My partner and I have lived abroad for the past 11 years. We have just sold our property and we now want to return home to the UK, where we lived for more than 40 years before moving away.
We are looking at getting a mortgage, but it would appear that no financial institution will consider us because they say they are unable to obtain a credit check on us.
We both have government pensions that give us enough income to cover any mortgage repayments and, while we lived abroad, we used our UK bank and credit cards. As we have no debts we find it very strange that we can't get a mortgage.
How long does it take to build up enough information to obtain a credit check so that we can get the ball rolling and get ourselves a mortgage?
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James Jones, of Experian, replies: When a lender reviews your credit report they are essentially looking for information to help them check three things:
1 Your identity, 2 Your past borrowing record, 3 Your current commitments.
The way things stand you are likely to have a blank credit record because UK banks won’t be able to run a credit check on a non-UK address for a number of reasons. For credit applications a blank credit record is a proverbial spanner in the works.
So your first aim should be to re-establish a credit record at a UK address as quickly as possible and certainly before you submit a mortgage application.
Whether you rent somewhere or use a family address, it doesn’t really matter. You should get your names onto the electoral roll there and provide your existing bank and credit card companies with the new address.
Within a few months you should have a decent foundation for credit checks. I suggest you then obtain a copy of your credit report and work with a good mortgage broker to source a competitive mortgage deal, ideally with a lender that’s unlikely to be perturbed by your recent spell abroad.
If you want to monitor your UK credit report while it’s coming together, a service like CreditExpert might be a good option. This would also give you a credit report score, whenever you log in, to help you track your progress.
Emma Gunn, of This is Money, adds: There are three main credit referencing agencies used by lenders to check your credit rating, Equifax, Experian or CreditCall.
These agencies use a range of information, from the electoral roll to County Court Judgements (CCJs), to compile background checks on your financial situation, which lenders can then use to see if you meet their criteria.
Looking up your credit rating can be helpful in many situations, but remember that although checking your history will not affect your actual credit score it does leave a footprint on your file.
This is Money has partnered with Experian to offer those that would like to check their history a 30 day free trial.