Joint bank account for 3 people

abby1234519

can a bank account have three joint people on it

~Beanie~

Yes you can.

abby1234519

Thank you! Just trying to work out how to rent a flat with two friends. L thinks we should pay a bill each, I think we should have an account and all bills depart from that

Sharon87

I'd be careful as if any of you have bad credit ratings everyone else could be affected.

In my old house share I held the account for where the bills came out of and the housemates paid in a certain amount each month to cover it.

CLAPTON

abby1234519 wrote: »

Thank you! Just trying to work out how to rent a flat with two friends. L thinks we should pay a bill each, I think we should have an account and all bills depart from that

total madness
don't even thing about it
you will be jointly and severally responsible for the account and any spending thereon
and it harder to dissolve a joint a/c than set it up
and if one of the three has a bad credit rating or incurs one late you will all suffer.

yes, pay a bill each and then settle up after each bill comes in.. then your risk is tightly controlled.
if you dont trust each other to pay 1/3 of each bill in an honest fashion, then your certainly dont trust them with a joint a/c.

Primrose

I'd echo Clapton's advice. They may be friends, but you have no guarantee of their trustworthiness regarding their financial affairs. As he advises, if one of them gets into financial difficulties, all your credit ratings could be affected. You would also have to resolve the issue as to whether all three signatures should be on cheques, or for individual transactions which may not be convenient or timely if one of you is away on holiday, etc. And if you settle for one signature only on the account, what is to stop one irresponsible person withdrawing the whole sum or running up a huge overdraft?
Don't go there! Joint accounts are for married people who have made a full time commitment to each other. Not for flat sharers.
Keep a spreadsheet of expenses and settle up with each other on a monthly basis. You will quickly discover whether any of them are unreliable with their finances if the cash doesn't appear promptly.

chuckley

Bill in one persons name and then divide it and give said person the cash.

im baffled as to y folks think a new account makes it even?! yea right. more complicated more like.

in my last student house (4 ppl) our landlord had gas in 2 names and leccy in the other 2.

flossy_splodge

CLAPTON wrote: »

total madness
don't even thing about it
you will be jointly and severally responsible for the account and any spending thereon
and it harder to dissolve a joint a/c than set it up
and if one of the three has a bad credit rating or incurs one late you will all suffer.

I sooo agree with CLAPTON.
My daughter went into her first flat share some months ago.
Instead of asking her mum for advice :silenced: she went ahead and set up a joint account with her flat mate, someone she had only known a short while at work.

Now they have fallen out and are ceasing their joint tenancy end of Jan.

Problem is, my daughter, being the trusting soul she is, has NEVER been made party to the joint account details, can't access it (internet account) and has no idea why they have incurred nearly £200 of charges._pale_
The flat mate is giving her the run around and she won't listen to me that she needs to take this seriously!

She seems to think that as the account (A&L) is internet only, that that means she cannot phone anyone as they won't accept phone calls, only internet contact.:doh:

If she'd asked, I would have said NEVER EVER have a joint account with someone you have no legal link with.
They can screw you and you can screw them.

Please be cautious. The mess is horrendous to sort out if things go wrong.

Maciej_Zagozda

Yes, better be careful. If you're living with other people, you already depend on them. Sounds risky to set up a scheme where one person pays council tax, bills, etc., but actually the only alternative - joint account with other housemates is even riskier.

Uncertain

I agree with all the words of caution above!

Also, it is not easy to set up an account that is not in a person's name. I used to be involved in an activity where a group of four of us owned and operated an expensive item. We each agreed a monthly "subscription" to cover the running costs and tried to set up an account for any two to sign. Wow, what a performance. In the end we had to form a "club" with four members, keep minutes of meetings, resolutions to appoint "treasurer" etc. And this was six years ago - must be even harder now!

wccc45

I'd agree that you dont go into joint account with someone you don't know too well but in house share situations it can be ok.

I have had a mortgage for 3 years with a friend. All Bills and Mortgage come out of the house account. We each pay a sum into the house account every month which pays for everything. We do this by standing order on the 3rd day of every month. It is then seen by all on the monthly statements whats been going on etc.

The reason it worked so well for us is that everything was paid by direct debit and audited equally..

If you pay everything sperately, then there is the possibility that you could miss payments or end up messing about with transferring money from one to another...

Other option for paying bills, especially if you share with unknowns such as uni house etc, you can sign up to other schemes such as www.glide.uk.com which takes seperate payment from each house mate and does't put responsibilty on everyone else. If you dont pay your share, your fault.

Basiclly, if you are sensible and not naive, then its all good. :beer:

Dan