credit rating and HSBC

Hannu

Sorry not sure if this is the right place for this subject but here goes.
to cut a long story short in 2000 my wife got into bad credit behind my back to the tune of £30000. we re mortgaged to pay off the credit card debt at that time and I made her run the house from a joint account with a account book as if running a business.
I have just found that she has done the same without me knowing this time its £10000.
Basically she has gone to our bank where my account the joint account and the mortgage is and asked to open an account of her own even though her salary goes to the joint account. Knowing that we re mortgaged because of her bad debt they have given her an account with an overdraft five times greater than mine and the joint account and without applying gave her a credit card with a £7000 limit. Having taken all this to the limit she replied to a mail shot from Citibank for a 0% interest transfer and took that to the limit with a PPI. (yes I know letters have been sent re the PPI).
The bank say she has been given credit on the back of my and the joint accounts good credit !!!.
With her bad history of less than six years should the bank have given credit ?? How do I approach my problem without going to the divorce court ?

rayday2

I am not sure you can challenge a lending decision think its the wife you need to challenge!

And to that I can't think of a way you can do it, you could take her off the joint account but not sure how you can sort shopping out etc. Sorry!

GeorgeUK

I agree with rayday. If she is getting credit only because of the joint account, then that has to go.

Talk to her about it and point out that keeping your accounts seperate will allow you to obtain credit if you really need it without the previous bad debt impacting both your credit ratings.

purpledelly

I agree with the others - whilst it's grossly irresponsible of HSBC, you probably can't challenge what they've allowed your wife to do. You need to tackle it with your wife.
I'm wondering what the reason for her spending is - addiction? gambling? boredom? Is there some other problem which she is trying to compensate for by buying things. What sort of things is she buying. Although it must be exasperating for you if you love her and do want to stay together you need to try and gently (but firmly) help her get to the bottom of the problem. If you don't want to stay together that's a different matter I guess.
Does she work? Perhaps if not, then she could? It might 'keep her off the streets' so to speak - keep her busy and away from shops.
She might welcome you keeping a very close reign on her from now on - but my advice would be to make sure she wants to change and wants you to do that. Because if she doesn't want you to it will breed resentment. If she doesn't want to face up to the problem then that's another thinking point too really.

I hope that helps a bit and wish you lots of luck

Hannu

purpledelly wrote: »

I agree with the others - whilst it's grossly irresponsible of HSBC, you probably can't challenge what they've allowed your wife to do. You need to tackle it with your wife.
I'm wondering what the reason for her spending is - addiction? gambling? boredom? Is there some other problem which she is trying to compensate for by buying things. What sort of things is she buying. Although it must be exasperating for you if you love her and do want to stay together you need to try and gently (but firmly) help her get to the bottom of the problem. If you don't want to stay together that's a different matter I guess.
Does she work? Perhaps if not, then she could? It might 'keep her off the streets' so to speak - keep her busy and away from shops.
She might welcome you keeping a very close reign on her from now on - but my advice would be to make sure she wants to change and wants you to do that. Because if she doesn't want you to it will breed resentment. If she doesn't want to face up to the problem then that's another thinking point too really.

I hope that helps a bit and wish you lots of luck

She works part time (3 days a week) mainly because of the children.

She Say's she has no idea what she has spent the money on !!!!! nothing round the house to show for it.

I have written and made her send letter to the companies to freeze the accounts but she refuses to sign the complaint letter I have written to the ombudsman !!.

I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

GeorgeUK

She may be feeling guilty which is why she isn't signing a complaint letter. Is she still spending? If she is, it might be time for some tough love - then at least one of you can get the groceries in.

As long as she's aware of the problem she has created and has taken steps not to repeat it there shouldn't be a problem. If she isn't facing up to the problem, make her aware of how bad it could have been as BOTH your credit ratings could/have been seriously hit.

Try putting together a SOA to show her and stress the amount that is being paid to the Credit comapnies each month. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280
Use the snowball calculator at http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx to show all the debts you have and show her how much you are bying in interest to the banks.

Hopefully she'll see that it would be better to have that money than letting the banks get it. And possibly seeing exactly how much debt there is will shock her into action.

tallyhoh

I dont agree with what your wife has done & feel for you as I my OH is crap with money & has got us into loads of trouble.
This is just an observation but is it possible that your wife has opened another account & frittered money away as a reaction to you treating her as though she is a youngster that has done something naughty.

I note that twice you have said that you "made" her do something. Could you perhaps try giving her a bit more say- maybe its a knee jerk reaction.

GeorgeUK

Just noticed this hadn't been suggested.

View your Credit Report (free) at experian. Just sign up and cancel within 30 days.
Ask your wife to do the same. Hopefully there aren't any old forgotten debts, or new ones that she's been too scared to tell you about.

Is she doing anything proactively about this? If not can you involve her rather than just taking over all responsability for the problem?

Gale_10

Hello,

Lots of people on here seem to have OH's that are keen on spending. I clamped down on my husband because I worked really hard to pay off about a quarter of his credit card bill. He then spent all the money I had put on it. Doubly difficult because he spent the money on me!

Anyway this is what I would do, in your situation.

1. Sit down and calmly explain to your wife that her behaviour is putting both of your credit ratings at risk, and that you can't have that.

2. Move everything into your name, and if you can, get her to change her account to one with no overdraft etc. Most banks do a basic account. If she wont do this, then write to her bank and explain that her overdrafts are her problem and you are not going to be responsible for them.

3. Depending on how much she earns, tell her that she must buy the groceries and pay off her debts. I have a family of five and our shopping bill is around £60 per week, that includes food for two dogs and a parrot, and nappies etc for a seven month old.

If she doesn't earn enough to pay for groceries, she needs to just spend her money on paying off her debts. She must, MUST be made to see that she is responsible for her actions, and it is something that SHE has to deal with.

You have to explain this calmly though, even if she screams and shouts, which she probably will. Refuse to argue, refuse to be moved on this. Its probably the first time in her life that someone has ever forced her to look at a situation which she is totally responsible for, which is bound to shock her, poor thing.

Its not an easy situation for anyone, and I wish you well.

Gale.

Hannu

GeorgeUK wrote: »

Just noticed this hadn't been suggested.

View your Credit Report (free) at experian. Just sign up and cancel within 30 days.
Ask your wife to do the same. Hopefully there aren't any old forgotten debts, or new ones that she's been too scared to tell you about.

Is she doing anything proactively about this? If not can you involve her rather than just taking over all responsability for the problem?

Yes done that !! mine is fine but she wont, When I did this back in 2000 before data protection I found that she had many unpaid months on credit !.

She is very good at burying her head in the sand hoping it will go away.
I have sat down and explained all the pro's and con's with her but its like water off a ducks back. She knows its wrong she is very bright but wont face up to it.

I have a meeting with the Bank tomorrow

GettingThingsDone

Hi Hannu - feel sorry for you there! Sounds like you really need to get to the bottom of where the money is going.

I think most of us DFW's know that money just seems to spend itself sometimes, but are you sure you don't know where she has been spending it? Can you get access to statements? It could just be shopping (designer clothes soon add up) or it could be something more 'dangerous' like gambling.

I think once you get to that underlying reason for spending you'll find the solution much more workable.

Good luck and keep posting!

gtd