Credit cards

[Tea1Sugar]

I've never owned one, never had a bank loan, always only ever used debit cards. My parents brought me up to pay within my means so I have zero understanding of credit cards. Anyway, dp and I keep our finances seperate. I own the house outright, he pays the bills. I've found letters from several lenders about credit cards he has. Can someone tell me if he has, say, £10k on a card, what interest/repayments he's likely to be paying? I'm worried he's in a bad situation.

It depends.

Many credit cards have good, long 0% deals so he may be paying very little.

Have you asked him? If you have completely separate finances and it's not your debt then it's not your problem, really. Unless you are subsidising him, which it doesn't sound like you are.

I've asked and he went nuts saying it has nothing to do with me. He's probably right but then id hope as a part of a long term relationship he could be frank.

Well, your DP can tell you! You need to have an honest discussion about finances. If he has a lot of credit card debt, that's something the two of you need to discuss as adults. I would advise you to ask him to tell you the situation but try to stay calm and not panic or blame him if it is bad. You might be able to help him by talking things through.

You say DP so presumably you're not married? Do you have children? Either way if you're living together you do need to discuss finances and I would be worried about a partner hiding things from me.

Good luck!

Yep, been together three years. We have a 9m old and I have a 4yo child from a previous relationship.

Well in that case you're a family and you're both responsible for supporting each other and the children. So it isn't "nothing to do with you". I suspect he is being very defensive because he's in a bad situation and doesn't want you to know, for whatever reason. How is the relationship apart from that? Is he open and good at communicating about other things?

Have a conversation about finances. If he pays in full every month it is ok. Otherwise he needs to make a plan to pay it off.

Does he have 10k on one card or was that an example?

His reaction suggests a problem with his cards. Owning cards per se isn't an issue.

I have to wonder though how you've had a child with someone yet know nothing about their finances.

Can you get a copy of a statement from a few months ago, and look at it carefully when you get a chance?
Our credit card statement has a box at the bottom stating what interest rate we are paying (per month).
I'd also look (assuming it isn't 0% interest) at how much more than the minimum payment he is paying back each month - well, you'll be able to see the amount he paid last month (shown as a -£) and the minimum payment this month.
If you have a couple of statements, is the total owed increasing, decreasing slowly, or decreasing quickly? For us, the amount is cleared every month, so the amount owing is variable, so this might not tell the whole story.

Interest rates can vary from eye watering to 0%.

You need to talk it through - rather than a "whats yuor credit card like" conversation, what would his response be like if you started a general conversation about how the finances are working with him paying the bills, but no rent or mortgage for either of you?

It will be something 'to do with you' though if he gets himself in the shit and your address is blacklisted.

You are living together, it is everything to do with you.

Addresses don't get blacklisted. That is a complete myth.

Unless you are financially linked in some way (joint mortgage for eg) then his credit rating has no bearing on yours at all.

No financial links whatsoever

Oh, it happened to me. Someone I lived at the same address with made it impossible for me to get a mortgage. Was a over 20 years ago though so maybe it has changed?

It has everything to do with you as his debt is affecting how much money is left over for your child.

Perhaps you could go on the MoneySavingExpert website and find out how to get a credit check on yourself (I'm not quite sure of the right terminology) To double check there is nothing there that shouldn't be.

Btw it's good to build up a credit history so it might bel looking into how to do it. If you don't have any credit history then you may be turned down for loans in the future. Again, it's best to look at the moneysavingexpert website for proper info.

It's definitely a good idea to keep the finances completely seperate. Have you considered getting something in writing to ensure that the house remains yours if you ever split up in the future. Again, I'm not exactly sure what it is you need to do but I think it's something you should look into.

His reaction sounds unpleasant and a bit weird.

BuzzardBird. It has definitely changed. Unless there is a financial link then credit 'ratings' etc are based on people not addresses.

Thank for info Jake. I have been fine since I moved.

OP I think you need to get your partner to have a grown up conversation. People get themselves into terrible messes and it will affect you all.

If you live together, and have a child together, then of course 'his' finances are very much to do with you.
You need to have a calm discussion about it.
Credit cards are traditionally a very expensive way to borrow - yes, you can get a 0% deal for 12months or whatever, but that is a chance to be reducing the debt each month, not ignoring it for that year.

Addresses don't get blacklisted. That is a complete myth

Blacklisting, no, but it complicates getting credit and can lead to debt collectors turning up.

I bought a place off a guy before he was repossessed and my tenants had problems.

I needed to write to a company stating the original owner hadn't owned for 3 years, was not the partner of my tenant and that my tenant was renting the property.

This was because he hadn't changed his billing address and she was getting various debt collectors turning up

The amount will depend on the interest rate. I had £8k on cc and my minimum monthly payments were £130 but that was all interest free. it will also depend on the cc provider too, I transferred the balance so even with the same balance Ithen paid £70 a month less