Has the annual canvass included your 2019 electoral roll information?
Unless you've recently moved, by now you should have received a household enquiry form asking you to confirm your details for the 2019 Electoral Roll as part of the Annual Canvass.
Even if you’ve recently registered to vote, you may need to confirm that all the details on the form are correct, or make any changes necessary first. If you regularly check your Credit Report, you may have noticed that your electoral roll listing is taking longer than normal to update, but fear not because this is normal during this period.
What is the annual canvass?
The Annual Canvass is the yearly audit of voters in UK households and the collation of this data. This is carried out between July and the end of the year, with the new version of the roll published by most local authorities on the first of December. As it usually takes Credit Reference Agencies about a month to publish this information, it may not be reflected on your on Credit Report until as late as February.
Filling in and returning this form is a legal requirement, however doing so does not automatically register the names listed on the form to vote. Anyone living at the address whose name is on the Household Enquiry Form but is not already registered to vote will be sent an Invitation to Register form. Alternatively, they can register to vote online at any time.
As of 2014, individuals are required to register themselves to vote, whereas previously one person in each household was required to register everyone eligible to vote living at that address.
How could all this affect my ability to get credit?
Because Credit Reference Agencies update Electoral Roll information in tranches, rather than all at once, the exact date that your credit report will reflect the most recent record can vary.
The impact of any delay on your credit rating will vary, depending on how it reflects your presence on the Electoral Roll from previous years. If you have been registered in the past, it shouldn’t be an issue as lenders will be able to see this information and use it as part of their assessment. If lenders do not have any Electoral Roll confirmation for you at your current address, they may carry out additional verification checks.
To see how your electoral status currently appears to lenders, or to make sure that it is being correctly reported by your local authority and the UK’s main Credit Reference Agencies, you can try checkmyfile FREE for 30 days, then for just £14.99 a month after that, which you can cancel online, by phone or by email.
Updated 16/11/2018 by Jamie Mackenzie Smith