Credit rating in Britain- how does it affect US rating?

[Murray123 0]

Hi fellow VJers! I have my K1 visa and will be flying to the US on Saturday (from London)- just need to tie up a few loose ends first. Went to my bank last week to close my overdraft facility down. I have a lump sum in my account which I've managed to save (and the overdraft has been paid off), which will enable me to pay off, for 10 months at least-so will have plenty of time to find a job-, the minimum payments on my 5,000 GBP credit card liability-yuck- I hate every last pound of that debt- but anyway- only have myself to blame....

Getting back to my question- which my beloved fiance raised- do my credit card liabilities in the UK affect my credit score in the US?

If they do, what determines your credit rating in the US- would your overdraft be a part of it or do they just take into account your credit card debts. My overdraft facility is 2,300 GBP- so if the overdraft wasn't taken into account in your credit rating then it might make sense to minimise the credit card debt using my overdraft facility (before I go and close it down).

Thanks!

[Krikit 1,165]

Hi fellow VJers! I have my K1 visa and will be flying to the US on Saturday (from London)- just need to tie up a few loose ends first. Went to my bank last week to close my overdraft facility down. I have a lump sum in my account which I've managed to save (and the overdraft has been paid off), which will enable me to pay off, for 10 months at least-so will have plenty of time to find a job-, the minimum payments on my 5,000 GBP credit card liability-yuck- I hate every last pound of that debt- but anyway- only have myself to blame....

Getting back to my question- which my beloved fiance raised- do my credit card liabilities in the UK affect my credit score in the US?

If they do, what determines your credit rating in the US- would your overdraft be a part of it or do they just take into account your credit card debts. My overdraft facility is 2,300 GBP- so if the overdraft wasn't taken into account in your credit rating then it might make sense to minimise the credit card debt using my overdraft facility (before I go and close it down).

Thanks!

Your credit rating does not follow you to the US.... you will need to build it once you get here. Now, having said this, there is nothing to stop a US company contacting their counterparts out-of-country. When I applied for a car loan, Nissan US called Nissan Canada and had them pull my credit report. I was fine with that because I have an excellent credit rating, but I had no idea they were doing it until after the fact.

If you do a search you will find a lot of threads on this subject. Have a safe trip!

[Krikit 1,165]

sorry - duplicate post

Edited September 3, 2008 by Krikit

[TayRivers 4]

Hi fellow VJers! I have my K1 visa and will be flying to the US on Saturday (from London)- just need to tie up a few loose ends first. Went to my bank last week to close my overdraft facility down. I have a lump sum in my account which I've managed to save (and the overdraft has been paid off), which will enable me to pay off, for 10 months at least-so will have plenty of time to find a job-, the minimum payments on my 5,000 GBP credit card liability-yuck- I hate every last pound of that debt- but anyway- only have myself to blame....

Getting back to my question- which my beloved fiance raised- do my credit card liabilities in the UK affect my credit score in the US?

If they do, what determines your credit rating in the US- would your overdraft be a part of it or do they just take into account your credit card debts. My overdraft facility is 2,300 GBP- so if the overdraft wasn't taken into account in your credit rating then it might make sense to minimise the credit card debt using my overdraft facility (before I go and close it down).

Thanks!

Your credit rating does not follow you to the US.... you will need to build it once you get here. Now, having said this, there is nothing to stop a US company contacting their counterparts out-of-country. When I applied for a car loan, Nissan US called Nissan Canada and had them pull my credit report. I was fine with that because I have an excellent credit rating, but I had no idea they were doing it until after the fact.

If you do a search you will find a lot of threads on this subject. Have a safe trip!

US companies, Banks and Credit Report companies do not have access to Credit info from the UK under the Data Protection Act. You will need to establish your credit history here in the US, this will take anything from 8 months to a few years.

US banks and Credit companies do share info with Canadian companies under a agreement set up by both US and Canada.

[Krikit 1,165]

US companies, Banks and Credit Report companies do not have access to Credit info from the UK under the Data Protection Act. You will need to establish your credit history here in the US, this will take anything from 8 months to a few years.

Ordinarily I would tend to agree with you. However, there are US banks and companies who are affiliated with and/or have overseas offices - and vice versa - so I don't think information sharing is a far stretch. The odds are low, but they're still there. Let me check with my sister. She moved back to England and might know.

[TayRivers 4]

US companies, Banks and Credit Report companies do not have access to Credit info from the UK under the Data Protection Act. You will need to establish your credit history here in the US, this will take anything from 8 months to a few years.

Ordinarily I would tend to agree with you. However, there are US banks and companies who are affiliated with and/or have overseas offices - and vice versa - so I don't think information sharing is a far stretch. The odds are low, but they're still there. Let me check with my sister. She moved back to England and might know.

I work for a US finance Company and I can tell you that it does not make any diffrence if a company is affiliated to a foreign company, it would be against the Data Protection Act for any UK company to pass information about a customer to any foreign company. UK credit information is fully covered by the Data Protection Act and it is imposible for any UK company to even get a address of a ex-customer here in the US or any company here in the US to trace a customer who has moved to the UK. Also there is no internation law that allows for any court order for a debt to be enforced outside the country that it was issued.

[Krikit 1,165]

I work for a US finance Company and I can tell you that it does not make any diffrence if a company is affiliated to a foreign company, it would be against the Data Protection Act for any UK company to pass information about a customer to any foreign company. UK credit information is fully covered by the Data Protection Act and it is imposible for any UK company to even get a address of a ex-customer here in the US or any company here in the US to trace a customer who has moved to the UK. Also there is no internation law that allows for any court order for a debt to be enforced outside the country that it was issued.

Yep. My sister just replied with the same response.

[aidan80 9]

When I moved over here I too had some debts left over from back home. Long story short, no matter what they can't come get you over here if they could.. they'd been after me already ! Unfortunately I had to default on a few debts back home as I didn't have a stupid job over here for the best part of a year.

[ginger1981 0]

There are some options for building credit. You might be able to piggyback on the USC's (considering they have good credit themselves...if it's not it might just be better to start your own credit). Basically, if you piggyback the USC would add you to their credit cards. I could go on but Suzy Orman is a great resource for info on how to build good credit.

Suze Orman's Website

[Krikit 1,165]

I understand that purchasing something on layaway is a good way to build credit.

[ginger1981 0]

I understand that purchasing something on layaway is a good way to build credit.

Maybe it differs from company to company but in general no.

Layaway is usually a service the store offers instead of a credit plan. If there is an issue with the customer not paying up, the retailer generally has guidelines where they will cancel the layaway and return the item to stock. It doesn't get reported to a credit bureau.

In general you don't see many stores that offer layaway anymore...it is far more profitable for them to offer a store credit card. If anything...try to avoid a store credit card. The interest rates are usually astronomical (I've seen ones that have a 25% interest rate). The only reason in which getting a store credit card would be a good thing is if you are using it to take advantage of the initial discount and then intend to pay off the balance right away before the interest rate kicks in. For example, I got a Pier One card when I got my dining room set because I got 20% off my first purchase...so it saved me about $200. I had already saved up the money to buy the set, so when it came time to pay it off I just paid the whole balance...and I ended up getting the good end of the deal instead of the creditor.