It's always good to learn something new, and yesterday I learned that up to 6 years after you have closed a joint credit product, you are still linked to that person financially, and it could well have an effect on your ability to borrow money.

When my relationship with my ex broke down we both moved on, and within 2 years we both lived with other people. Our story is an all-round happy one, but it's easy to see how a whole group of people can become financially entwined really quite quickly. It would never have occurred to me that my exes new partner's financial history had any effect on me, and could affect my ability to get any credit from a mortgage through to a mobile phone.


I'm not alone. Almost 11.7 British people took out a joint financial product with a partner they’re now separated from, and 69% of us didn’t realise a link still exists when we close the account. Less than 3% of people surveyed by Censuswide knew you were linked for 6 years*.