Now Valentine’s Day is over I’m hoping that you won’t think I’m being miserable posting this but when I read the stats I was genuinely shocked. No matter how loved up you are you NEED to make sure you don’t fall into the trap that as much as 69% of Brits do.
So here it is – did you know that if you take out a financial product with your partner you remain financially linked for 6 years (even if that product has closed down!). That’s 6 whole years where you might get bad credit because that guy you dumped in 2012 can’t manage his money!
According to ClearScore (who offer free credit checking services), there are millions of Brits at risk of being turned down for mortgages, credit cards or other financial products because they’re unknowingly financially “linked”
to ex-partners with poor financial histories.
When applying for credit products, banks and lenders can look at any financial connections you have. That means the 11.7 million Brits who have taken out a joint product in the past could be refused credit if their ex-partner has a history of financial behaviour that lenders don’t like.
ClearScore says that nearly seven in ten Brits are unaware that a connection still exists after an account is closed. And 94% of the people who understand they remain connected wrongly believe they are connected for less than six years.
Ensuring you are desirable for lenders is essential in getting the best deals available on everything from credit cards to mobile phone contracts.
Figures show that up to 60% of credit card applications are rejected each year.
According to the research, over half of us think taking out a joint financial product with a partner from whom we’ve since separated has negatively affected our credit score.
If you think that the financial decisions you made in the past could be putting you at risk it’s time to start checking to make sure that you have absolutely no financial connections with past partners – or you could have a long wait before you can get any credit.
To find out how lenders will view you and your credit check out ClearScore for a free credit rating.
