New Joint Account

klfairy

I'm looking around for a new joint account for OH and I. We are with Santander, signing up because we wanted the cashback. We didn't get it because we didn't use their switching service, so I'm on the lookout for a good deal.

I bank with Halifax at the moment. OH has recently opened an account (as yet unused) with Barclays, but still has an account at First Direct.

I think all the best deals are unavailable to us, unless you know of something else? I don't really want to pay a monthly fee, we don't need an overdraft and we will be paying in over £1000 a month.

OH's credit rating will be poor and mine is ok.

Are new offers likely to come out in the new year? Is it better to just sit tight and wait a little while?

Mikeyorks

klfairy wrote: »

we will be paying in over £1000 a month.

So you won't get a better deal than the Halifax Reward account that pays you £75pa gross for simply crediting the account with £1k monthly. You don't need to keep it there for more than seconds if you don't want to actively use the account.

But why do you wish to tarnish your credit rating by associating yourself with your OH via a joint account?

klfairy

Mikeyorks wrote: »

So you won't get a better deal than the Halifax Reward account that pays you £75pa gross for simply crediting the account with £1k monthly. You don't need to keep it there for more than seconds if you don't want to actively use the account.

But why do you wish to tarnish your credit rating by associating yourself with your OH via a joint account?

Is it a bad idea? It makes paying for bills much easier. The idea is that we both pay into a joint account from elsewhere and it's used solely for bills and other joint expenses. This way I can keep on top of it all because he's not the best with money. He's a wonderful man in many ways, but he's not good with finances.

CLAPTON

a very very bad idea

if you have a good credit rating then do not have a joint a/c with some-one with a poor one; it will adversely affect yours

and if he's not good with money then that's a massive reason for not having a joint a/c

seriousDFW

I would echo other posters' concerns. If he accepts that he's bad with finances and you're good, and there is a certain level of trust between you, would he accept you managing all the finances from your sole account? That way you could pay all the bills, but he pays you the agreed amount to cover his share? Or you get his wages paid into your account, and give him his spending money?

The way you manage it depends on your relationship. But I manage joint account with my OH, and she never ever looks at it - I just keep her updated as to what's going on and how much we've got left etc.

Have a discussion and find a way that works - it will be in everybody's interest to keep your credit file looking good, and there are ways of managing joint finances without a joint account.

klfairy

The way things work at the moment is that I get my wages paid into my account and he gets paid by cheque weekly. Most of the bills are attached to my own account at the moment, but a few from our joint account. His cheque gets paid into the joint account. Day to day spending (shopping, petrol and so on) comes from the joint account. He starts a new job just after Christmas and will get his salary paid directly into his own account, and we will both transfer money (a set amount) into the joint account, where all the bills will come from.

I have taken over the money side of things entirely. When I say I'm "ok" with money, I mean I'm learning and I think now I'm doing a decent job. I do now have a budget rather than a list of direct debits and money is set aside for things like dentist bills and new clothes and all that. I record every penny we spend. My credit rating is not perfect. I had a sticky patch a few years ago and missed a few payments. I think I've another year or two before they're cleared off my credit report.

I'm not sure it would make sense to divide the bills up and have him pay some from his account. When we did this in the past he wasn't always on top of things and I'd need to bail him out quite a lot. He'd have accidentally overspent on things/got paid less than normal (he worked in sales and if he didn't hit his target his basic wasn't very good). For us as a family (we have a 2 year old son) I'd rather keep control of things tbh.

Once our debts are paid we will not be having any again. I will not allow him to have a CC and we won't have overdrafts. Does our credit score matter if we don't want credit?

blueberrypie

klfairy wrote: »

Once our debts are paid we will not be having any again. I will not allow him to have a CC and we won't have overdrafts. Does our credit score matter if we don't want credit?

You might not want credit now, but how do you know you won't want it in a year or two (or five)? You might be considering a mortgage or re-mortgage, or a car loan, or a mobile phone contract...

There's absolutely no reason why you can't do what you suggest *but with the "joint" account in your name only*. You can both pay into it, and the bills can be paid out of it (no matter whose name the bills are in). The only difference would be that your partner wouldn't be able to set up the bill payments or withdraw money from the account. There are really no advantages to having a joint account in these days of ATMs and internet banking - you'd be blemishing your credit rating for absolutely no reason.

klfairy

How bad would the "contamination" be?