suesmalls Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 (edited) <excerpt from another post> Hello Another query - not sure if you can and I should be asking on another forum - what details would be required if and when we seek credit cards / mortgage when settled in England? Is there any link back to Australia credit rating and details? Thank you Moderator comment: Suesmalls - I've moved this part of your original post out of the Vista forum so general forum members can be free to respond. Edited September 19, 2016 by MaggieMay24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted September 12, 2016 Share Posted September 12, 2016 In answer to your last questions with regards to credit cards and mortgages. As far as I am aware you would have to wait 1 or 2 years before applying for a mortgage no matter how much money you have for a deposit. Your credit rating in the UK would be the only one that would count when applying for any sort of finance. If I am wrong then hopefully someone with superior knowledge will slap me down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 In answer to your last questions with regards to credit cards and mortgages. As far as I am aware you would have to wait 1 or 2 years before applying for a mortgage no matter how much money you have for a deposit. Your credit rating in the UK would be the only one that would count when applying for any sort of finance. If I am wrong then hopefully someone with superior knowledge will slap me down. This was not our experience when we returned to the UK in 2012 - with a 40% deposit it would have been easy to get a mortgage but with the help of a broker we still got one with 10% deposit after less than a year back & that was a standard Halifax mortgage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 I must say most people have told me on this forum it's going to take me no less than a year and I'm going to have to start with a low credit card of 1500GBP and build up my credit history. We found it even worse than that. Some banks wouldn't even let us have a debit card, let alone a credit card. Barclays gave us their most basic account with a debit card, and then about three months later offered us a credit card with a 200GBP credit limit! We were told the only way to build up a credit score was to get one of those credit cards designed for people with bad credit, buy one or two things on it every month and make sure we paid it on time, and that after a year we'd have a good enough credit score to do something with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suesmalls Posted September 15, 2016 Author Share Posted September 15, 2016 That doesn't sound great, perhaps some of the reasons why you decided to return to Australia, along with others. I think getting a job and trying to secure small credit card to repay and build credit history is needed. Of cause talking to broker and getting insight / information on how to start and build credit history from those involved in Finance is going to be a must. Appreciate the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 (edited) That doesn't sound great, perhaps some of the reasons why you decided to return to Australia, along with others. I think getting a job and trying to secure small credit card to repay and build credit history is needed. Of cause talking to broker and getting insight / information on how to start and build credit history from those involved in Finance is going to be a must. No, wasn't a factor at all as we had enough cash from the sale of our property in Australia and our super to buy a place if we'd wanted to. The credit history thing is very simple and doesn't need expert advice - this website explains all you need to know: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/bad-credit-credit-cards The bottom line, as we were told time and time again by letting agencies, banks etc, is that in the UK, everything is governed by your credit score. If you don't have a credit score, you almost don't exist! It means, for instance, that you'll have to pay six months' rent upfront to get a rental property if you haven't got a job yet - and that you'll get only the most basic bank account, with no overdraft and no credit card. We tried very hard with a couple of banks, even offering to deposit $100,000 with them. No dice - we were told it didn't matter how much money we gave them, no credit score meant no credit facilities. Another point is that you won't even be able to open that basic bank account until you have proof of a UK address. It's due to new money laundering/anti-terrorist laws in the UK and applies to all banks (one or two seem to be lenient but they're actually breaking the law as I understand it). I got around it by changing my addresses with my Australian bank and credit card to my sister's in the UK - so when I arrived in England, I had a bank statement and a credit card statement waiting for me. Just make sure you don't put "c/o" in the address, just your name and the street address so they don't know it's temporary! I've heard that some people have been able to circumvent that by opening a HSBC account in Australia before they left, and then they were able to open an HSBC account in the UK. Worth a try perhaps. (by the way, we are breaking all the rules by having this discussion on Andrew's forum, even though he has already replied - if you want to continue this discussion, you could request the thread be moved to the general Finance forum by clicking on the exclamation mark. Otherwise, I'm guessing the replies by people other than Andrew will be deleted). Edited September 15, 2016 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suesmalls Posted September 15, 2016 Author Share Posted September 15, 2016 Thanks for the update and link. Will read this now. Apologies if my comment about "not sounding good" came across wrong - I meant for myself not your situation. Hi @Andrew From Vista Financial - did you want to move the thread to Migration - apologies. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulswin Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 What if you've left bank accounts open still in uk and still have a valid uk visa would'nt that count for anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 What if you've left bank accounts open still in uk and still have a valid uk visa would'nt that count for anything? Yes, it will. You can get on to one of the UK credit agencies and check your credit rating - if you've been using your UK visa there's a good chance you'll still have a rating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scuffythetugboat Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 This was not our experience when we returned to the UK in 2012 - with a 40% deposit it would have been easy to get a mortgage but with the help of a broker we still got one with 10% deposit after less than a year back & that was a standard Halifax mortgage. The rules have changed since 2012. The banks were told to tighten up on their lending rules. So now anyone over 50 may have trouble getting the money they want to borrow as they would have to provide proof that they could make the mortgage payments past retirement age with a pension for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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