Qs about opening a joint account

[fluffles]

We don't have children yet but are planning on ttc in the next couple of years. We live together.

DP has an overdraft and credit card debt which he hopes to have cleared by May. I don't have any debt and have savings.

We've kept our finances largely seperate until now splitting the bills like flatmates (although slightly unequally as he earns more than me).

I want to open a joint account for the flat stuff and food when his debt is cleared, but would it be sensible to check our credit ratings or something before this? I have a top credit rating, not sure about his, he has debt but never struggles to get credit on new purchases etc. so has obviously not got a bad rating as such.

Also, will it be a real pain to change the account that the DDs come out of? Will the utility people particularly insist on us settling up the old account and recalculating a new DD amount for us? Or do you think because it's the same name it will be straightforward.

In the short term we intend to be paid to our own accounts and siphon some off into the joint account. In the long term we intend to put all the money in the joint account and transfer a small 'pocket money' or 'treats money' into each of our accounts when we can afford it.

We're quite sure about how we want to arrange the moeny so not looking for other ways to do that, but i am looking for advice on the credit implications etc. of a joint account.

Thanks.

I'm in the middle of a nasty divorce and experiencing a few problems because of having a joint account. We started off the same way as you plan too and ended up with it being the main account. For example, x ran up an overdraft of £2k on it when he left (before I knew and before I could freeze it). We are both liable for it and he has NO intention of clearing it. Also because we have a joint account and he gets paid a huge salary (not into the joint account I may add) I don't qualify for legal aid - athough i would normally get it based on my piotifully low salary. My x was the same as your DP when we met - he had debts, overdrafts etc whereas I ahd savings.I would be very very wary of a joint account. You could get him to pay you a set amount each month to cover his share of the bills etc and you then make sure everything gets paid.

If he has always made his repayments on time his credit rating is probably as good as yours (AFAIK - things might have changed recently) But it did used to be the case that someone who had had loans or whatever but made all necessary repayments could have a better credit rating than sdomeone who had never had any debt, beacuse it demonstrated that they could deal with it responsibly.