MTTM Podcast Episode 340 – Best trading apps, debts after death & checking your credit report for free

Episode 340 - On this week's show, I talk to Andy about five of the best trading apps for beginners. We explain what happens to debt after you die, including the steps you can take to ensure it is paid off upon death. Finally, I explain how you can check your Experian, Equifax and Transunion credit report for free.

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Abridged transcript - Episode 340

What are the best trading apps for beginners in the UK?

Andy Leeks 04:42

So for the first piece of the podcast, we are going to be talking about the best trading apps. So the first thing to consider is what is it you want from the app? So the sort of questions you should be asking yourself is how user friendly is the app? Is there a minimum investment amount? Does it charge any commission for trades? We cover all of this and more in our article 'Best trading apps for beginners' - check it out for the full details or listen to the podcast from 4 minutes and 42 seconds via the player above.

What happens to your debt when you die?

Andy Leeks 21:04

Okay, so next we are going to be talking about debt, and more specifically, what happens to that debt when you die.

Andy Leeks 21:23

I think the main question that people want to know, and are really interested in is whether debt is inherited. So if a family member dies, who takes responsibility for that debt, is that something that as a spouse or child, for example, you're going to become responsible for? The short answer to that is no, in the UK debt isn't inherited.

Andy Leeks 22:08

Okay, so we're going to run through a number of different types of debts, such as mortgages, loans, credit cards, and even student loans and explain what happens with each of those types of debt when you're in this situation when someone passes away. Read our article 'What happens to your debts when you die' or listen from 22 minutes and 21 seconds via the player above.

Andy Leeks 31:00

Okay, so moving on to the last piece of the podcast then, Damien, you're going to be talking about credit reports. Who are the main credit reference agencies and how you can get a credit report for free

The best way to check your credit score for free

Damien Fahy 31:27

In the UK, there are three main credit reference agencies, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. So when you ever hear people say to check your credit report, there are technically three different places that you should be checking, and each of them will have different information on their respective credit files. That's because the information comes from your past borrowing from lenders, information from official sources - such as the electoral roll - and the information is used to build up a picture of somebody's credit worthiness.

Each of the different agencies will offer a credit score and just to be clear, there is not a universal credit score and each of these agencies will create their own credit ratings and come up with their own scoring system. For example, Experian's credit score is a rank between 0 and 999, while with Equifax, it is between 0 and 1,000 and TransUnion is between 0 and 710.

We recommend that you read our article in full - 'The best way to check your credit rating for free' - which explains the best way to check your credit rating with each of the credit reference agencies as well as the best way to do it for free. Alternatively, listen to the podcast from 31 minutes and 27 seconds via the player above. Resources:

• Best trading apps for beginners in the UK
• The best way to check your credit report for free