Evidence of credit / applications - Can it be under the radar?
treenytot
Forumite 4 Posts
Hello. Apologies if wrong thread.
Looking for some advice and reassurance RE evidencing of current credit and new applications tied to a specific person.
For background purposes, my husband has very recently admitted a secret gambling addiction and resulting five-figure secret debt. "Luckily" at the point he admitted this, we had just come in to some money which covered the debt and it is now settled. Problem 1 - taken care of. He has handed control of his bank account and his credit file account to me (please don't come at me about this. It is completely with his agreement and to prevent a damaging relapse of spending and return to debt whilst he seeks therapy) so that I can ensure he is not applying for any more credit or spending any money on gambling.
My question is this - can he still apply for any "secret" credit in any way, that would somehow be under the radar of his credit file? I'm aware there is a delay in things filtering through the credit file, but I'm talking of things that simply would not appear on there? I basically need to know if there is any other way he can bring debt in to my life without me knowing about it, even if I am keeping an eye on his credit file.
I am well aware this is no way to spend a marriage, however at present it is desperate times, and i really hope to be out of the woods with this at some point. I am also aware I can never trust him with our money and our credit rating ever again, and that realistically I will always need to check up on him or it will eat me alive with worry. Prior to this we did not have a joint account or any control of each other's money whatsoever, so this is all very new to us. As a side note, anyone who has any advice on the gambling addiction itself, that advice is warmly welcomed.
Many thanks.
Looking for some advice and reassurance RE evidencing of current credit and new applications tied to a specific person.
For background purposes, my husband has very recently admitted a secret gambling addiction and resulting five-figure secret debt. "Luckily" at the point he admitted this, we had just come in to some money which covered the debt and it is now settled. Problem 1 - taken care of. He has handed control of his bank account and his credit file account to me (please don't come at me about this. It is completely with his agreement and to prevent a damaging relapse of spending and return to debt whilst he seeks therapy) so that I can ensure he is not applying for any more credit or spending any money on gambling.
My question is this - can he still apply for any "secret" credit in any way, that would somehow be under the radar of his credit file? I'm aware there is a delay in things filtering through the credit file, but I'm talking of things that simply would not appear on there? I basically need to know if there is any other way he can bring debt in to my life without me knowing about it, even if I am keeping an eye on his credit file.
I am well aware this is no way to spend a marriage, however at present it is desperate times, and i really hope to be out of the woods with this at some point. I am also aware I can never trust him with our money and our credit rating ever again, and that realistically I will always need to check up on him or it will eat me alive with worry. Prior to this we did not have a joint account or any control of each other's money whatsoever, so this is all very new to us. As a side note, anyone who has any advice on the gambling addiction itself, that advice is warmly welcomed.
Many thanks.
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There will be the odd lender who won't go via the CRAs and, of course, he can get credit from Knuckles Malone down the pub without it appearing on his credit files. But those are outliers.
Lenders who don't go through CRAs, is it safe to assume they are shady lenders?
Yes, Knuckles Malone will probably be haunting my anxious thoughts for some time unfortunately.
If your husband feels ready to tackle his addiction then there's help out there - for starters there's the info in this link -
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/gambling-addiction/
and there's also information there for relatives of gamblers.
Academic research into addiction is ongoing and there is some more info here -
https://www.nightingalehospital.co.uk/gambling-addiction/
It's good that you are taking charge of the finances but your husband will also need lots of help. Luckily, you seem very willing to help him - I know many people can be critical of gamblers but it is a recognised illness and people need help. It's really great that he felt he could open up to you about it. Many gamblers don't.