I think there is a serious and dangerous gap in how UK banks are handling joint mortgages, and it needs exposing.
I’ve already had my own situation where a mortgage was changed without my consent, impacting my credit and financial position.
But now this has happened to my parents -
My dad has just remortgaged, and the only “check” the bank did was verbally ask him something like “I assume your wife is okay with this?” He said yes, and that was enough. There was no contact with my mum, no written consent, and no independent verification.
She is legally tied to that mortgage, yet had zero involvement in the decision.
That is not a small admin issue - that is a system that allows:
One person to make major financial decisions on behalf of another
People to be locked into long-term debt without their knowledge
Huge risk in situations involving coercion, separation, or financial abuse
And I don’t believe for a second this is a one-off.
I’d like to know:
Has a bank ever changed your joint mortgage without directly contacting you?
Has a partner/ex been able to make decisions without your consent?
Have you been financially or credit-wise affected because of it?
If this has happened to you, please comment your story.
If you’re willing, I’d also like to use anonymised experiences to escalate this further - whether that’s to regulators, media, or MPs - because this feels like a systemic failure, not isolated mistakes.
People should not be financially bound by decisions they didn’t agree to.