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Original poster

DP refused a bank Account - any bankers out there?

14 replies

IdreamofClooney · 05/03/2007 14:01

My DP does not have a bank account and has not had one the whole time I have known him (5 years).

I have constantly nagged him about getting one as I think it is essential to have a bank account in this day and age.

He has been reluctant to the point of petulance and makes out that I am "money obsessed" as I think having a bank account is important. Actually I am fed up being the only one in the family who is a functioning adult as I am responsbile for everything financial.

He eventually applied for an account and was turned down due to a low credit score.

I am really angry with him as I think he is not being honest about his financial affairs and also as there is obviously no chance of us getting a joint mortgage if he cannot even get a current account.

Does anyone know what the implications of this are? Will he ever be allowed to get a bank account? We are living in my tiny one bed flat and I desperately want to move but we will struggle on my salary.

Thanks

OP posts:

Socci · 05/03/2007 14:02

Message withdrawn

Twiglett · 05/03/2007 14:03

how can an adult not have a bank account? how is he paid?

LadyOfTheFlowers · 05/03/2007 14:04

yes, lack of credit history could be the problem but he should have been offered a cash account at least. just an account with no credit facilities and a simple cash point card.
i would question him further.
becuase one bank has turnt him down does not mean the next one will either.

HeyBert · 05/03/2007 14:05

am an ex-banker

i think there is new(ish) regulation which means everyone has to be able to have a bank account

think tis called the "universal bank account"

came about when benefits started paying directly into banks rather than cash at POs

will google and report back

prettybird · 05/03/2007 14:06

Are there not "starter" bank accounts avaiable, which allow you to open an account, get a cahs card but doens't allow an overdraft. Good "use" o fthat then allows you to porgess to a "full" account.

clumsymum · 05/03/2007 14:06

I assume he has no credit cards or loans then? He has a low credit score because he has never participated in the money business, unless he was bankrupt or something before you met him.

Assuming he WASN'T bankrupt previously, then he must be able to open an account somewhere, provided he can prove his identity. Does he have a passport or driving licence? Any bills in his name (gas electric, water rate, council tax anything .....? )

If so, take those proofs round the high street banks and one of them will open him an account.

Good luck.

HeyBert · 05/03/2007 14:07

Universal banking launched

Millions of pensioners and unemployed people will have to open a bank account for the first time under a new scheme being launched on Tuesday.
Ministers claim universal banking will help the financially excluded gain a foothold in society.

It will also allow the government to pay social security benefits electronically, rather than by giro cheque.

The government wants to convert all 14 million benefit recipients to the new system by 2005.

People without a bank account will have to open a special Post Office account for their benefits to be paid into.

However, they will still have to go to their local post office to collect the cash.

The accounts have been criticised by some within the banking industry, because they do not have direct debit, cash card or overdraft facilities.

But benefit recipients will also be given the option of opening a no-frills bank account with one of 12 banks that have signed up to the scheme.

Several, such as Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, already have basic card accounts for people with bad credit histories.

These allow people to set up direct debits but do not have an overdraft facility.

Original poster

IdreamofClooney · 05/03/2007 14:13

He works for a restuarant and is paid in cash(!). I am very suspicous of this practice as I am used to working in the public sector where your salary is paid into your bank account on a monthly basis, after deductions for pension and childcare vouchers etc.

He is very cagey about his past banking as it were. He alluded to the fact that he took out a loan when him and his ex split up (7 years ago) and that he missed some payments but claims to have paid it all back.

I was surprised that they didn't even offer him a basic account giving him the ability to pay in cash and withdraw it from a cash machine. The letter just said they were unable to offer him an account full stop.

I am very very angry with him as I feel that he must have known this was likely to happen, hence his reluctance to apply for an account despite constant nagging. If he had applied for an account say two years ago this would be sorted now and we would not be living in a third floor, one bed flat with a child approaching his second birthday grrrrrr.

Am going to have to take my issues to the relationships board I think!

OP posts:

twelveyeargap · 05/03/2007 14:14

Basic account shouldn't be a problem unless there is a credit problem other than lack of credit history. I arranged one for a Slovenian childminder by "stretching the truth" and writting a reference for my own bank saying I had known her for two years. (This was after the manager had winked and said, "we don't check up on these things.")

I would also suggest that he applies for a basic credit card. I did this as soon as I had lived in the UK for a year. (Capital One 29% interest jobbie). I got a £200 credit limit and obviously nobody in their right minds would take any more at that skanky rate of interest. The idea was to create a credit rating, which it duely did. I got another credit card a year later and closed the first account.

twelveyeargap · 05/03/2007 14:16

Even if he defaulted on a loan and got a CCJ, I think after 7 years it shouln't be an issue on the credit history. They're cleared after 6 years.

clumsymum · 05/03/2007 14:22

It sounds to me like there may have been a serious problem in the past.

If he took out a loan before, then did h have a bank account then? Or was it a 'doorstep loan' where the collector comes for his payment every week?
A few missed payments several years ago shouldn't mean he can't get an account now, but if he skipped altogether, and moved away without paying it off, then he's going to have trouble, because he can't admit to a previous address/bank account, or it'll all catch up with him.

Sounds to me like you need to sit down and demand some truths here, and go to the banks with him.

Original poster

IdreamofClooney · 05/03/2007 14:25

As far as I know he did have an account in the past - the loan was with the Bank of Scotland and would have been about 6 years ago.

I am not convinced that he is being 100% honest with me.

I feel that he buried his head in the sand rather than dealt with the issue.

Am so cross

OP posts:

batters · 05/03/2007 14:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

IdreamofClooney · 05/03/2007 15:03

Yes, I have just posted on relationships - not got any responses though I am at the end of my teather with him.

The trust is gone.

OP posts:

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