My father's debt and illness

Enviomon2

My father is terminally ill with cancer but it gets worse, I think he's also heavily in debt.

I know that he's borrowing about 7k on credit cards, I know that he's paying repayment insurance on these cards, I also 'think' he 'may' have got this insurance whilst he knew about his illness something which concerns me. He's currently paying £300 a month to pay off the interest etc on his cc's and I was just about to sort this out for him with 0% interest BTs etc when I heard he's going to have to give up work due to illness. He's in his 60s so has had a long life which is some consolation.

Things may be even worse, I think he also has some loans, and I think he may be paying almost £1000 a month to satisfy his creditors including the credit card companies.

These are not secured loans ( he has no estate (house)) he lives in the hotel where he works.

1)What are his options? Things do seem to look abit bleak

2)What may he be entitled to from the state when he gives up work and especially when he becomes too ill to tend to his own needs?

3)What happens to those debts if he dies? Is anyone else liable?

4) What difference will the repayment insurance on the ccs make?

Your help is very much appreciated, thank you.

Robert_Sterling_3

In the event that a person dies and they leave no assets which can be used to pay off debts then no other person has to pay the debts. IMHO

Debt_Free_Chick

1)What are his options? Things do seem to look abit bleak

If all his debt is unsecured, then he has very little to fear - the lenders can't take what he doesn't have. That said, they will go to enormous lengths to extract money from him.

2)What may he be entitled to from the state when he gives up work and especially when he becomes too ill to tend to his own needs?

Possibly Incapacity Benefits or maybe Income Support. IS is not a bad thing as it opens the door to other benefits e.g. Housing Benefit. IB or IS would normally be payable until he reaches age 65 when he would get his State Pension and he would probably be entitled to the Pension Credit too.

Suggest you hot-foot it down to the CAB as they are the experts on the minefield of our complex State benefit system.

3)What happens to those debts if he dies? Is anyone else liable?

Absolutely not - nothing to worry about there. If he has any assets (sounds like he does not), then those assets form part of his estate. His estate is liable for his debts, but if there aren't enough assets to pay his debts, then tough on the lenders - any unpaid debts die with him.

4) What difference will the repayment insurance on the ccs make?

Well ... they increase the debt and the increased debt has interest added on. Will the insurance pay out? Difficult to advise, you would need to look very carefully at the terms & conditions for each insurance. A call or letter to each lender should get you a copy of the T&Cs - but you would have to apply in his name as they will not send the T&Cs to anyone other than the cardholder.


This must be very worrying for you. However, I think that his debts are less of a concern compared with his housing & care needs.

For the debts, take a look here for some very practical information about his rights & obligations

https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

This should give you a thorough background as to what might happen.

But I would suggest you get down to CAB on his behalf. At your first visit, be prepared to be offered a meeting in the future with a specialist adviser - you might have to wait some weeks for this. Or consider calling the National Debtline on 0808 808 4000. This is a debt charity - nice friendly folk who will help you.

My response has been "practical" but I would like to extend my sympathies to you. It's simply awful seeing parents in this situation. Try to stay strong as I've no doubt you can provide some real practical help as well as emotional support.

And post back with any specific questions. This Board has very many knowledgeable folk, some of whom have practical experience of the situations you have to deal with. Make use of their knowledge & experience.

With all good wishes.

DFC

Debt_Free_Chick

In the event that a person dies and they leave no assets which can be used to pay off debts then no other person has to pay the debts. IMHO

Spot on! Bob's your mother's brother

Robert_Sterling_3

Relatively amusing.

Enviomon2

oh btw a big thank you for the advice, but I've gtg to bed.

goodnight.

Jen_Jen_5

Take their advice and go to CAB, will assist with benefits adn debts, they should help you sort out, some suggestions for you to consider -

Make sure you check out DLA, Special rules apply to the terminally ill.

Also tell the creditors your dad is seriously ill, they should have some respect and hold action/collection until they can recover anything from his estate. YOu may need help to do this (Am i being too optimistic here??)

or get your dad to consider bankruptcy, he has no assests and is not likely to need or get credit in the future.

Most importantly get advice and assistance.