Joint Car Finance – Everything You Need To Know
If you’ve struggled to get approved for car finance on your own or have a less-than-perfect credit score, a joint car finance application could be the key to getting you on the road. By applying together with a partner, spouse, or family member, you can pool your financial strength, boost your eligibility, and increase your chances of securing a great rate.
At Refused Car Finance, we specialise in helping people with all types of credit histories find flexible, affordable car finance. Applying together is simple, fast, and won’t affect your credit score during the initial application.
How Does Joint Finance For A Car Work?
A joint car finance agreement is a loan taken out by two people for one vehicle. Both applicants submit their financial details, income, and employment history, which lenders evaluate together.
Here’s how the process works with us:
- Submit Your Online Application: Fill out our quick online form with your basic details.
- Add Your Co-Applicant: One of our friendly finance experts will give you a quick call to add your joint applicant’s details to the application.
- Soft Search Check: We perform a soft credit search for both of you first. This lets us check your eligibility across our panel of lenders without leaving a visible footprint on your credit files.
- Choose Your Car: Once approved, you can pick any vehicle that fits your budget from any FCA-approved dealership in the UK.
Important: Under a joint car finance agreement, both applicants are jointly and severally liable for the monthly payments. This means both of you share full legal responsibility for keeping up with the payment schedule.
Should You Consider Applying for Joint Car Finance?
A joint car loan is an effective option for a wide variety of circumstances:
- Improving Bad Credit Approval: If one applicant has a poor credit history, pairing up with a co-applicant who has a stronger credit score can help reassure lenders and secure approval.
- Boosting Income & Affordability: If your individual income falls slightly below a lender’s threshold, combining incomes can prove to the lender that the monthly payments are comfortably affordable.
- Benefit Income: If you rely on benefit income, applying with a joint applicant who receives earned income can significantly strengthen your application.
- Lower APR Rates: Combining strong affordability and a solid credit history can help unlock more competitive interest rates and lower monthly payments.
Joint Application vs Guarantor Finance: What’s the Difference?
While both options involve two people, they work differently in practice:
Feature |
Joint Car Finance |
Guarantor Car Finance |
| Who applies? | Both applicants apply together as joint borrowers. | The main driver applies, backed by a guarantor. |
| Repayment Responsibility | Both parties share equal legal responsibility for monthly payments from day one. | The guarantor only steps in to pay if the main applicant defaults. |
| Credit Link | Financial association is created on both credit files. | No financial link is created unless the guarantor takes over payments. |
| Vehicle Ownership | One person is the registered keeper; ownership transfers once paid off. | Main applicant is the registered keeper and sole owner at the end of the term. |
Will a Joint Application Affect Your Credit Score?
When you initially apply through Refused Car Finance, we perform a soft credit check on both applicants, which has zero impact on your credit scores.
Once you accept an offer and the finance agreement is finalised:
- Financial Association: A financial link will be created between both applicants on your credit files.
- Positive Impact: Making all your monthly payments on time will help build and restore the credit scores of both applicants over time.
- Risk Factor: If payments are missed or late, both credit profiles will be negatively affected, regardless of who was supposed to transfer the money.
Basic Eligibility Checklist
While we can’t guarantee approval to everyone, if you and your co-applicant can tick these basic requirements, we can submit your application to our specialist lending panel:
- Age: Both applicants are 18 years or older
- Residency: Both applicants have lived in the UK for at least 3 consecutive years
- Licence: At least one applicant holds a full UK driving licence
- Status: Neither applicant is currently in an active bankruptcy
- Affordability: You can comfortably prove your combined income and affordability
Ready to Get Started?
Applying for joint car finance with Refused Car Finance is quick, hassle-free, and won’t harm your credit score.
- Fill out our short online application.
- Speak with your dedicated finance expert.
- Get your decision in minutes and start shopping for your car!
Will I Get Approved?
We can’t guarantee finance approval to everyone who applies but if you can say yes to these basic statements, we can send your application off to our lending panel to see if they would like to offer you finance.
– I am 18+ years old. ✅
– I have lived in the UK for 3+ years. ✅
– I am not currently bankrupt. ✅
– I can prove my affordability. ✅
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“I used refused car finance recently and was really pleased with the service. It was very quick and I had my car in a few days and couldn’t be happier with it. Dan and Sean were really helpful and easy to deal with. I’d put off getting another car due to my bad credit but the APR was lower than I expected, I wish I’d done it sooner!”
– Nathan from Sunderland.
Source: Reviews.io