When only an average salary will do

bokeh1979

Understanding that consistency across the board in answering credit application questions like mobile number, job title and salary can make or break a credit check, I have a question about salary. My primary source of income comes from waiting on tables -- I have gone back to school in an effort to acquire some new skills -- and my monthly income varies. I get 30 hours of work a week at the minimum wage plus a cut of the credit card gratuities. Cash tips are in addition to this.

There can be a variance of up to £200 from month-to-month depending on working in excess of 30 hours and/or a higher amount of credit card/service charge earned. My question is this: when I am asked about my income on, say a credit card application, is it acceptable to work out the average monthly wage over 12 months to determine an average annual income and offer that figure or would this 'average' figure be considered unrepresentative?

Nebulous2

I'd try to be as accurate as possible, then consistently use that figure. I'm assuming you only have a limited amount of data - less than a year?

Don't take highest month and multiply by 12. Add the total for the months you have, divide by the number of months then multiply by 12.


It's unlikely you can include cash tips.

In reality many people will 'guess.' That can lead to problems and if it is outside anything reasonably likely could come back to bite you.

phillw

bokeh1979 wrote: »

is it acceptable to work out the average monthly wage over 12 months to determine an average annual income and offer that figure or would this 'average' figure be considered unrepresentative?

As long as your situation hasn't changed then reporting what you actually earned over the last 12 months as your annual income is reasonable. If they ever look for proof then you have payslips to back it up.

Normally the only place they'll look is previous credit applications, for how much you said you previously said. So be consistent.

bokeh1979

Thank you. I had wondered about cash tips -- they average out at a set sum most months -- and won't include that information in future credit applications. I will now use an average taken from 12 months of earrings and be consistent.