Joint Bank Account - Credit Rating Fears

oddjobold

I wonder if you can give me some advice.

I am British and my wife is Indonesian. We live in the UK and she is here on a Marriage visa.

When we went to Lloyds TSB to open a bank account in her name they told us that until she had a job they could only offer her the most basic bank account. This would also apply to a joint bank account too. This would be an account with a cash card only not a debit card. This could affect her credit rating. So for the time being we opened an account in my name and let her use that.

She does not have a credit history in this country at all. I have recently done credit report on myself via Equifax and I had an excellent credit rating.

I am looking to apply for a mortgage in the near future.

My wife still does not have a job in the UK and is finding it difficult to get one.

My Questions:

I need to get a joint bank account with her. How will this affect my credit rating? If it is in a negative way – how bad would it be? At the moment my credit history is spotless.

When I get a mortgage can I still apply in both our names or should it just be mine?

Thanks in advance for the help.

InsideInsurance

By getting any form of joint credit facility you will create a link and so you will partially start impacting each others ratings. How much you will impact each other is purely down to the individual lenders in question and it can vary considerably. Having no history is not considered as bad as having a negative history but underwriters are a cautious bunch by nature and no history + short time in the UK can unnerve them a little.

Somewhat ironically the higher accounts (Lloyds Private, HSBC Premier, Natwest Private, CitiGold etc) actually tend to be easier to add wives etc to than the more run of the mill ones. It is the rare occasion that I've found the "RM" type person (aka sales man) actually adding value.

My wife has almost no history (though has been in the UK for 7 years now and is now a british citizen) and so has similar issues when applying on her own but was fine being added to my account. I did have a meeting with a Lloyds TSB Private Manager a couple of months ago as have been trying to change my banking for a while and they assured that she could be added as long as can pass the Know Your Customer checks and no defaults, CCJs or CIFAS loadings - didnt go ahead with it because of 3 failed promised calls never happened and they then blamed others when they did eventually call.

You can apply in joint names for a mortgage irrespective of if you have joint banking. In theory having a second name only can lesson the risk as each party becomes jointly and severably liable for the debt but by "revealing" the details of your wife and her lack of history if you dont have any joint products could cause concerns that wouldnt exist if no joint products and no joint application (what they dont know cant hurt them etc)

oddjobold

Thanks for the advice.

Anyone else have other experiances?

CLAPTON

why ever didn't you take the a/c offered to your wife?

after a while it's likely they would agree to upgrade it and in any event it would be useful and have no downside

oddjobold

well the point is i want to know how much it will affect my credit rating before getting a morgage.

oddjobold

to the top

CLAPTON

oddjobold wrote: »

well the point is i want to know how much it will affect my credit rating before getting a morgage.

credit rating is a meaningless number created by credit agencies to make money out of you

each lender have their own criteria for lending money;

the fact that you have been refused a joint bank a/c is a bit of a hint

you don't NEED a joint a/c although you may want one

no-one here can answer your question about how a specific lender will respond to you mortrgage request although they are usually concerned about how much you earn and how big the deposit in relation to the mortgage size

however, I'm sure that her having a bank a/c would not be a negative