Lodger & credit report

hart89

Hi all,
Sorry to jump on this but my query is related. I am currently trying to disassociate financially with my partner in order to apply for a mortgage as I'm worried his bad credit will affect my application. We did have a joint account and his name has been removed and the financial association for the joint account has since come off. However we are both named on the Welsh water account so there is a financial connection there, and also one from Monmouthshire building society as we were both going to buy a house together in the summer, which fell through.


Do financial connections for utility bills have the same potential to negatively affect your credit file as say, a joint bank account or credit card etc? If I close the welsh water account and pay my bills each month by phone, would that be ok, or would closing the account have any negative affect ?

Ben8282

The recent refusal of credit is unlikely to be connected to you.
Just out of curiosity, how does he know about your 'bad credit? Surely not something a landlady would normally discuss with a lodger.
Is he on the electoral roll at your address? If not this is a highly likely reason for refusal.
Also, perhaps he applied for something that he would never have got anyway.

McKneff

Hart89

Please start a thread of your own. It gets confusing and no one knows who is answering who.
It is connsidered a bit rude to hijack some one elses thread xx

hart89

Ok sorry, just I have seen a lot of people get told off on here for starting a new thread when there are similar threads already on the go..... it's a bit difficult knowing the "rules" when your a new person on here !!

PRAISETHESUN

hart89 wrote: »

Ok sorry, just I have seen a lot of people get told off on here for starting a new thread when there are similar threads already on the go..... it's a bit difficult knowing the "rules" when your a new person on here !!

The general idea is to look at the FAQs, the sticky threads and use the search function to try answer your questions. Most people's questions can easily be answered without having to make a post, and it does get slightly frustrating for regulars who have to answer the same questions because people can't be bothered to spend a bit of time searching. The main problem with hijacking someone's else's thread however is that it becomes hard to follow who is replying to whom, making it difficult to get the right answers to your question. Also not everyone will read down to your question so you get a better chance to have your question read and replied to by starting a new thread.

To answer your question though, not all utility companies report to the CRAs and even then they won't report to all of them. Whilst it's not a guarantee of being financially linked, having both names on the utility bill will make you both jointly liable for any missed payments, which can be recorded on both your credit files. Even without any missed payments, I would expect this to financially link the two of you. Some lenders might place more weight on joint credit cards, etc over joint utility accounts, but you are unlikely to be told the criteria used when you make an application.

You could close your account, but presumably you still need water so that isn't really feasible. The method of payment doesn't affect who is responsible for the bills, it is who is named on the account that does matter. What you can do is remove the second name from the account and then keep paying however you want to remove any potential financial link.