Will debt from UK companies affect my tenancy, university admission, or student accom

Hello everyone,

I am an international student who will be studying in the UK in the near future. I have a concern regarding my tenancy, university admission, or student accommodation, and the debt I may have from UK companies.

My total debt is around 1000 GBP, and it is mostly for O2 UK because I went home after studying language and foundation and forgot to stop my carrier plan. I also owe small amounts to Eon energy and a water company.

I have been contacted by Lowell company to pay the debt in a discounted price. I am unsure whether this is a good idea or if I need to pay the full price. Will this affect my credit score or background check when it comes to securing a tenancy, university admission, or student accommodation in the UK?

I would appreciate any information or advice on this matter. Has anyone had a similar experience, or does anyone know someone who has been in this situation? What steps can I take to ensure that my debt does not affect my ability to rent a property, get admission to a university, or secure student accommodation in the UK?

Thank you in advance for your help and guidance. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by Faizalov

Hello everyone,

I am an international student who will be studying in the UK in the near future. I have a concern regarding my tenancy, university admission, or student accommodation, and the debt I may have from UK companies.

My total debt is around 1000 GBP, and it is mostly for O2 UK because I went home after studying language and foundation and forgot to stop my carrier plan. I also owe small amounts to Eon energy and a water company.

I have been contacted by Lowell company to pay the debt in a discounted price. I am unsure whether this is a good idea or if I need to pay the full price. Will this affect my credit score or background check when it comes to securing a tenancy, university admission, or student accommodation in the UK?

I would appreciate any information or advice on this matter. Has anyone had a similar experience, or does anyone know someone who has been in this situation? What steps can I take to ensure that my debt does not affect my ability to rent a property, get admission to a university, or secure student accommodation in the UK?

Thank you in advance for your help and guidance. I look forward to hearing from you all.

I would very much expect it to impact your ability to enter into a private tenancy agreement, yes. Every potential landlord will want to be sure that you don't have a track record of not paying your debts. A credit check will show that you owe money to three separate companies ("O2 UK", "Eon energy", and "a water company"). Why would any landlord want to take the risk of you not paying them either?

You need to clear each of these debts, in full. Alternatively, you could rent with friends and ensure your details aren't on the tenancy agreement.

I don't know whether universities perform credit checks on international students. My guess is that they don't, as most international students would have no credit record in the UK. But I don't know that for sure.