Credit Score Basics > Can you see your wife or husband's credit score?

Can you see your wife or husband's credit score?

Wollit Team3 minute read · Updated 4th July 2024

To see your spouse’s credit score in the UK, you would need their written permission, personal details, and current address.

In fact, it is illegal to check someone’s credit report or score without their consent. Only accounts in both your names, such as joint accounts, will show up on both of your credit files and can be seen by both of you.

What is the process to request a credit report for someone else in the UK?

You cannot check someone’s credit report without their written permission. This would be illegal under the UK’s data protection laws.

The only way to access another person’s credit report is if:

You have that person’s explicit, written consent to access their credit report. They would need to provide their full name, date of birth, current address, and any previous addresses from the last 6 years.
You have power of attorney or legal authority to act on their behalf, for example, by being their legal guardian. Simply being a husband or wife doesn’t count.

If you don’t meet any of these criteria, you can’t view their credit report, and you can’t see their credit score. This would be considered a breach of their privacy, and the credit reference agencies will not provide you with this data.

Should I be concerned about my partner’s credit score?

You shouldn’t worry too much about your partner’s credit score. Getting married or entering a civil partnership does not automatically link your credit reports or create a joint credit score.

In fact, there is no such thing as a “couple’s credit score” in the UK, regardless of what you might have heard or seen online.

However, your partner’s credit history can indirectly affect you in a few ways:

If you apply for joint financial products like a mortgage or loan together, the lender must check both of your credit files. Your partner’s poor credit score could mean being offered worse terms, like a smaller mortgage or higher interest rates.
If you have any joint accounts or shared debts with your partner, their missed or late payments will also hurt your credit score. You’re both responsible for any joint debts.
If you have joint accounts, you will also become “financial associates” and be listed on each other’s credit reports. This can sometimes affect your credit for as long as you’re associated.

The best approach here is to have an open conversation about finances. Don’t be shy about asking for your partner’s credit report or score; have a “budgeting dinner” once a month; make joint financial decisions carefully. As long as you pay your debts on time and in full, your partner’s credit score should not directly harm yours.

How do I remove my “financial association” with my spouse?

If you’re concerned about your wife or husband’s impact on your credit score, the safest thing to do is to remove the financial association that you have.

To remove a financial association in the UK, you need to follow these steps:

Close any joint accounts (even current accounts) and pay any joint debts.
Contact the credit agencies Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
Submit a “Notice of Disassociation”, providing specific details like the full name of your spouse, the joint accounts in question, and evidence that the accounts were closed.
The credit reference agencies will review your request. They might also check in with your spouse.
Follow up if you don’t hear back.
If approved, the financial association will be removed from both your credit reports.
Finally, ask for a new copy of your credit report to confirm the change was made correctly.

Do we need to be divorced to remove a financial association?

While a Notice of Disassociation is usually added after you divorce someone, it can also be done even if you’re happily married but simply want to keep your finances separate.

You might even want to do it if they have an excellent credit rating, but you have poor credit and don’t want to harm theirs.

While it might be tempting to piggyback their good credit rating and get better offers, the best solution is to build your own credit history. You can use many tools to do this, and one such tool is Wollit.

Wollit is a credit-building app that reports your monthly fixed-fee subscription as a loan repayment to all three credit reference agencies.

This builds your credit history and helps you improve your own credit rating while keeping your spouse’s credit score safe. And as your credit improves, you will be able to be financially associated again without worrying about harming their credit score.