ccj not mine is effecting my credit score

cwrtcoed · 26 September 2011 at 12:33PM

Hi
I recently tried to purchase a mobile phone for my wife through a monthly contract. i didnt think it would be a problem because im already on a monthly contract. To my horror when they conducted a credit check i was declined. I was totally baffled by this my credit score is excellent never had bad credit and everything is tip top with my accounts.
The only thing im guessing is that when i met my girlfriend over 11 years ago she financed money to pay for a driving school course for her then husband, so that he could open his own business. When they departed he declared himself bankrupt and set up his driving school business under one of his new girlfriends ( which is now his wife). The bank then pressured my wife into paying the debt which at the time was impossible because she had 5 kids to feed which was more important.
When the time came that she could manage to pay something she did, but as you know as kids get older it gets harder so she stopped paying it again, not that she didnt want to she just couldnt afford it, and i think its the principal as well her husband was now running a good business that she helped to finance and she was left with the crap to pay.
I then bought a house 6 years ago which was just in my name, when i applied for a new rate 2 years later i decided to put my wife on as well beacsue she was working and contributing towards the mortgage.
Since then the bank has now obviously got hold of her details and had demanded payment from all that time ago, well actually it was then handed to a debt recovering agency.
When i checked with regards to the time limit of 6 year rule statute barred of not hearing from them they stated that they did contact my girlfriend 5 years and 11 months before the deadline, which she supposed to have acknowledged.
Anyhow we got married two years ago and just after that she received a ccj for the long outstanding debt and they set out a charge on our house, ( sorry i put it in joint names) We cleared this debt, to which i wasnt amused, im paying for her ex husbands debt for him to run a business.
With us now married and i am associated with my wife would this ccj effect me, if it does the law has gone crazy.
i dont understand how can a debt now twelve years old come back and effect me when its not even mine, if it is this that is causing me a problem how can i stop it, surely its a defamation of character

JimmyTheWig · 26 September 2011 at 12:52PM

I doubt that there is much you can do about this now.

Your wife willingly took out this debt at the time.
I guess the answer is that it should have been sorted out at the time of the divorce settlement, but if he was bankrupt then I'm not sure that there's much that could have been done.
As far as the bank is concerned your wife agreed to pay this money back and didn't. That explains the black mark against her.
You have joint accounts (at least one) with your wife and that associates you with her.

Think about it from a lender's point of view. Would you lend money to someone who shares a bank account with someone with a history of not paying back what they've borrowed?

I suggest...
1. You both check your credit reports, just in case there is anything else on there which is wrong.
2. You both make an extra effort to ensure that all bills are paid on time from now on.
3. You get your wife a PAYG phone (I find my PAYG 3 phone to be excellent value, much cheaper than my wife's contract).

cwrtcoed · 29 September 2011 at 11:37PM

Hi
I see your point, however, why should the bank penalise me when my credit has always been excellent, i cant turn around and say " sorry i cant marry you because youve got bad credit and it may effect me" thats ludricous. The lenders should just go on my credit rating its me thats applying for it. We always pay our bills, and look at it on her point ( i know the banks wouldnt) would you want to pay back the loan you had to pay for your cheating husband's business venture.
What if you married to some one whos been bankrupt, would you ever get credit?
I know the banks cant believe every story but they should check each person as individual, does association to some one who has bad credit mean that people like myself will turn to be a bad creditor. I was told that a person took this type of thing to court and won, becuase it defamated his good character, which i suppose is right.

tallyhoh · 30 September 2011 at 7:57AM

Ummm, I have a partner who hasnt willing paid a debt in his life, however I am not married to him.

Marriage is generally viewed as a joint partnership, especailly where you have joint money accounts.

I can understand the banks view on this, I could easily have persuaded my partner to take out loans on my behalf, he would not have paid them & I would still have an umblemished credit record???

In answer to your question about turning round & saying "sorry, I cant marry you", well thats exactly what happened with me.

JimmyTheWig · 30 September 2011 at 9:33AM

As it happens, cwrtcoed, it's having joint accounts with someone rather than being married to them that links your credit histories.

