can I ask who you managed to open a bank account with in the US while you are still in the UK? I have contacted several banks, but with no luck as we don't yet have a US address. We are moving over March 2013, so wanted to start transferring savings etc.