To not want to take out a finance agreement for partner

[Queen736]

Just some background info - have been with my partner for 4 years and we are expecting a baby boy in a few months time.

He made some pretty silly financial decisions when he was younger which has led to bad credit and him unable to obtain a finance agreement for the new car he wants. He has asked me to take out the finance agreement in my name and he will pay me the money every month. My issue is I don't feel comfortable taking on this amount of credit (it is quite a considerable amount) and feel that this will affect me when I want to get a new car in the future - I currently own my car outright but have recently been looking to purchase a new car on finance...surely having his car in my name too would prevent me from doing this as I would not pass the affordability checks?

Am I being selfish or is this just a normal thing that people do for their partners?

Nonsense. They give you enough money to go out and buy an equivalent car, to put you back in the same position as you were pre accident. If the amount they offer isn’t enough to do that, then you can challenge it.

My car was written off last year through no fault of my own. They gave me the forecourt price to go and buy an equivalent car from a dealer. I actually found one for sale with a private seller instead, which was cheaper. So I made a £2000 profit and ended up with a virtually identical car.

he wants to use this opportunity to upgrade

So you're about to go on maternity leave and he wants YOU to take out credit so that HE can 'upgrade' his wheels. ffs.

What opportunity has he taken to address his poor credit record?

There are (or should be) 2 priorities in his life: - supporting his partner and child; and sorting out his credit record so that you can have a stab;e and sustainable financial future.

Sorry that my nine years in the motor trade dealing with a few of these a month pales into insignificance compared to your one instance

There is a reason he has bad credit and cannot get lenders to loan him money. Why would you want to take on that risk if they won't? The debt will be in your name and you will be responsible for clearing it. If he decides to stop paying you for any reason, you will still need to pay. Presumably if you're expecting a baby you'll be going on maternity leave, so what happens if you decide you don't want to return to work/work part time while your baby is young? You'll still have to service his debt. Don't do it.

If anyone is accepting an insurance pay out that is less than it costs them to replace the car with an equivalent, and not challenging it, then more fool them.

No way, don’t do it. I was with my ex husband for 7 years in total and, tbh, things weren’t fantastic. Anyway, I can’t drive for medical reasons so we bought a car for him to drive us around in and the finance was in my name. We split up 6 months later and he took the (brand new) car. Initially, he paid me the finance money on top of my maintenance. But within 6 month the finance money stopped so I was paying the finance agreement out of my maintenance whilst he was driving other women around in it! Thankfully he crashed it whilst drink-driving and it was written off and they paid out in full. He also then stopped making maintenance payment entirely (sorry irrelevant!!)

Moral of the story, don’t take finance for anyone else unless you’re prepared to lose the money. You never truly know anyone until money becomes involved. If he’s bad enough with money that official lenders won’t lend to him then why should you put yourself on the line?

This sounds sensible.

This!

So he not only want a new car….he wants an upgrade. Easy to want that when it’s not his debt paying for it. Keep your financials separate.

If you have a credit union in your area he should open an account. In time after saving for a number of months he will be able to apply for a car loan through the credit union which is usually X 3 his savings balance on low interest. Credit unions are a good thing for people like your partner

No, definitely do not do this. If you split up it could cause all sorts of problems.

Bear in mind that car loans are relatively easy to get, even for people with bad credit, as the subject of the agreement can be relatively easily recovered if needs be, without the owners permission (obviously there are exceptions to this but in the general view). I wouldn't do this, specially if you want to do it for yourself soon! I'm sure it won't be long before he's a bit short one month, he'll sort you out the next month. Then he'll be a bit short again, or have something else to pay for, or blah blah blah. He's already demonstrated that he's poor at finances so he should bear the brunt of that, which may mean going for a more affordable car or having a higher interest rate. Don't get involved!

Do not give in to his pressure. Never take on someone else's debt as your own- it'll be you and your child that struggle if he doesn't make the payments or does a runner. Some men become coercive or abusive when their partner becomes pregnant, perhaps because they think she's trapped.

Don't give up your job.

Simple answer-he takes the insurance payout and buys what he can afford.

I wouldn't give him your car as others have suggested- he won't pay you back because you're partners, and he clearly already sees your money as his and his as his own. You'd be better off using it as a part-exchange.

The fact that he's asking for it is proof that he shouldn't have it.

I'd give it at most a month before he 'forgot', it bounces or 'I've bought nappies for you, you know'.

Was he intending for your name or his to be registered as owner?

@Queen736 NO!!!!!!
I lent a boyfriend two week's pay as a teenager, never got it back.
You'll not see that money back.

Tell him to use a bank.

Your credit report is based on recent years only, about 5 from memory. He can't have been that much younger when having issues - no way.

No way

Upgrading when he can't afford to (and hasn't the credit he needs) sounds like one of his poor financial decisions.

Best not let him influence you on finance!

How is is driving? (Same evidence of poor decision-making?) If you pay -you get to be responsible for his next car accident too.

He needs to improve his credit rating not potentially screw yours over.

An absolute no. Would be better to buy a second hand, older car. If he eventually owned car, would have paid well over initial value and resale value will have dropped.
Cars to me though aren't a fashion statement. What kind of vehicle is he looking at?
Graduated from moped, to second hand cars, to relatively cheap new, back to second hand myself.
None on hp.

I've been in a similar situation but wasn't pregnant.

DP's car was hit by another car and was not usable. He needed to get to work so needed another car straight away. He found a nearly-new car and wanted me to lend him the deposit (a few £1000s) for a loan. I said no.

If you take out a loan for £1000, you won't be repaying £1000, you'll be paying back something like £1058.

The debt will be yours, not his. If he can't afford a car loan, how is he going to pay for a car loan and a baby?

I had a car written off due to a flood, and have had 3 (yes 3!!) written off by other people running into us. Every time the insurance company have agreed a reasonable valuation based on what it would cost to replace it like for like, minus my excess. In one case they under-valued, but after I sent some examples of private adverts selling the same car they revised it to a fair price.

You've made the right decision Op, and never waver on this now or in the future.

Please don't do it for 3 reasons:

It will effect you affordability score.

You will be liable.

It sets a precedent of him relying on you financially.

Don't do it. That debt will be yours.

He may pay every month. You may be together for 60 years.

Or he may not pay,.

Or you may separate.

Or (God forbid) he may be hit by a bus tomorrow.

None of us know what the future will bring and he shouldn't be trying to get you to support this, especially when you have a baby on the way.

I ended up with no pension because of a foolish financial decision (which I admit was mine) to support my partner by cashing my pension in to cover our joint home. Too late I found out that the reasons he had no money was because ehe gambled. My word, how he gambled!

I now have only a tiny pension despite having a good job - my fault for being starry-eyed, but it has taught me a lesson.