Does getting married increase credit rating?

marvin

I have noticed a considerable uplift in decent offers since I got married is this a coincidence?

Not that I am advocating people get married to increase their score just it has occurred to me as the only thing that has changed in my life

matttye

Some lenders may look more favourably on married couples but it doesn't affect your credit files unless you're financially linked to your spouse (through a joint account). This would have been the case if you had a joint account but were unmarried too, though.

The_Boss

marvin wrote: »

I have noticed a considerable uplift in decent offers since I got married is this a coincidence?

Not that I am advocating people get married to increase their score just it has occurred to me as the only thing that has changed in my life

Good that you're not advocating it to increase a 'credit score' since there is no such thing as a fixed credit score and different lenders will score marital status differently, with some possibly not caring. Some lenders/financial products prefer applicants who are married or live with a partner as it suggests greater stability. But different lenders will score it in different ways.

Roota_2

marvin wrote: »

I have noticed a considerable uplift in decent offers since I got married is this a coincidence?

Not that I am advocating people get married to increase their score just it has occurred to me as the only thing that has changed in my life

Depends who you marry. My wife noticed her credit rating go downhill fast when she married me

thebaroness

Getting married doesn't cause a financial connection. A joint application would do this but marriage is irrelevant.

matttye

thebaroness wrote: »

Getting married doesn't cause a financial connection. A joint application would do this but marriage is irrelevant.

Doesn't matter; many lenders ask for your marital status on applications and may look favourably on married people.

ValHaller

marvin wrote: »

I have noticed a considerable uplift in decent offers since I got married is this a coincidence?

Not that I am advocating people get married to increase their score just it has occurred to me as the only thing that has changed in my life

I would say that this is no more than you appearing on the radar as being married for companies who are looking to sell to married couples - becoming married probably increases the demand for credit for a while, so the companies may judge that the take up rate will be more effective if they target newly marrieds. Over time, I expect those offers to be made to you less frequently.

As for the actual credit rating, well you know by now that each lender has its own credit score and they may take opposing views.

Mortgage lenders penalise single (ie sole) borrowers on income multipliers - basically they offer the same multiplier, but with a single income, it is much harder to get a first property. On credit score I have no idea - but I would suspect that a FTB single borrower would be well regarded over a FTB married couple within the respective borrowing limits, because single buyers tend not to have relationship breakups which cause property issues.

thebaroness

matttye wrote: »

Doesn't matter; many lenders ask for your marital status on applications and may look favourably on married people.

Sorry, I was responding to Roota who implied that his wife's credit rating suffered due to getting married. Only a financial link to someone with poor credit would do this, not getting married.

I agree with you that lenders treat marriage favourably as it represents stability along with things like long time at current address, home ownership (obviously doesn't apply to FTB), long time with current employer.

MoneySaverLog

The_Boss wrote: »

different lenders will score marital status differently, with some possibly not caring.

If it's on a lenders application form, then it's scored by them (Either positive or negative). Otherwise if it was neutral they would have no need to ask for it.

Buzby

MoneySaverLog wrote: »

If it's on a lenders application form, then it's scored by them (Either positive or negative). Otherwise if it was neutral they would have no need to ask for it.

Considering the number of firms who routinely ask for a DoB where such information is wholly irrelevant, it is usually for data capture purposes and nothing more. I always randomise m DoB wherever possible.

MoneySaverLog

DoB is relevant as legally you have to be 18 to apply for credit. Also they may well look on how long you plan to pay back over taking into account your current age and how long you may choose to remain employed / survive the term of the loan.