Vote Or Lose Credit

October 31, 2006

What's the link between credit cards and voting? I'll give you three guesses. No? Well, I'll tell you. If you don't register to vote you could find yourself unable to get credit. Really.

The news comes from credit reference agency Experian, who says if you're eligible to vote then get yourself registered and check to make sure you're on the voter's roll.

So how does this affect your ability to get credit? Well, it's simple. Lenders use electoral register information, which appears on your credit file, to check that you are who you say you are and you live where you say you live. So if you're not on the voters' roll, then potential lenders might refuse you credit. They need to check that your name and address are correct and they assume that the electoral records will get it right. And they could be right. Even now local councils are canvassing to make sure that people's details are up to date, with new registers due to be published in December. After that, monthly updates should ensure that voter information is correct and relatively up to date.

So what do you do if the information is wrong? Suppose you've moved and the electoral roll hasn't caught up with your change of address. Well, it might put you out of the frame for automatic application approval, but the good news is that there's other proof you can offer. This includes council tax bills, utility bills (gas, electricity, phone and water), tenancy agreements, mortgage details or your driving licence. All of these should be up to date anyway and can offer the additional proof some lenders may require.

And what if you're not eligible to vote? Well, that doesn't rule you out of getting credit completely, especially since you can add a notice of correction to the file. It just needs to say that you're not eligible to vote in UK elections and can prove your address. This can be taken into account when lenders look at your file.