Credit rating?

[DesertDaisy]

I'v read that the banks in Oz can be a wee bit harsh to new immigrants because they have no credit rating in the country.

I know someone who works at the ITC credit bureau, and could quite possibly organise a certificate stating my creditworthiness. Do you think this would have any value at all in Australia, in terms of making things easier to get a car/house loan?

We've been told to have between 3-6 mths worth of bank statements from our SA banks to help with this as well.

What do you think?

[Dreamcatcher]

Hi DD,

Although we did get a credit certificate from ITC, just in case, we have never used it. The only thing the bank and the finance house asked for, was for hubbie's contract of employment. The bank would however not allow a personal loan on a 457 visa, but the Credit union was willing to do it after a minimum of three pay cycles, and with the credit ratings from SA. The bank did indicate that they may approve a credit card with a max starting limit of $1000, but we have not yet formally applied.

We enquired about the personal loans, because the info we had, was that we would not get finance for a vehicle, and would have to buy it cash. After the big move I dare say we were fairly "cashless" . However, the finance house was very accomodating, but we had to pay 20% deposit on our first car. (I know that other finance houses do not ask for 20%, only 10% is needed.) When we wanted to buy a second car, we were told that non-residents are not allowed to finance two vehicles. We went to the same dealer, and got finance, this time with only 10% deposit. The term of the payments have to fall within your 4 year visa.

For the rental home as well, we were not asked for any "history". All they wanted was a phone number of someone who knows you, and they did phone these people. All they had to say was that they knew us, and that we are basically "good" people . No hassles. I went and applied for the phone, in my own name, without having a job, or income. They only wanted my proof of residential address, and drivers licence. Get your drivers licence as soon as possible. It boosts your credibility.

We did have a problem with the insurance, they refused us a no claim bonus, and put us on the highest risk category, just because we have not driven in Australia for over a year. They charged us $269 per month for our vehicle insurance. Just for interest sake, I went to another insurer, and within ten minutes, she got my premium down, phoned the other company to cancel the contract with them (which luckily had a cooling off period!) We now only pay $49 per month. HUGE difference! So you have to shop around. Maybe people here were we live are just a little more trusting? I don't know how it is in other areas of the country, but here the biggest problems we had was misinformation from wellmeaning "friends".

Greetings,

Dreamy

[Mara]

When we left SA I took a letter from our insurance company to state what our no claim bonus was - the insurance this side accepted it and gave me my discount, no problem at all.

[Ajay]

Hey DD,

We brought over a certificate of our Credit Rating as well, but never had to use it. The rental agents wanted 2 personal references, and I connected the phone, gas, electricity etc over the phone, with no hassles. In terms of finance, we were refused a credit card and told to apply again in 6 months. However, we were able to get finance for a car, with NO deposit. The only condition they held us to was the we could only take a 36 month term, which we were fine with. This was done through St George, if anyone else wants to try. Initially they asked for a 20% deposit, then dropped to a 10% when I complained, and then when I told them to cancel the application as I would get my finance elsewhere (hey, I should be a professional poker player with that bluff ), the waived the deposit completely

We've been here for over 6 months now, and yesterday we received an application for a credit card in the post from our bank (also St George), so we'll probably go ahead and get that now as well, just to start building the history there too. Also, on Friday I went into Vodafone to get a mobile phone and decided to chance it by applying for a contract (whihc requires a credit check). It was approved within 10 minutes . So, although the first 6 months can be tricky, you should be fine.

By the way - if you want to still get your credit certificate, you can get it online for about R50. I can't remember the website, but I think I accessed it through the News24 site?

Hope this helps!

Ajay

[Annette]

Daisy,

We were fairly skint when we arrived, but we had no problem getting a credit card from our bank, just included with our application for an account. We took out vehicle finance with GE through a broker, no deposit needed, but we also couldn't get more than 36 months - which we prefer. For car insurance, we had to fax them our last renewal notice which indicated what level of no claims bonus we had - no problem there either. My hubbie applied for a mobile phone contract with Vodafone within probably 2 weeks of arriving and that wasn't an issue either. BUT - the driver's license is essential, get it ASAP, it serves as ID for absolutely everything. The only slight problem we have is with getting a mortgage. Because we are on the SIR visa, which is provisional, we can only borrow 80% and we simply don't have a 20% deposit