Brother in debt using our address

Hi am new to this but would value some advice please. My brother has been staying at our home and uses our address as a postal address as he often works overseas. He has run up arrears on a bank loan and two credit cards whilst being over drawn on his bank account. He now has received a default notice on his loan stating he has until 26th June to pay or face passing to collection agency. My main concern is can baliffs or such come into my house to claim money/goods back for his debt. Will this affect our credit rating in the future? Many thanks for reading.

Comments

  • HappyMJ
    HappyMJ Posts: 21,115
    Combo Breaker First Post
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    nikki_oxon wrote: »
    Hi am new to this but would value some advice please. My brother has been staying at our home and uses our address as a postal address as he often works overseas. He has run up arrears on a bank loan and two credit cards whilst being over drawn on his bank account. He now has received a default notice on his loan stating he has until 26th June to pay or face passing to collection agency. My main concern is can baliffs or such come into my house to claim money/goods back for his debt. Will this affect our credit rating in the future? Many thanks for reading.
    No and No. He is living at your address and is entitled to use it. Whatever he does will not affect you. If a bailiff ever did come you have the option of proving who you are to them and they go away....or you can tell them to go away without saying anything. They have no rights.
    :footie:
    :p Regular savers earn 6% interest (HSBC, First Direct, M&S) :p Loans cost 2.9% per year (Nationwide) = FREE money. :p
  • Thank you for your prompt reply, families eh you try to help them and end up worrying yourself silly!
  • CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative
    CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative Posts: 287 Organisation Representative
    Hi nikki oxon, Thanks for your query regarding brother in debt using address.
    Firstly you state that you are concerned about bailiffs as your brother's debts are about to be passed to a debt collector. Some creditors might use debt collectors to get their money back. A debt collector is a person or firm collecting money on behalf of the lender. Debt collectors are not bailiffs and don’t have the same legal powers as bailiffs. A debt collector should never pretend to be a bailiff to scare anyone into paying a debt. A bailiff cannot be used to collect a consumer credit act debt such as a credit card or overdraft unless the creditor has first obtained a county court judgement. You can find more information about creditor action and bailiffs at http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/debt_e/debt_action_your_creditor_can_take_e/debt_bailiffs_e/about_bailiffs.htm
    If none of the agreements that your brother has taken out are in your name and you have not acted as a guarantor for him then you should inform any debt collection company that are appointed that your brother does not live with you and he has none of his goods in your home and that they need to pursue him for the amount outstanding.

    Regarding your query about your credit reference being affected by your brother's debts. Details about your brother’s debts should not affect your own credit scoring. Below is a link for how lenders decide how to give credit which may help you with your query.
    http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/wales/debt_w/debt_borrowing_money_e/how_lenders_decide_whether_to_give_you_credit.htm
    Hope this is of some assistance.
    Official CAB Representative
    I am an official representative of CAB. MSE has given permission for me to post in response to questions on the CAB Board. You can see my name on the companies with permission to post list. If you believe I’ve broken any rules please report my post to [email protected] as usual"
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