To Consolidate Or Not To Consolidate- Tat Is The Question

KKILP

I am new today to this, so excuse me if these are already covered in previous topics.

My partner had loads of debt (she got a Trust Deed), she now has sorted out her finanes in her name, however I have just found out that she has taken out credit cards in my name and been hiding the bills when they came in. I am not a home owner for her house it is solely in her name.

The amount of debt she has run up in my name is around £20k, she cant explain why apart from the fact when she was in financail dire straits she used cards in my name to jump cards and never paid them off just minimum payments. Now she has sent letters to the credit card companies advising them that I cannot pay off the debts and has had them put on reduced payments. The only reason I found out was I received a call from Egg asking me for my authorisation to speak to her about the oustanding debt as it is over the credit limit by £300.00, she said she didnt use this card since last year before she got her Trust Deed but now I dont know what to do.

I have a loan which will be cleared of in April of next year which I pay to Alliance/Leicester at £298.00 per month, and a credit card which I know about which is £6k, which I can cope with.

What do I do, should I try and take out a consolidation loan to clear the lot over 6 years, I know I should get the hell out of there but it is my home even though not in my name.

I am very angry and frustrated but need someones help and advice. I obviously will have trouble getting a normal loan as my name will be listed as an adverse credit history due to her not paying the accounts on time and putting them on reduced payment plans. (She sent them letters with my name on them telling creditors she was dealing with the account).

She is really sorry for what she has done, but I need help urgently

ms_london

That was nice of her!!!

What you need to do is to find out EXACTLY how much debt she has run up, with who, and also the APR they are charging..

Then you need to sit down & work out how much can be paid back to each, and who is going to pay the money back.

Its a bit of a difficult one, because although she run up the debt, if the bills arent paid, they are in your name, so you will be chased for them. Is your other half still struggling financially herself then if she has used your cards?

You need to sit down together, be honest, and find out exactly where you stand, no secrets, but you need to know, so you can then decide how best to tackle it.

Surely if she did this against your knowledge consent it counts as fraud? Do you still want to be in a relationship with this person?

I wish you luck.

Ms_London

KKILP

She seemingly ran up the debt before she got her Trust Deed, she thought she could manage to pay them every month as she knew she would have the trust deed to sort her stuff out, but now one of the cards (which I used to use and thought had been cancelled), that she was using to just recently has just contacted me to say it has been over the credit limit for about 4 months and how do I want to settle the over the limit amount otherwise I probably wouldnt have found out about any of them.

I confronted her about this and she broke down about the rest of the cards she had ran up last year. She thought as she was jumping credit cards she could eventually get on top of them but as we al know it is very difficult and you have to manage well.

She told me she hid the statements and binned them later so I wouldnt know, and as she has got them all to reduce payments with no interest apart from this one then I would never find out if she could just pay them off.

I realise it is fraud, but I couldnt contact authorities about it as she has had a difficult life being a single parent for many years before meeting me, too kind of me I know.

We have spoken about what to do and I thought maybe a consolidation loan and get her to pay half of it, but as my name is now on the credit register agencies as being a credit risk or whatever theycall it nowadays then I dont know what the best option would be to do.

IF someone could advise on this , thanks

Xbigman

It comes down to whether or not you are staying with her.

If not leave then report this to the police and leave. She has commited fraud and you are not liable for anything.

If you stay with her then you will be paying all this off yourself. Get the house put in joint names as the first step. If she has done this to you once she could do it again, and if you take on her debts, and right now they are not yours because they are fraudulent, and acknowledge that they are yours to the company concerned then you will be stuck with them for nothing. If you are staying together then you want that property with your name on it.
Don't consolidate yet. You should first see if a debt management plan might work. Total up all your joint outgoings and income and draw up a budget. Maybe consider having her close her account and pay everything into yours and you give her cash. Be carefull about joint accounts, she could use this to shunt debts your way again.

For the future. She seems to have an out of control spending habit and you need to find out why and what this is being spent on.

In case its not clear from my post, personally I'd dump her and leave calling into the nearest police station on the way. If you stick by her then I wish you the best of luck.
Regards




X

KKILP

Thanks for your help, I will probably stay as u know heart rules the head, and feel it wouldnt be fair on my stepdaughter as she would be left without a dad again!!
Regards to the house, cant do anything about getting it transferred into joint names as she has a trust deed and the trustee has control over it just now for next 2 years so wouldnt be able to do this, we dont have a joint account at the moment she has her own bank account a basic one as she cant get credit, a fine mess I know. Thanks again for your help.

tattooed_lady

I wish you the best of luck as it can't be an easy decision to stick with someone who has acted in that way.

She is very lucky that you have decided to stay and not report her to the police and it is good of you to think about the consequences to her daughter.

All the best.