There’s an extra benefit if you register to vote in the General Election this December.
In any General Election whoever wins will have a big impact on your finances, and the election on 12th December 2019 will be no different – from how much tax you could pay through to the potential stealth privatisation of the NHS.
It’s really important that you don’t just vote on Brexit lines (though of course it’s completely intertwined). Find out about the issues you care about, financial or not, and work out what your vote will do if your candidate’s party gets the most MPs and it forms a government. Potentially even talk to friends and family about why you’re voting the way you are.
But of course in order to vote, you also need to register. And this registration process has an added financial benefit you might not be aware of.
Why registering to vote will boost your finances
Registering to vote produces a clear record of who you are, where you live and where you’ve previously lived.
And this is key for companies who access your credit report. They want evidence you are who you say you are, and the electoral roll is the best way the credit reference agencies can do this.
So, this means when you apply for a mortgage, credit card, loan or even just a Direct Debit to pay your energy bills, having an accurate address history increases the chances you’ll be successful.
If you’re not registered then the lenders have to look elsewhere for proof of address. This could delay the application or even make it less likely that you get accepted.
It should take 30 days for your credit report to update to reflect that you’ve registered. For this election it means you’ll see that in December. For any future elections between August and November, you’d normally have to wait until 1st December as local authorities only update their files between December and August.
Now, once you’ve registered, subsequently not voting won’t affect your rating, so you don’t have to. But I’d encourage you all to carefully read about the issues you care about over the next month and a half and try not to get caught up in all the spin (which is easier said than done!).
How to register to vote
You can register by post, or online (link below). All you need is your National Insurance number and a few other basic details. You can also use the link below to update if you want a postal or proxy vote. I did this in 2017 and it took less than two minutes.
You can also contact your local registration office to check if you’re already registered.
Deadline to register to vote for the 2019 General Election
You need to register by midnight on Tuesday 26th November 2019.
If you want to vote by post then you have until 5pm on the 26th in England, Scotland and Wales and 5pm on the 21st November in Northern Ireland.
There are more details on the BBC website.