Acting as guarantor - few questions

Its nothing to do with verifying her identity. she may not have had any loans or credit cards before, but as long as she s had a bank account and the amount she wnats to borrow is well within the lenders limits, and she doesnt have a poor credit history, there should be a problem. there are other factors too but those are hte main ones.

i categorically would not act as guarantor for anyone except my parents, no matter what. if the borrower defaults, you are liable for the debt. dont do it - remember too that in doing it, it can effect your own credit scrore, so dont.

Sounds about right to me. You need to be able to afford your own debt as well as the debt you are being guarantor for. It's hard building up a credit score, and frustrating when the property you live in doesn't get picked up on a postal search (we bought a brand new flat, so I've experienced this). When the post code is finally recognised your friend may well be able to build up her credit score.

I assumed so - Thanks NIck.

Its money for her fiancee to start up a new business. He has already bought the van, tools etc but needs to get supplies. How do I tell her without hurting her feelings? Can I just say its too risky for me?

I couldnt afford the debt if something did happen, I know her parents would probably help out if all went tits up but if they couldnt/didnt there is no way I would be able to afford the loan.

So Spamboule it does sound correct about the ID to you? I have never bought a new build so have no idea.

Thanks

You don't need a guarantor for ID purposes. Where I work we used to take a letter of introduction as confirmation of ID, however, that was abandoned many years ago. The only reason IMO for a guarantor is to get the money secured. I presume your friend has bills or bank statements sent to her address? That's usually OK for ID. Even better is a driving licence showing that address. The issue is with a credit score being carried out. If the company (Equifax/Experian etc) search & the address still isn't showing, the company providing credit may ask for some additional ID. However, companies also have their own internal credit score system, so it's a combination of loads of things really.

Thanks Spamboule - very helpful

I would not do it for a friend. If her parents may be able to help why has she not asked them to be guarantor? And if its for her partenrs business why is he not getting the laon? All sounds dodgy to me.

In a word, yes - and I'm shocked that a friend would put you in that position.

Personally, I wouldn't touch this with the proverbial ten-foot pole, because I'd smell something very fishy indeed about a friend of the partner of the businessman being approached to be guarantor. For starters, I'd expect such a request to come from him - which suggests that he doesn't know anyone that trusts him enough. And if that's the case... well, you can fill in the blanks yourself.

Someone asked my H to do this - the guy lied and said he needed H to sign something confirming his work details (H worked with him). My H is clueless about stuff like this but luckily I found out before it was all dealt with and stopped it.

The guy never spoke to H again, which was fine by me!

I would definitely say no.

Which reminds me - although I was never guarantor for JK's business, I was effectively placed in that position when our main backer decided to have an affair and destroy his marriage to JK's business partner. Not too surprisingly, they wanted nothing more to do with him, but this meant that I was in the unhappy position of either pulling the plug and writing off a four-figure sum that had already been spent, or continuing to invest much more money than I'd originally intended.

To say that I don't have very fond memories of that time is an understatement - and I was married to the businesswoman in this case! So it would be far, far worse if you had to bail out someone else's business when you have no direct involvement or close personal connection at all.

Wow Vindaloo, that is shocking ?

OP, I would second what everyone has said - steer well clear. i can't believe your friend has put you in that position.

I think it is very unfair of her to ask you to be honest. Just explain that you are not happy to put yourself at risk.

If she's a good friend then she should understand why you have said no