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Long story family member is in debt and not well.
I'm now going through years of post and finding all sorts... some maybe be paid by now etc. So other than trying to contact the various agencies any ideas?
They're ill and not in a position to pay them and have nothing that can be repossessed to counter the debt.
Not sure if declaring bankruptcy would be best....
Its a mess.
CAB
Can you get a credit score. The one I use (Clearscore) gives a breakdown of everything I have debt on (Mortgage, credit card, loans, finance etc,.)
There is a company called Estate Search that will do a financial asset search which is pretty comprehensive and will highlight and debts as well as any assets (lost pension funds etc). We use them at work, so I am not entirely sure that they offer the service direct to the public. But it might be worth a shot https://www.estatesearch.co.uk/services/financial-asset-search-for-the-living/
When my dad succumbed to Dementia we (me and my brothers) found out he had quite a lot of debt, with the care that he then needed and the fact that he would never be able to afford to pay any of it back we wrote to all of his creditors explaining the situation. We had Power of Attorney so they were happy to deal with us. Each one of them was very understanding and wrote off the debts, over £16k in all.
So before you go down the Bankruptcy path I would take that option first.
Hope that helps.
I'm looking at getting power of attorney.
Honestly turning my hair grey this
Thanks all
Would something like Credit Karma be able to list out everything that's in his name?
Contact Stepchange or CAB if you feel it's reached levels where bankruptcy is being considered.
You'll get some brilliant advice on this forum too...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/categories/bankruptcy-living-with-it
I’m looking at getting power of attorney.
Depends how ill they are - if they're regarded as not being able to make their own decisions or understand decisions that are being made, it may be very difficult to get a PoA. Worth a try though.
See if - in amongst all the documents - you can find any bank statements, it'll give you an idea of outgoings in terms of DDs / standing orders. When my Mum finally took over my Grandpa's financial matters, he had about 4 different boiler insurance policies, a couple of gutter/roof insurance ones... It wasn't a scam as such, he just got taken in by salesmen and leaflets. She worked out he'd paid about £3000 over the years in boiler insurance stuff, enough to bu a new boiler a couple of times over. Managed to get some of it back via ombudsman.
It'll be a slow and painful process to untangle it all and you might find (again, depending on illness) that the person in question won't be forthcoming about it all cos it's an embarrassing situation.
Same with my Grandpa, he only very reluctantly admitted to my Mum how in debt he was. Proud/stubborn independent guy and it took a lot to get past that.
Declaration of capacity is there according to the hospital. I think they'd be forthcoming with permission.
Being very coy over everything. Ive found unopened post thats 10yrs old so not sure where stuffs upto.
There's no requirement for credit in the future. Property will wind up being used to pay for care.
Basically they're in a mess and now disabled. So won't be doing or trying to do anything moving forward.
For me its a last resort but I'm trying to zero everything
Property will wind up being used to pay for care.
Go to CAB and check what impact it'll have to declare them bankrupt and then have the house as collateral for care (or going to you as inheritance). You may find that it's treated as an asset and that in being declared bankrupt, everyone suddenly wants a piece of the house....
I don't know this one to be honest but I'm sure my Mum had something similar when it came to selling my Grandpa's house. Age UK might know as well but Citizens Advice Bureau would be my first call.
"And it’s 15 yrs to the day since I went bankrupt – it’s not a step to take lightly."
No, but the sense of relief when you hand over that £600 (cash only- no cheques) is enormous!
Oh hell yes!
If they've no assets and incapacitated I wouldn't bother trying to establish their debts, what are you hoping to gain by the knowledge?
Leave it up to one of their creditors to take the first action.
A statutory credit report will tell you all the current and recently completed lines of credit (loans, credit cards, finance, mobile contracts etc), it will also show you the payment history and any defaults. These are free; Experian are easy to use.
Could you not sit with them and set them up in Experian then do a search?
Yiu need proper advice from cab or council advice shop or a lawcentre. There are various agreements that can be made to make the situation managable that are less than bankruptcy. I dont know the details.