Brother's Debts

elaina79

It seems like he is taking advantage of your good nature. Try sitting him down and giving him some rules and deadlines.

Mrs_Boo_Boo

According to Transactional Analysis you need to give up when you've heard 3 'yes buts'

RAS

emmalt wrote: »

Hi,

My brother is living with us at the moment whilst he gets on his feet. It is a long story but basically he is 37 going on 17. Today he got a letter from the bank because a DD had bounced. He claims that it was an admin error and that he would get it sorted.

I firmly told him that he needs to remember that whatever he does in OUR house could affect our credit rating and he needs to make sure that ALL his financial commitments are met.

Later in the day I discovered that a debt he has with a council has been passed to a debt collection agency. The letter I saw was addressed to him at OUR address. This means we will have debt collectors knocking on OUR door. The debt is just short of £400.

I am so angry because our credit rating is good. We have no debts bar the mortgage. I don’t want to be fending of credit collection agency on his behalf. Even if I leave it to him I will be the one stressing about it whilst he buries his head to the sand.

My husband and I are just about to embark on IVF so stress is the last thing I need. Am I right in assuming that this could have an affect on our credit rating? Also what can the debt collectors do? I know that they can’t touch our stuff but can they get into our house, etc?

Your brother's credit record has NO effect on your credit rating what so ever. NEVER EVER as long as you do not open any joint accounts with him.

The last thing you need is stress, so it might help if you got your facts straight before you dived into outrage?

What might be more useful is to correct the mis-advice you gave him and to point him in the direction of this forum. Chances are we can sort him out effectively and save you both a lot of stress.

emmalt

RAS wrote: »

Your brother's credit record has NO effect on your credit rating what so ever. NEVER EVER as long as you do not open any joint accounts with him.

The last thing you need is stress, so it might help if you got your facts straight before you dived into outrage?

What might be more useful is to correct the mis-advice you gave him and to point him in the direction of this forum. Chances are we can sort him out effectively and save you both a lot of stress.

Hi Ras,

Please note that I would NEVER EVER be stupid enough to get into any financial agreement with my brother! The reason I thought it could affect us is because a friend of mine had trouble getting gas, water, electricity for a house he bought due to the previous occupants credit rating. This was about 15 years ago so things may have changed since then (my god - doesn't time fly).

If the mis-advice you refer to is that fact that what he does will effect us I am not going to correct that. He needs to learn that his actions have consequences to other people around him. Even if it doesn't affect our credit rating if debts are passed to debt collectors then it is our door they are knocking on. It will be me who has to deal with it as I work from home.

I have looked up my rights on

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/ManagingDebt/DebtsAndArrears/DG_10034289

and I know that they cannot enter my home, etc. However I am not naive enough to assume that all debt collection agencies follow the rules.

Anyway, we had a talk with him last night. We took the tact that we are now starting with IVF and I don't need stress. He needs to start thing about where he is going to live and how he is going to fund that.

He mentioned his debt with the council but says that they are wrong but that he didn't appeal on time. I suggested that it would be a good idea to go to the CAB for advice.

I also said that we would sit down this weekend and look at his outgoings and earnings and work out how he is going to live.

It went quite well and certainly cleared the air.

gizmo111

What is the debt with the council? If it is council tax then it is likely to have been passed to a baliff which is a whole different ball game to debt collectors - who have no rights.

RAS

Bailiffs are not allowed into the house unless they are invited in and they are not allowed to take property that does not belong to the debtor.

emmalt

gizmo111 wrote: »

What is the debt with the council? If it is council tax then it is likely to have been passed to a baliff which is a whole different ball game to debt collectors - who have no rights.

The council claims that he was paid housing benefit when he owned a house. My brother claims that the house had been sold (nearly all the profits went to his ex-wife) when he was claiming benefits.