To call 'bullshit' on not being eligible for overdraft as a SAHM

[ShouldiWork]

Apparently unless I have a wage of at least £500 per month they can't process my overdraft application further. Despite there not being a month in the last 20 years when that account has turned over less that 1.5K per month - whether through employment - or through being the 'housekeeping' account. And despite me having a 4K credit card with them that I'd happily give up to reduce my overall credit line with them.

It's a pain - because I write so many cheques for DC activities etc - and they can be cashed at unpredictable times, which is hard to keep track of.

I feel like I'm being forced into becoming a +1 on DHs current account in order to be able to benefit from normal banking functions like an overdraft buffer - and for various reasons this annoys me.

Signed:

The economically invisible woman

• Banks have the privilege of looking at situations from a less emotional perspective and their research will be telling them that a woman reliant on her husband is a bad risk

Op I am a bad risk obv who kicked up a stink said I was being penalised and got what I want.

Try it.

I agree it is infuriating - you can have your own money, your own means and they treat you like a second class citizen.
I came across something similar a few years ago when DP was applying for his first credit card (just for using online) ...this is Nationwide.
I actually think I have an overdraft with them anyway of £250 from years ago...(used to keep minimum money in that account, I had set up to pay something on that date - then realised I'd not moved the money in. Phoned them up to apologise and transfer money in urgently to find I had gone overdrawn by £20ish...they let me off any charges and set up the overdraft limit - but now I keep a bigger safety buffer in there anyway)
Anyway when DP was applying for his credit card I was told I should go on it as a joint name - I said I didn't need to had had my own card with them for years, paid it off in full every month etc.
They were surprised - as a SAHM I wouldn't be able to get one now ...because I don't have an 'income'. There was even a suggestion that they might take it off me in the future. If they did or tried I would be furious.
I have up to to the FSA limit with them in cash, they know I own my own house outright (had a short term mortgage with them, they still have the title deeds). I have dividend money etc coming in from shares as well as DPs contribution to housekeeping. But I wouldn't be allowed to get a CC with them .. because I could spend all my money, no guarantee it would be there for ever...(I wanted to suggest they could stick £3k in an account to act as a guarantee to the card - the 'safety' and extra cover on the card is the reason I want one!) And absolutely no guarantee you'd not be made redundant or sacked etc anyway...
I think your record and funds with a bank should be taken into account as much as what you are paid by an employer...I am sure my record shows I am a pretty safe bet...
And it isn't just SAHPs - think about pensioners with a small pension but enough funds to support them through retirement. What about retired multi millionaires - are they not allowed a credit card?

unlucky I am not keen in nationwide at all....

Was it Nationwide who gave you grief too?
So far I am ok but if I ever run into problems with them because I'm a SAHM I'll be looking to move banks ...
And all the regulations in the world are worth less than common sense...knowing your individual customer...

No it was another bank, nationwide wouldnt even entertain idea of me having CC or current account and now of course I have one with someone else.....they even mentioned it on the phone when i rang about something else.

they were also un scrupulous when I was inquiring about an isa once, they got me in for an appt...which was basically trying to tell me how awful it would be to die and leave dc with no insurance...they went on and on...it was awful.

MissDuke - I'm not better than someone pulling pints or delivering papers - but I am considerably more financially secure.

Those jobs can be withdrawn with minimal notice - unlike spousal support which is legally enforceable when children are involved.

I also have two decades of solid working history. In fact I still do a bit of freelancing @£22 per hour. Choosing not to work right now because I am busy with DC and financially supported to focus on them is very different from the risk profile associated with `unemployed'.

Before I quit working - we were transferring money to the nanny by standing order. The same money for the same job and just as vulnerable to drying up in case of a midlife-crisis. How is the substance of the nanny's standing order more secure and respectable than the SAHMs standing order?

I also don't think much of the pejorative tone of posters commenting on being dependent on DH.

I was dependent whether I worked or not - because we had a joint mortgage that I couldn't afford to pay alone.

He is also dependent on me, because my 'replacement cost' is £10 per hour net for the nanny (4DC under 10), plus assorted housekeeping/cleaning/driving costs, and his job runs from 8am-8pm - coming to close to £1K per week for him to pay if I strolled out of the door without looking back. That would leave him struggling to pay the mortgage - let alone servicing unsecured debts.

