I can't use the Co-op. They won't let me have an account because I apparently have a bad credit rating. (The real reason, I expect, is because I have no credit

I can't use the Co-op. They won't let me have an account because I apparently have a bad credit rating. (The real reason, I expect, is because I have no credit rating as I've never applied for a credit card or loan, or been late on a bill.) It's really worth double checking. Identity theft is not always obvious... The cost is minimal, and I've twice had debts associated with someone else who's shared an address with me (not at the same time) get attached to my name. In one of those cases it appears to have been a deliberate act by the debtor. Also when I was sorting these out I was told that the "no credit card == bad credit rating" thing is pretty much a myth in the UK at least. It can help make a credit rating better, but its absence doesn't make a credit rating bad.