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Credit card debt by partner
Alan_W_2
Posts: 2 Newbie
This was originally posted in the credit section but as it relates more to debt I have copied it across to this section to hopefully find out as way to deal with this debt...
Our daughter has recently split up with her partner (not married) and the father of their two year old. She gave up work to look after the baby and he works in the City and is on a salary that most of us can only dream of. However, his lifestyle means that he spends far in excess of what he earns.
Part of his job involves entertaining clients for which he uses his credit card then claims the money back from his employer. Unfortunately he would just spend the money and never pay of the card resulting in them having to remortgage to pay off his spriralling debts which had reached over £40k.
In an attempt to control his spending and make it more transparent our daughter took out a credit card with the Abbey and gave her partner a card as an additional cardholder. The plan was that she would get the statements then make him pay back his company expenses as they arose.
He recently booked a 'make or break' holiday for them using the card without her knowledge. He then talked her into allowing him to use the card to pay the deposit on a brand new car for which he financed the balance on Mercedes Benz Finance. He then went on to make a couple of cash withdrawls using the card without her knowledge. All in all this guy has racked up just over £6k of debt on the card in a short space of time.
Our daughter had to flee the home due to domestic violence and is now in a safe house. She has no income and we have had to support her whilst the CSA are processing her case.
He is living in their home of two and a half years for which she paid £15k of her savings as a deposit and the first six months of mortgage. Because of the remortgage to pay off his debts and the recent drop in home values there is no equity in the home or possibly negative equity. He is also driving around in car that she has 'paid' the £3,500 deposit for.
It would appear that he is unwilling to pay any off the credit card debt off which has left our daughter in a dreadful position. She has spoken to Abbey who as you would expect have said that she is laible as the main card and account holder.
She has no means to pay and is not entitled to legal aid. We cannot afford to pay for a solicitor. But we cannot ignore the debt as interest will escalate if payments are not made.
Our other concern is that because she is in a safe house she has given our address as a correspondence address and this may lead to us getting blacklisted or visited by bailiffs.
If anyone has any advice or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.
Our daughter has recently split up with her partner (not married) and the father of their two year old. She gave up work to look after the baby and he works in the City and is on a salary that most of us can only dream of. However, his lifestyle means that he spends far in excess of what he earns.
Part of his job involves entertaining clients for which he uses his credit card then claims the money back from his employer. Unfortunately he would just spend the money and never pay of the card resulting in them having to remortgage to pay off his spriralling debts which had reached over £40k.
In an attempt to control his spending and make it more transparent our daughter took out a credit card with the Abbey and gave her partner a card as an additional cardholder. The plan was that she would get the statements then make him pay back his company expenses as they arose.
He recently booked a 'make or break' holiday for them using the card without her knowledge. He then talked her into allowing him to use the card to pay the deposit on a brand new car for which he financed the balance on Mercedes Benz Finance. He then went on to make a couple of cash withdrawls using the card without her knowledge. All in all this guy has racked up just over £6k of debt on the card in a short space of time.
Our daughter had to flee the home due to domestic violence and is now in a safe house. She has no income and we have had to support her whilst the CSA are processing her case.
He is living in their home of two and a half years for which she paid £15k of her savings as a deposit and the first six months of mortgage. Because of the remortgage to pay off his debts and the recent drop in home values there is no equity in the home or possibly negative equity. He is also driving around in car that she has 'paid' the £3,500 deposit for.
It would appear that he is unwilling to pay any off the credit card debt off which has left our daughter in a dreadful position. She has spoken to Abbey who as you would expect have said that she is laible as the main card and account holder.
She has no means to pay and is not entitled to legal aid. We cannot afford to pay for a solicitor. But we cannot ignore the debt as interest will escalate if payments are not made.
Our other concern is that because she is in a safe house she has given our address as a correspondence address and this may lead to us getting blacklisted or visited by bailiffs.
If anyone has any advice or suggestions it would be greatly appreciated.
0
Comments
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Hi and welcome
Unfortunately your daughter is liable for the credit card debt on the card that she gave him - it seems strange that she even gave him the additional card when she knew that he had already spent beyond his means.
With regard to debts then I would suggest that she contacts one of the debt charities such as National Debtline as they will be able to help her clear this debt.
I suggest too that she makes an appointment with the CAB as they have free solicitors where she can get free legal advice, if you have insurance of some sort then this sometimes comes with a legal helpline - if so, she should use it to get some free legal advice.
HTH0 -
Our other concern is that because she is in a safe house she has given our address as a correspondence address and this may lead to us getting blacklisted or visited by bailiffs.
I am sorry your daughter is in such an awful position.
To address one of your points, there is no such thing as a 'black list'. Credit searches are made on the person, not the property so as long as there are no financial links (called associations) between you and your daughter, this is not an issue.
Bailiffs can only visit after a County Court Judgment has been issued and even then they can only seize goods which belong to the debtor. If anyone else should ever visit, they are not bailiffs and have absolutely no powers of collection (you don't have to deal with them in any way at all, either) and you can rightly tell them where to go.
"Stay Wonky":D
:j:jBecome Mrs Pepe 9 October 2012 :j:j0 -
Alan
Sorry about your daughter. it will be no consolation, but there are a lot of similiar stories on here, many much worse.
First things first.
Your daughter needs to contact debt charity; they can help here with her situation. CCCS and NDL have free phone which are available into the evening.
Consumer Credit Counselling Service: Full debt help service. Link: CCCS Tel: 0800 138 1111- National Debtline: Full debt help service. Link: National Debtline Tel: 0808 808 4000
- Citizens Advice Bureau: Full debt and consumer advice service. Link: Citizens Advice or visit your local CAB centre (find nearest)
- Christians Against Poverty: Debt counselling agency, which specialises in helping those who are emotionally struggling too. The religious focus is why they do it, not how they do it. Link: Christians Against Poverty or call 01274 760720.
- For evictions/repossessions: If you’re in danger of this it’s important to get legal advice asap. The Housing Duty Scheme, by Community Legal Advice or call 0845 345 4345, gives free advice at around 100 courts across England and Wales.
- Local agencies: There may be a local debt help agency in your area, if so check it is non-profit or a charity, before signing up.
I gather the house is jointly owned? Can she go to court and get him removed? She needs advice as to the situation as regarding the breakdown of her relationship and the house as it depends how the deeds were arranged. Why is she not entitled to legal aid, because of home ownership or because she has not applied for benefits that would allow her to claim?
As an absolute basic she must immediately:
Write to the Abbey and advise them that all further debits need two signatures. Otherwise he will just max the account out. Ditto regarding any joint bank accounts.
Write to the mortgage company and advise them of the situation.
Write to the council and any utilties in her name and advise them of the date she left the property. This may reduce her liability for further bills.If you've have not made a mistake, you've made nothing0
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