Ultimately, it's the banks who get to decide who they lend to. We're not even allowed to know the rules they use to decide this. [It is rumoured, for example, that some credit card companies don't take on customers with a perfect record as they wouldn't make much money from them.]

It's not about what's fair, unfortunately, it's about what they think will make them money.
In the credit crunch there is less money available to be lent out than there was previously. That means more than ever that they are going to choose the people who will make them the most money - generally the people who are most likely to pay up.
Consider the following...
Would you lend your mate £100? Probably.
The same mate goes and marries someone who is known to everyone at being bad with money and never repays debts. Would you still lend the mate £100? Probably not.
Even if your answer is the same in both cases, do you appreciate that in the second case you are less likely to get your money back? That will be the bank's thinking, too.

wannabehermit · 30 September 2011 at 9:43AM

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

As it happens, cwrtcoed, it's having joint accounts with someone rather than being married to them that links your credit histories.

This is true. The marriage does not associate you with your wife, it's the joint mortgage that does it. I unfortunately had to get a DRO a few years ago thanks to my ex and until my credit report is clear DH and I will not have a joint account, joint bills or anything as I don't want to !!!!!! up his credit. It's a pita and we really want to get joint accounts as it would make life so much easier but until my credit file is clear it's a no-no.

You are now associated with someone who has a history of not paying debts (they were in her name so they are hers as harsh as it is), so therefore that risk has now rubbed off onto you.

You can get lots of payg deals now, free texts, calls etc. Get one with free texts and use the free minutes on your contract phone to call her instead of the other way round.

cwrtcoed · 30 September 2011 at 11:47AM

Jimmy i see you point, with regards to the phone im still with vodaphone for the past 5 years or so i can upgrade to a new contrct, phone etc no problems, but soon as i try and switch providers thats it, its a no no as previously mentioned. So how come i can still use my original provider, plus my credit card,store cards etc that i already have and always pay on time, but fail to get anything new? Some of these companies are all partners in for instance orange has merged with T mobile. If vodaphone merged with another provider i bet if i tried to go with the other linked company i get refused.
Going onto the defamation part, i know this sounds a bit extreme but wouldnt this come under it?
Defamation of character happens when someone says, or writes, something untrue about you (or your business or product) which is damaging to your reputation (or that of your business).
The false information needs to be about the characteristics of a person (or their business or product). It must cause damage to the image of that person (or their business or product).

JimmyTheWig · 30 September 2011 at 12:31PM

So what has anyone said about you that is untrue?

Your credit report will show that
* you share one or more accounts with your wife
* your wife has defaulted on a debt in the past
both of which are true.

The mobile phone companies are using this information and based on their policy (which you aren't even allowed to know) they believe this makes you a high risk. They're not going around telling people that you are a bad risk, so even if you could prove they were wrong then they haven't defamed you.

cwrtcoed · 3 October 2011 at 9:24PM

ok then another scenario, i had a 5,000 car loan from santander 4 years ago it finishes next jan 2012. Santander sent a letter stating as a valued customer you are eligible for a loan, all i had to do was to ring the attached number quoting the code. I thought, ok i nearly paid this one off ill get a small loan to change my car, remember this i never missed a payment always paid on time. After an hour on the phone they eventually told me i had been declined" how frustrating is that.
And as to the last reply, suddenly im a high risk based on some one else who is associated to me, so that restricts me on everything really from getting another car, mortgage or even a phone. I'm not a high risk and in making out i am is damaging to my reputation,how embarressing is it when you get declined in a store for credit.

JimmyTheWig · 4 October 2011 at 9:01PM

I think the point is they are saying that they believe you to be a high risk, based ont he evidence they have about you. That is different to saying that you are high risk, which could be classed as slanderous.

cwrtcoed · 5 October 2011 at 5:59PM

ok cheers jimmy for the advice, i was told to check my equifax report aswell incase they may have anything that didnt pop up on my experian, but as i suspected theres nothing on there. Not sure how long this problem will go on for?

ccj not mine is effecting my credit score

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