second named credit cardholder

milo1

I am named as a "2nd cardholder" on my husbands Tesco credit card. The statement is addressed to him solely. Can anyone tell me please that if he was to run up a large debt on this credit card, would I be legally liable to pay the debt if he didn't? I would appreciate any help on this.

Clariman

milo1 wrote:

I am named as a "2nd cardholder" on my husbands Tesco credit card. The statement is addressed to him solely. Can anyone tell me please that if he was to run up a large debt on this credit card, would I be legally liable to pay the debt if he didn't? I would appreciate any help on this.

You would not be liable to pay the debt. It is his debt not yours.

Clariman

milo1

thank you for such a quick reply! You have put my mind at rest now - I don't understand though how I would not be legally liable as the card has my name on it although I am only the 2nd cardholder and didn't actually apply for the card in the first place.

Clariman

milo1 wrote:

thank you for such a quick reply! You have put my mind at rest now - I don't understand though how I would not be legally liable as the card has my name on it although I am only the 2nd cardholder and didn't actually apply for the card in the first place.

It is because the credit agreement is in your husband's name so he owns the debt. As a second cardholder, it means that your husband has given permission for you to make purchases using his credit card, but the liability for the debt still remains with him.

There may be some circumstances where his debt could affect you. I am not an expert in this area so maybe some others could comment, but here are my thoughts. If you have any joint accounts - e.g. a joint mortgage account or a joint bank account, then your credit files will be linked. This would mean that any lender you wanted to borrow from would see elements of your husband's credit history too. If he was handling the debt badly or had a large amount of debt, it could affect your ability to get credit.

If he defaulted on the debts, then the creditors could come looking for other assets that he owns. If any of these were owned jointly then I am not sure whether they could force him to sell his share which might have an impact on you.

Finally, when someone dies with debts outstanding, then they are not automatically written off. The estate of the deceased pays off the debts out of any assets that there are. So if someone died leaving £80,000 of assets and had £20,000 of credit card debt, then the £20,000 would be paid out of the £80,000 and the deceased's next of kin would inherit £60,000. Hopefully, you are a long way away from anything like that. Just trying to give the full picture.

Clariman

marvin

one thing to be careful on though, the credit act also does not apply to any purchase you make so the CC co is not laible as they would be if your husband made the purchase. So no big buys with your card always use the first named card.

(IE if you buy a suite of furniture say and the fly by night firm you used ran off with your dosh, under the act the credit card co (if the bill is paid by cc and is for over £100) are liable to refund you the dosh. they are not however if the purchase is made by the 2nd or later card holders. It only applies to the first named card holder on the account. The person the credit deal is with. Some card co's will honour the act for non first card purchases but why risk it.)

Sun

I have barclaycard and taken barclaycard card protection policy and never had such problem with 2nd card holder.

marvin wrote:

one thing to be careful on though, the credit act also does not apply to any purchase you make so the CC co is not laible as they would be if your husband made the purchase. So no big buys with your card always use the first named card.

(IE if you buy a suite of furniture say and the fly by night firm you used ran off with your dosh, under the act the credit card co (if the bill is paid by cc and is for over £100) are liable to refund you the dosh. they are not however if the purchase is made by the 2nd or later card holders. It only applies to the first named card holder on the account. The person the credit deal is with. Some card co's will honour the act for non first card purchases but why risk it.)

marvin

Sun wrote:

I have barclaycard and taken barclaycard card protection policy and never had such problem with 2nd card holder.

That will depend on the wording of the policy you have paid for with Barclays.

What i referred to is the liability a CC co has in law.