my other half has debts and i would like us

Deals_2

to have a joint account to pay house bills. he has started paying them back. would it be ok to open a joint account (we are not married) or are there any risks? thanks in advance for any advice. regards

LilacPixie

if you open a joint account you would then be financially associated so his bad debt would have an impact on your credit score. but you would not be liale for the actual debt

scottishblondie

As above. Especially if he hasn't been keeping up with his debts then his credit history is going to be pretty messy, so it would trash your credit history too if you open a joint account. I would advise against it.

motoko

Get him to check his credit report first. If he has any missed payments, if his total credit is more than 50% of his income, or his used credit is more than 50% of his total credit, or if he has changed job / house / bank a lot, then don't open a joint account with him as this could affect your ability to obtain credit. But if his debts are at a reasonable level and he has been making regular payments, then there shouldn't be a problem. If you know he has had difficulty getting credit in the last few years, then you can be pretty sure there is a problem on his credit history.

If you open an account in one of your names then you can still both pay into it to cover the bills. OK, only one of you will be able to withdraw from the account, but if the sole purpose of the account is to cover the bills this shouldn't be a problem.

If you do decide to open an account with him and later realise that its affecting you adversely, its no big deal. Just close the account, wait a month or so for the bank to update your credit files, then write to experian, equifax and call credit asking them to remove the financial association with him.

Deals_2

maybe the best thing is for for us to just pay differently . i just wanted something easy but think this joint bank account idea is not going to be a good one for the moment. thanks

motoko wrote: »

Get him to check his credit report first. If he has any missed payments, if his total credit is more than 50% of his income, or his used credit is more than 50% of his total credit, or if he has changed job / house / bank a lot, then don't open a joint account with him as this could affect your ability to obtain credit. But if his debts are at a reasonable level and he has been making regular payments, then there shouldn't be a problem. If you know he has had difficulty getting credit in the last few years, then you can be pretty sure there is a problem on his credit history.

If you open an account in one of your names then you can still both pay into it to cover the bills. OK, only one of you will be able to withdraw from the account, but if the sole purpose of the account is to cover the bills this shouldn't be a problem.

If you do decide to open an account with him and later realise that its affecting you adversely, its no big deal. Just close the account, wait a month or so for the bank to update your credit files, then write to experian, equifax and call credit asking them to remove the financial association with him.

motoko

Deals wrote: »

maybe the best thing is for for us to just pay differently

Yes, you can always put some bills in his name and some in yours, trying to keep the costs as even as you can. This has the added advantage that if you split up in the future (I don't know how long you've been together) then its clear who is liable for what and could save a lot of nastiness.