So to recap: my bank that knows I am a graduate, and my bank that has tracked me through ten years of post degree continuous employment up to six months ago (including lending me and DH half a million pounds for our house) jumps to the conclusion that I must be on the bones of my arse if my current income is via my spouse.

In fairness, given all this information, the fact that you have requested an overdraft for the first time, six months into your stint as a SAHM is probably ringing warning bells with them.

Can I ask why you never felt you needed an overdraft beforehand? Surely all the issues you have stated as reasons for wanting an overdraft applied before too?

I had a student one through my degree that tapered off across five years - and I hadn't really got round to renewing it - until this rash of demands on my cheque book.

Student overdrafts are a bait to attract the customer. Worked for you didn't it?

You may not like the tone posters take but I think you're fooling yourself if you think you can be a sahm and not suffer adverse economic consequences.

It may not be fair, but, as you say, capitalism never is, to many cohorts, not just women.

If you don't care about the disenfranchisement and in a huge number of cases, impoverishment, of entire swathes of the working population then yes, I suppose we will have to agree to differ

you're fooling yourself if you think you can be a sahm and not suffer adverse economic consequences

Isn't that what OP is complaining about Imagine! people might want to see change in the world.

Shouldi, I applaud your clear sightedness about the worth of your work and the logic of your financial arrangements.

Op have you kicked up a fuss, have you said you feel discriminated against....have someone else actually looked at your case?

Rescue I opened this account when I was 9! (In fact - i opened the account with Midland Bank. remember the griffin?) Baited by nothing more than DM paying in my birthday money. Definitely one of those loyal sucker types.

Knitted - this is off the back of a discussion with a phone bank operative. I definitely will write an 'Outraged from Swindon' type of letter - but I only have enough energy to be outraged on MN at this point in time .

Call back or write, say what I said - would be amazed if they don't comply.

Also threaten MN

What you need is a human to actually look at your case, your account and make decions

If you don't care about the disenfranchisement and in a huge number of cases, impoverishment, of entire swathes of the working population then yes, I suppose we will have to agree to differ hmm

Way to go... that had nothing to do with what I actually posted... but a soundbite is much more useful to froth over, isn't it?

Yabu. You are unemployed. You are not eligible for an overdraft. You are basically asking for free money from the bank and they don't want to give it to you because you don't have a wage coming in. Nothing to do with being a woman.
If you're so well off, transfer an extra £500 every month from your DH's account. Problem sorted.

nomama hardly a soundbite. I wrote that entire sentence just for you. And I think it's an excellent characterisation of what you had to say, which was this: It may not be fair, but, as you say, capitalism never is, to many cohorts, not just women.

If that is not you shrugging about the brutal effects of the capitalist system - sure, OP is not suffering them, but let's keep our eyes up, then tell me how.

It was not fairness that led to the sub prime mortgage crisis, though I applaud the most right wing interpretation of events I've heard yet. It was greed. And no, not on the part of the borrowers.

And I would again say, well done. That wasn't quite what I typed. Close, but not quite. But it definitely has a more ridiculous ring to it, the way you chose to write it.

Never mind. As I said, we will have to agree to disagree in our interpretation of this one!

I could do lots of things, like keeping a buffer or joining DHs account.

However, I resent the choice being forced for me by a knee-jerk reaction to the SAHM label - which does not reflect my financial circumstances or credit profile.

Good risk management is 'Know Your Customer'. This is just lazy business.

No one would argue with that last bit, ShouldiWork.

So, again, maybe they aren't the right bank for you...

T does seem odd they're happy to give you a £4k credit card but not a £500 loan. Having said that, if the credit card was approved when you were still working (as in paid employment) that'll be why.

I had to get my husband to come on a joint loan last year. My income is more than his but our total income on the application increased, so did the amount of payments out as his car loan, student loan, credit card and a couple of other things come out of his account. So the actual ratio of disposable income stayed the same. I couldn't see the point, but ultimately I needed the loan so had to suck it up. If you've got the luxury of choice, go elsewhere as other banks will have different criteria - vote with your feet!