Car Finance PCP query - Declined for me but DH happy to reapply in his name

[CarQuery]

I have just applied for a PCP Car Finance deal and it was declined. The cost would have been £110 per month for a brand new car with a £3000 deposit.
The car dealership told me they are not given the reason it has been declined but to check with Experian. I have looked at my Experian credit rating online and I am rated as ‘Good’. I asked the dealership if credit card debt is counted and they said they didn’t think so. I don’t have any loans but I do have credit card debt so this must be the reason why my application was declined.

I applied for the finance because it will be my car and I will be paying for it.
My DH has kindly said he would be happy to complete a new car finance application for the car. I would then pay my DH the full amount each month. Both our names would be on the insurance.
We did it this way for our current car, it is in my DH’s name but I pay him each month. It is now paid for and we will be selling it when we get a new car.
The new car we wanted to buy would be much more economical all around.

The car dealer has said that they can’t now start a new application in my DH’s name because we live at the same address. It basically sounds like we can’t buy a car from this dealer / car manufacturer because my failed application is on their records.

My question is if we looked to buy a car on PCP Finance from a different dealer let’s say Citroen in my DH’s name, is there a chance he could be declined because we live at the same address?
My DH’s credit rating is ‘Excellent’ and my main concern is if he is declined because of my failed application (living at the same address). I don’t want that to affect him negatively in anyway.

Does anyone have experience of this? Advice would be appreciated please.

I have NC’d for this thread. Please note I am dealing with my credit card debt. It is from a business venture that failed. I work full time and need the car for work and family life.
Can I ask that people are kind, I am asking for constructive advice please. Thank you for reading.

As far as I'm aware, credit reports are tied to individuals, not addresses. It might only be an issue if you're financially linked, for example you have a bank account together.

This happened to me but in the opposite way a few years ago -it was declined for my husband but the finance guy at the dealers just reapplied straight away under my name and it was approved. We lived at the same address, joint account BUT we weren’t married at the time, if that maybe made a difference. My husband just had too much debt, afaik the rule of thumb is you can be in debt to half your earnings and credit card debt does count!

First up, you need your credit report, not your score. Your “good” and your husbands “excellent” are scores from Experian and mean nothing, they aren’t even shown to companies who apply to see your credit file. Your actual file is.

Secondly your debt is individual, addresses are not blacklisted and you will only affect your husbands credit file if you have joint credit such as a mortgage or bank account together.

The car dealership are being a bit weird not just putting through the application in your husbands name, that’s perfectly allowed and normal... you can definitely go to another dealer and get the car in your husbands name. Although it’s a really good idea for you both to look at your actual reports and not your scores, so you are both aware of whether you’re financially linked, total credit available, any missed payments etc before you do so.

Hi DonnaDarko,

Thank you for your post. I’m hoping this is the case and this application / credit rating would only affect me individually and not our address. It’s just the dealership has made us both concerned for my DH’s sake saying they couldn’t make an application in his name now that mine has failed.

We have one joint bank account but also separate bank accounts, all in credit with no overdrafts.
If my DH applied he would use his own bank account for the payments.

Finance companies don't like the finance to be in the name of anyone other than the main driver of the car. For any other relationship, it's called an accommodation deal and it would be declined if discovered. There's a bit more leniency with husband and wives as people tend to have joint finances anyway and it's less messy if they need to reposess the car.

It really depends on the lender and their attitude to risk. I would say it's unlikely to cause a rejection if your husband's credit file is otherwise good.

Hi @Montyman , Thank you for your post.

Hi @AnchorDownDeepBreath ,
Thank you this is really helpful.
We also can’t quite understand where the dealership is coming from, it seemed weird to us too. It would seem strange to have to find another car dealer/manufacturer just so that my husband could apply himself. But from what we have been told by this dealership this is what we will end up having to do.
We will follow your advice and check our actual reports not just our ratings.

Hi @leghairdontcare ,

Thank you for your post. They did mention an accommodation deal which they couldn’t do. We thought it would be possible to start the whole thing again, a new application under my husbands name but it seems not with this dealer.

It's the finance company, not the dealer so if you're going to go elsewhere you need to know what finance company the dealer is using.

Thank you leghairdontcare. I have got the direct phone number for the car finance company and the application reference number now so will call them to ask the situation about whether DH could apply in his own right. The dealership itself has given inaccurate advice on a few things so far so I think it best to go to the finance company direct.