Article by Paul Anderson-Riley - 16th January 2020

Not Just A Vote - The Importance Of The Electoral Roll

Research undertaken by credit provider Aqua found that only one in five adults between the age of 18 and 24 is registered on the Electoral Roll. More worryingly, it also found that none of those surveyed believed that the absence of this listing could impact a credit application.

Why is the Electoral Roll important?

The primary purpose of the Electoral Roll is to allow you to vote during elections, but it’s also vital to a healthy Credit Report. Many lenders will look for an Electoral Roll listing to verify your name and address and to assess your stability. The longer your Electoral Roll listing has been active, the more stable you appear, strengthening your applications and overall Credit Score. For this reason, many credit applications are declined where there is no Electoral Roll listing available. If you are looking to increase your Credit Score and are not currently registered on the Electoral Roll this a step you can take to further your creditworthiness.

If you are eligible to vote in the UK, you can register on the Electoral Roll by contacting your local council.

It is also important to ensure you are registered under your full name and at your current address in the correct format. Any slight variations in name and address formatting can result in information not being found on your Credit Report, so a standardised format should ideally be used across all credit accounts, future applications and Electoral Roll listings. Any difficulties in obtaining the Electoral Roll listing could also mean difficulties in locating a full Credit Report, which can harm your applications. Unless a lender is certain they have access to your full Credit Report, it may not be able to accept your application on the basis of limited data.

Landlords and employers who do not have access to your full Credit Report will usually access public Electoral Roll data. They can use this data alongside court and insolvency registers to evaluate job and rental agreements applicants. As this is one of only three widely used components that landlords and employers use, the Electoral Roll can have an important role to play in these types of applications.

How do I check my Electoral Roll information?

The only way to see what a potential lender sees when you make an application is to check your Credit Report. Whichever Credit Reference Agency you check with, an active Electoral Roll entry will detail the registered name, address, date the listing started, and which register you’re currently on. When you check yourself, you’ll see a much greater level of detail and be able to check that everything – not just your Electoral Roll information – is correct.

If you haven’t already, you can check your Multi Agency Credit Report free for 30 days, then just £14.99 monthly and cancel easily at any time. Our Credit Reports are the most detailed in the UK allowing you to see everything the Credit Reference Agencies are holding, including your Electoral Roll information.

Updated 16/01/2020 by Sam Griffin

The UK's First Provider Of Online Credit Reports

Launched 25 Years, 35 Million Credit Scores & 8 Million Credit Reports Ago

The UK's First Provider Of Online Credit Reports

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