Recently Married - Joint Account, Credit Rating Affects & Debt

Catherine11

Hi there,

I've done a bit of research online but sites seem to giver differing answers so I'm hoping that someone here might be able to help.

I'm recently married and would like to set up a joint bank account with my husband.

I have a good credit rating and according to Experian so does my partner. However, we went into Lloyds and they said there was a credit problem on my husband's side that wouldn't allow us to do so. Any ideas how this could happen?

In the past my husband has had problems with money so I was surprised that Experian said his credit rating was excellent.

If it turns out he does have a bad credit rating, how will this affect my credit rating - if at all? Should we keep separate bank accounts?

We have plans to purchase a house in the next few years, I don't want to do anything that could affect us getting a decent mortgage.

Thanks for any help!

Catherine

camuk81

Catherine, I think the key thing is will you need his income to prove the amount you borrow. if so start working on his file

I have a less then good credit rating I only share a savings account and a mortgage and no requirement for anything else.

if yours is excellent he may affect your score. If you are planning to get a mortgage start working on whats wrong i.e. settling any defaults checking everything is correct and no more applications for credit.

As regards the bank account he pays a set amount into one of my accounts which i check every month on a spreadsheet just so he doesn't feel conned.

Get his file and start from there. I would recommend write to all 3 agencies and get the statutory report for £2 and start checking if everything is correct and what can be done to correct this

Tixy

Does he already have any account with lloyds?

It could be that either he has an internal adverse credit mark with them or it could be that they have checked either equifax or callcredit rather than experian - and that he has negative information on there.

First step is to get copies of all 3 of his credit files and see what they say. Also check if he is financially associated with anyone else on his files.

If he does have anything negative or adverse then don't open any joint accounts - and be wary of having utilities etc in joint names.

In terms of you both getting a joint mortgage - you will both need good files at that point. So if he has negatives now - what and how old (in general data falls off after 6years but it does depend on what is on there and when accounts were closed etc) and make sure all future payments are always made on time.

Experian_company_representative

If you do link up your credit reports and your husband has adverse data it could also affect applications you make going forwards just in your name, so you certainly need to establish the facts by getting him to check his credit reports.

James Jones

Catherine11

Thank you all for your replies - of great help!

Forgetting about the mortgage for now, if I open a joint bank account with him does that affect my credit rating instantly?

We are in the process of organising his finances and it's not particularly bad.

He gets a couple of letters from a debt collection agency to his old address - will they be able to see the information from this new account and start letters to the new address too?

Thank you again!

Catherine

Catherine11

I will get the credit reports from all companies

jamesd

Catherine11 wrote: »

Forgetting about the mortgage for now, if I open a joint bank account with him does that affect my credit rating instantly?

Yes, that affects it. It's enough to set up a "financial association" between you. It won't be instant, it'll probably take up to a month, perhaps as long as two months.

Catherine11 wrote: »

He gets a couple of letters from a debt collection agency to his old address - will they be able to see the information from this new account and start letters to the new address too?

That's possible but they may not use the services which can do that.

Don't automatically settle any of his old defaults. If he settles, the settlement date will be the date that controls how long the account status is reported. It can be better to let older defaults to age off after six years than to have them updated again because that can just keep the negative information around longer. For an account that is four to just under six years old and if you don't plan to get a mortgage in the next two years, aging off will probably be better than settling. Six years is the normal time that a default will stick around on a credit report.