Joint account with partner who has bad credit

markimark1984

Good morning all.

My partner has recently moved in with me and we are sorting all the monthly payments out for bills etc.

From posting and receiving some excellent advice from these forums I am fully aware not to put our names on to any credit facilities together as this will have an adverse effect on mine, however, a joint account was mentioned the other day and this would fall into a credit facility with both our names on.

My bank, Barclays, did recommend a basic bank account where I would have a debit card and he would have a cash card, and apparently this would not affect my credit file as the account wouldn't be joint, it would be in my name and he would be a named user.

I was wondering if you guys knew of any other options there were out there for people in my situation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Mark

muddy-pawz

Me and my partner have the Barclays account.

Neither of us have a great score (my defaults are all paid off but still on my score, and my partner is still paying defaults from when we were both young and stupid!!) but I can get some basic credit as I am building my score and I haven't noticed any changes in my score since setting up my joint account.

I use Clearscore and Noddle to check my credit score and it's improving slightly every month

markimark1984

@muddy-pawz

Thanks very much for your reply. Do you mind me asking how your account is set up? Is it a joint basic, or is it under one of your names and the other is a named user?

I'm assuming this allows you to operate jointly without it affecting each others credit?

Sorry for all the questions!

I'm on Noddle, I'll check out clear score too, thanks!

jonesMUFCforever

I'm not sure that Barclays gave you correct information about the basic account cards.
Banks normally give you one card per account (in the account name)to get a second card you would either have to make it joint or have 3rd party authority for him to sign.

My advice is - keep your finances separate until both your credit files are clean.
If you don't the one with the bad record will drag down the good one.

colsten

Simply the process of applying jointly will create a financial association between you.
http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/faq/AR3.html

Doctor_Duke

If one of you has a good credit file and the other not, do not apply for anything joint as this may impact on credit scoring due to the financial link that is created between you. I'd avoid it if you can until your partner's file improves over time.

No_6

If your partner has a poor credit record do not go for a joint account.

Dan83

I never understand why people worry about credit ratings.

He/she is your partner, you have moved in together so it must be serious, why not just go for the joint account, OK it'll pull you down but it'll soon build back up and it'll help build him up aswell.

People with poor credit still get loans, mortgages and credit cards. A credit score isn't the be all and end all.

xylophone

Why do you need a joint account?

You can set up all the monthly direct debits from your account which he can credit with his share by monthly SO?

fromtheshires

Dan83 wrote: »

I never understand why people worry about credit ratings.

He/she is your partner, you have moved in together so it must be serious, why not just go for the joint account, OK it'll pull you down but it'll soon build back up and it'll help build him up aswell.

People with poor credit still get loans, mortgages and credit cards. A credit score isn't the be all and end all.

The problem is your credit report (and financial links) affect how lenders see you as a person. If the financial instituation are offering a great rate, if you have a link with someone with a bad report, lenders will tihnk twice about giving you the best rate. MSE people are always after the best rate to spend less.
My partner has an identical name and DOB as someone else in this country who defaults on everything - CC / loans / phone bills etc and they are all on my partners credit report. I have tried to get them all removed / sorted etc but none of them want to play ball and the ICO is totally useless at resolving. As a result their report is horrendous. Would I want to be linked to that - no way would I as that means we cant get the best deals for the pair of us.
Yes it means everything is in my name and I am liable for everything but I just get 50% of any bill forwarded to me when its due to be paid and it goes out of my account.

xylophone

My partner has an identical name and DOB as someone else in this country who defaults on everything - CC / loans / phone bills etc and they are all on my partners credit report. I have tried to get them all removed / sorted etc but none of them want to play ball and the ICO is totally useless at resolving.

It is your partner who should be resolving this. https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/credit/

Has he tried his MP? Has he tried CAB?