Found a credit card statement

[Anxiousmuch]

I just found a scrunched up credit card statement. Its in my partners name and I knew nothing about it. It has a 3500 balance transfer on it and his interest is £60 a month because hes only made minimum payments
He never used to have a credit card and has never told me he took one out.
We've been together twelve years and have two kids and split all household costs bc we both work
I'm furious. Firstly because hes kept it secret, second because I have some savings and could pay this off and third because when we remortgage i fear this will affect us
How would you deal with the hiding of information? I don't know how to bring this up and deal with it
Would you leave someone's for the dishonesty?

Posted too soon.

Regular payments? Yes

Minimum payment? No

I work with decision engines,, in the big picture a few grand of debt makes such a small different it’s not really an issue if you looking to borrow 100k plus
things like income, outgoings, rent, age term, current borrowing (mortgage) are far more important

@Joey69

Just to clarify, the comment I responded to wasn't about the bigger picture and the decisions regarding mortgages. It was quite timely stating that making minimum payments isn't a positive factor.

Balance transfer deals are usually for 12-18 months so if the remaining balance is now attracting interest it would appear to be a couple of years old at least. I’d be concerned if he was only making minimum payments that it was unaffordable for him to clear. I’d also be concerned that this was a pattern of behaviour or that this was not the only card.
I helped my friend uncover the debt her husband had got them in to. He’d set up everything online and she couldn’t access the statements. Eventually she went into the branch and asked for paper copies. From those, we could see credit card minimum payments, loan repayments, HP repayments and worst of all payday pig transactions nearing the end of the month, plus a maxed out overdraft. Working backwards we reckoned they were £50k in debt on top of mortgage. She then had all the facts to confront him with.

Don’t make any decisions or judgements until you have the full picture.

kingtamponthefurred · Today 11:38
Does he need your permission to apply for a credit card? You sound very controlling.
No, she doesn't at all! You're bonkers.

Shopping habit and credit card debt says to me that maybe you can't manage your money very well

That's an unnecessarily nasty comment, @Anxiousmuch. I have a credit card with more than £3.5k on it, because I bought a big-ticket item at 0% interest. I could have bought it outright many times over, but preferred to spread the cost, just because I could.

As to those who say OP has a right to know because all their finances are shared, this is what the OP says: We have separate bank accounts. So they don't share all their finances.

OP, I would think very carefully before putting your children through a divorce for something this insignificant.

I would also baulk at the idea of you deciding what's "appropriate spending". It is one of the terms that my financially abusive ex husband used to use.

Did he hide it, though? It sounds like you have separate finances. Separate bank accounts, separate savings. Not mentioning a credit card isn't really hiding it when you keep your finances separate. He's making payments, so it's not causing an issue. £3.5k debt isn't going to make a difference to a mortgage renewal. Though, he would be smarter to move it to a 0% card if possible.

Having a credit card can improve a credit rating, so in itself is not an issue.

The issue is that he's lied to you. You need to talk to him. Only when you understand ehy he has the debt and ehy he lied to you can you decide what to do.

My ex-H told me he had run up an £80k gambling debt when I was 8 months pregnant with my first child. It could be something serious that could escalate. Or, it could be something innocuous that is understandable and manageable. What would concern me most is that he kept this from you, and that this might not be the full extent of it.

If he cannot explain himself properly, I would worry a lot. I'd also demand to see a copy of his credit record so you can be sure that there isn't more on other cards/ loans.

I'm an adult and can manage my own money thanks.

If you've got 3k on a credit card that's not exactly managing your money is it?

If OP and her dp are applying for a mortgage it could definitely affect his credit rating so I don't think her expecting him to be open about his debts is unreasonable at all.

I had missed the separate Bank Accounts comment, so not really shared finances at all, so his debt is his debt.
swap debt to 0% ( if available), setup a DD from his money to overpay and get it paid down.

I’m sorry but that’s just rubbish, there are so many factors that go in getting an offer, most lenders use credit scoring agencies as part of the decision engine, as well as income, outgoings & debt’s, age, term etc to come up with an affordability decision, a few grand on a credit card that has had regular payments will make almost no difference, it’s almost better than someone who has never had any debt, as they will have no repayment history to base a score on @Joey69

What Joey said! I'd be more worried about why he feels he can't tell you, than the way it would affect my remortgage.

You may keep "separate finances" but the reality is that if he is your husband and you have a joint mortgage then this does impact you financially and you are entitled to know what his financial situation is. Credit records are linked. Defaults or excessive debts by him will impact your score also. In the event of a divorce you may end up having to pay off some of his debts. In reality, when married, there is no such thing as "separate finances" (in UK law).

Honestly reading your comments and downright bloody nasty response to another poster I don’t blame your partner for not telling you.

If you've got 3k on a credit card that's not exactly managing your money is it?

I take it you didn't read my post about managing credit card debt responsibly, @ohforthelife? Not all credit card debt is bad debt. What shows a poor relationship with money is not being able to choose to use credit sensibly.

OP calls him her "partner", so they are presumably not married. So UK laws about married couples don't apply (assuming they're in the UK).

Married or not, a joint mortgage is linked credit files.

@Harrysnippleno3 is correct! Good to have a reliable credit rating but obviously having an additional £3.5k which you are obliged to pay impacts your overall debt/income ratio and also will be taken into account for your affordability (as it’s a fixed cost which reduces available income. So it’s not a positive from mortgagers’ perspective. OP was correct in original statement.

This is rubbish as well. At one point I put £12k on a credit card to buy a car because I could borrow on that card at 0% and the car finance would have been 3% through a loan. So it made perfect financial sense, and I and it off through regular payments.

There is nothing inherently wrong with credit card borrow, at good interest rates. But at £60 per month on £3500 balance he is paying 20% interest which is high. So one would question why he'd choose this finance option if it's innocent: something better financed through a personal loan. If OP is unaware of him making several large/ one large purchase of this value then what's that been spent on? Is it something he wants to hide, because why else would you pay such extortionate interest rates?

So an honest discussion is needed to find out what is going on. As I said, it could be innocent and old debts from long ago that he's chipping away at and he doesn't realise he can pay it off much more quickly by transferring to a lower interest rate product. Or, at the other extreme, he may have many more such cards and have a gambling problem or some other issue.

He needs to discuss it with you and show you his Experian report so you can confirm he is telling the truth. If he won't, that's the end.

I completely disagree with the posters saying he doesn’t need to tell you/ you’re controlling…

marriage is a partnership and you share and talk, finances included. Some people on here act like their husband is just a roommate and not someone they are choosing to share their life with?

OP, I’d be upset too if I found out my DH had secret debt, I think it’s deceitful not to tell you. I don’t think I’d leave him because of it but I’d want an honest conversation and to find out why he didn’t tell me.

OP calls him her "partner", so they are presumably not married. So UK laws about married couples don't apply (assuming they're in the UK).

Apologies, my error.

However if they have a joint mortgage then their credit files are linked and his debt to income ratio, percentage of credit used, repayment history etc still impact her credit rating and their ability to remortgage.

@AliensAteMyHomework

Regular payments are ok. This person is making minimum payments, which is an indication of affordability issues.

If you've got 3k on a credit card that's not exactly managing your money is it?

if you need access to free credit it can be an extremely good thing, 3K over say 18 months on on 0% CC is better then 3K loan every day of the week

Yes see my other posts about context.

Yep