Husband in IVA - seems to be affecting my access to banking services

MrsBear_2

My husband is currently in an IVA plan thingy and his financial situation seems to be affecting my ability to access banking/credit facilities. Can anyone advise me on best next steps please?

I've just been declined for the First Direct bank account. I have the Credit Expert thingy from Experian and it's previously always given me a score of 999 - although tonight apparently they have a technical problem and can't show me my full report or a credit score which is very annoying.

I pay my bills on time (largely due to having them all set up on DD! ) and have always been a "good" borrower with no missed payments etc - so the only reason I can think of for them to be turning me down is my husband's situation. I'm worried because our current fixed mortgage finishes during the summer and I want to lock in on a low rate and also switch both our current account (currently with Santander, who are RUBBISH but that's a whole other thread!) and my own current account over the next few months. But all of a sudden it seems to be a "no". What can I do?

We're still happily married thank goodness and he is following his IVA plan and trying to be more organised with his money.

Advice gratefully received!

National_Debtline

Hello there. If you have a joint financial connection - such as a mortgage - your partner's IVA is likely to have a bearing on your own credit score. You may be able to get around this by specifically requesting that any potential bank or lender only performs a credit check taking only into consideration your own circumstances and not your husbands. Not all lenders seem to be able to do this, it'll be worth asking First Direct if they can.

Good luck!

FoggyBrain_2

First Direct ( and HSBC) are well known for being very IVA unfriendly, so this might well be a particular problem with them.

Experian_company_representative

The credit report score we give you alongside your credit report does not factor in data from the credit reports of anyone you're financially linked to for data protection reasons. You could explore breaking the financial link between you and your OH if any current financial connections can be cancelled.

James Jones

MrsBear_2

Thanks for the replies. Feeling rather about it all.

We have a joint account with Santander which we want to move (problems with statements and they messed up 4 direct debits when we switched and one of those seems unresolvable - sigh, and on top of that the interest free overdraft we use at the end of the month has come to an end so I want to switch it if possible to avoid unnecessary charges). I'm concerned that the DD issues we've experience with Santander may have contirbuted to a "marking down" of my credit-worthiness.

Our our mortgage is not joint (in my name only as house was brought with deposit I'd saved and as we knew his credit record was shot to bits). Since I took out the mortgage, his situation got worse and he's since gone into the IVA thingy. However, our fixed period on the mortgage is up for renewal this summer and I'd like to try and lock in a nice low rate if I can - but if I'm being turned down for a current account in my own name then it's not looking good is it?!

katsu

Mrs Bear - can you close the joint a/c and stop having a joint a/c with your husband? If he puts money into an a/c in your name, it won't financially link you, but joint banking/mortgages do.

As your mortgage isn't in his name this might help.

Good luck.