MoneySavingExpert.com Credit Club

vickk

Hi, I have a couple of questions regarding the club if someone can help.

My wife and I live together and I am retired early on a company pension and my wife is retired on the state pension. Is it correct then that I have put 1 dependent living with me or should that be 0 as she has her own pension?

My loan rating is listed as weak, mainly because my total income is around 28K and outstanding credit is around 16K mainly due to a car pcp. However does the fact that I have savings and the ability to pay of the loan at any time not come into this, or do savings not count?

MSE_Dan_L

Hi there

There's not a hard and fast answer on this - technically it depends on whether you financially support your wife. But as your wife has her own pension income, you could legitimately put down that you don't have a dependent.

Savings around factored into affordability and they won't show on your credit file, so these won't contribute to the scores shown in Credit Club.

I hope this helps.

speedyrite

Opinion: MSE Dan L's answer (re savings not being factored into affordability nor showing on credit files) highlights what might be considered a flaw in the system/a weakness in the way that people, such as retired with pension income and savings - who might be classed perhaps as "people who are economically inactive (i.e. no or low income) but with independent means (i.e. substantial amounts of savings and other near-liquid assets)" - are not and cannot be accurately assessed. I suppose it could be argues that, by not having a full picture of all the finances, customers of this type could be missing out on deals and potential lenders to this type of customer could be missing out on good quality customers.