How company debts could affect your partner

Liability for Your Wife Or Husband's Company Debts in the UK

“My wife's business is struggling and I'm concerned that her company's creditors may try to seize our home or property. Can they hold me liable for the debts of my wife?”

When your spouse's (and the same goes for both husbands and wives) business is failing it is a reasonable concern that these debts could affect the household detrimentally. However, in most cases you will not be held liable for the business debts of your spouse as long as you did not open the company accounts jointly.

Therefore, legally speaking a creditor would not be able to take you to Court or seize any of your assets that are solely owned by you. If, however, you opened the business in partnership with your wife and the debts were created by her then a lender may be able to take you both to Court if both of your names are on the loan agreement.

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Shaun Barton
Business Debt Expert

“My husband and I have several joint accounts together so our names show up on each other's credit reports. He has some poor business credit ratings. Could this affect my ability to obtain approval for financing in the future?”

Yes, it is in fact possible that a lender will deny you access to financing due to the presence of your husband's name on your credit report given the fact that he has a poor credit history. However, if you close any joint accounts you have with your husband then this would remove him from your credit report and give you a clean independent report for prospective creditors to examine. In other words, your husband's negative credit ratings will not leave you responsible for his debts, nor will they leave permanent damage on your credit score.

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The most ideal course of action for you to take at this time would be to close any joint accounts you have with your spouse and seek guidance from a licensed insolvency practitioner.

If you're concerned about the possibility of being held personally liable for your spouse's debts, or you have questions about any matters related to insolvency or recovery please feel free to call us on 0800 644 6080 or email us for a free consultation.