A Birkhill man has warned Angus residents could be denied loans because credit agencies have not been sent an up-to-date list of voters.
Ian Scott, 56, said he was alarmed to discovered he was not on the electoral register when he checked his credit rating, despite having lived in the same house for 22 years.
When he contacted credit rating agency Equifax to query the anomaly, he was told it was because Angus Council had not submitted an up-to-date list of eligible voters because of two council by-elections last year.
Banks, credit card companies and loan firms use credit report agencies to determine whether they should lend money to customers.
Being on the electoral register is key to securing credit as some companies will refuse any applications for a loan immediately if they cannot confirm where a potential customers lives.
Mr Scott said: “I was going to apply for a credit card and as I pay Equifax £14.95 to let me know if someone is trying to use my name, I thought I would check my credit first.
“I saw this red flag that said I’m not on the Electoral Register.
“I phoned Equifax and they said Angus Council had not forwarded an up-to-date electoral register.
“Right now, every single person in Angus is affected. If someone applies for credit and are rejected then their credit rating will be affected.”
Mr Scott, a former banker who now runs his own double glazing company, said: “I’ve lived in my house for 22 years.
“Instead of companies seeing someone who is 22 years into their mortgage they’ll think it is someone who has just left their home.”
Angus Council is one of 14 councils in the UK not to have submitted up-to-date electoral register details with Equifax but the only one in Scotland.
A spokeswoman for Equifax said: “UK councils usually update their annual Electoral Register data by January, but in this case Tayside Angus Council delayed releasing theirs due to bi-elections in the area.
“Whilst the delay in supplying the data will affect everyone in the borough who has registered on the new Electoral Roll, it should not impact their Equifax Credit Score.
“Angus Council is now expected to provide Equifax with the annual Electoral Register data in the next few days.
“The data will then be loaded to the Equifax database within the next week. Once this has happened, Equifax will contact Mr Scott to let him know that the information has been updated on his credit report.”
Alastair Kirkwood, Electoral Registration Office for Tayside, said updated Register are normally published on December 1 but two by-elections in Angus meant it was delayed in January 20.
He said: “In Angus Council area there were two by-elections in November and December and that delayed publication of the Register until January 20.
“We will have now sent copies to the credit agency.”
A spokeswoman for The Electoral Commission said the process of updating the register is called the canvass and normally runs from the start of July until the updated register is published.
If there is a by-election in a specific area, it gets priority for canvassing so as many people as possible can cast their ballots on the day of the vote.
The delay then allows officers to ensure the area not affected by the by-elections are properly canvassed.
