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My uncle died recently with dementia and debts

rodneybg
Posts: 3 Newbie
My uncle died in February, in his late 70s. He lived alone, along way from any relatives; in his prime he was an accountant by profession and a sophisticated investor. We are trying to sort out his affairs which are a mess; we had warning of this 6 months ago when we had a rare call for help, it was apparent he was not eating properly, nor could he afford to and he was being persued by bailiffs, credit card companies, bank account frozen etc.
The local social services and Age Concern were a huge help. Sadly not long after he had to go into hospital. As well as the illness that caused his death he was also diagnosed with dementia, which does not appear over night..
Going through his papers it is clear he has been done over by just about everyone you could think of. His bank, who piled on charges, interest, special charges at £22 every five days for a long time; three credit cards; several store cards; double glazing; he had six mobile phones at one stage and a wireless router still in its packing; oh, and four separate house insurances running concurrently.
The bulk of his debt, which runs to tens of thousands is in charges and interest. Items of real expenditure are small and things like groceries.
I am sure he was very worried about the debts but obviously did not know where to turn. It also seems likely that a man who was financially astute in his prime clearly was not in recent years.
I am angry at the injustice of all this. I want to complain, but not sure where to or to what effect. Not only has he paid out hugely in charges, the debts are still there. To the bank and credit card companies etc they are gain, but ill-gotten.
The local social services and Age Concern were a huge help. Sadly not long after he had to go into hospital. As well as the illness that caused his death he was also diagnosed with dementia, which does not appear over night..
Going through his papers it is clear he has been done over by just about everyone you could think of. His bank, who piled on charges, interest, special charges at £22 every five days for a long time; three credit cards; several store cards; double glazing; he had six mobile phones at one stage and a wireless router still in its packing; oh, and four separate house insurances running concurrently.
The bulk of his debt, which runs to tens of thousands is in charges and interest. Items of real expenditure are small and things like groceries.
I am sure he was very worried about the debts but obviously did not know where to turn. It also seems likely that a man who was financially astute in his prime clearly was not in recent years.
I am angry at the injustice of all this. I want to complain, but not sure where to or to what effect. Not only has he paid out hugely in charges, the debts are still there. To the bank and credit card companies etc they are gain, but ill-gotten.
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It would be worthwhile compiling all of this information, and if possible put it into date order, so it follows a chronological sequence, and going to citizens advice.
best of luckRemember the time he ate my goldfish? And you lied and said I never had goldfish. Then why did I have the bowl Bart? Why did I have the bowl?0 -
Contact SAFE (Struggle Against Financial Exploitation)
http://www.safe-online.org/Contact-Us/Contact-Us/index.html
Maybe also Age Concern.:heartsmil When you find people who not only tolerate your quirks but celebrate them with glad cries of "Me too!" be sure to cherish them. Because these weirdos are your true family.0 -
Sad to hear aout your Uncle. May be worth getting the executors of his estae to contact the banks etc, regarding fees?
not sure if reclaims can be done on behalf of deceased though..Long time away from MSE, been dealing real life stuff..
Sometimes seen lurking on the compers forum :-)0 -
With all due respect OP if you were that concerned about your uncle why did you let it get that far?
Dementia takes sometime to get to such a serious state and frankly you and your family being all concerned now his money was available and is gone is highly suspicous.
the executor of the estate can seek to recover some of the monies especially if he was incapable of contracting but its going to be very hard. I cant see you getting much out of the estate. Can't say that is much of a crime since no one seemed bothered until their was cash to inherit0 -
linas,
This did cross my mind. However, it does say that Uncle lived a long way from other relatives. It is also very difficult to 'interfere' with finances of a relative. My MIL is foreign and lives now in our town. It is difficult to know what level of assistance to provide for her financially. In a practical sense, my accountant suggested her wages be paid into an account that her son (my DH) controls on her behalf. But I do the finances mainly, for DH and I. I couldn't contemplate that level f control over my MIL. It made me very uncomfortable to even think of it.
I think we need to give OP the benefit of the doubt, and assume that he is genuinely concerned that it should not happen to others.:heartsmil When you find people who not only tolerate your quirks but celebrate them with glad cries of "Me too!" be sure to cherish them. Because these weirdos are your true family.0 -
When you say the debts are still there... yes and no. Whoever is administering his estate should get plenty of copies of his death certificate and send them on to all those unsecured debt people (credit card etc) and pretty much tell them they can write off the debt and close the account or wait their turn, as the executor or administrator must ensure that they repay the deceased individual’s creditors in a certain order. Mortgages must be paid off first, followed by rent arrears; water rates; council tax; fuel; personal loans and credit cards; and finally debts to the Exchequer such as outstanding tax or overpaid benefits. Unless the debt is huge, a lot of companies will just write it off instead.
Of course, cancel what you can asap, but check first that some of the insurances couldn't cover some of the debt (mortgage for example). It isn't illegal to have more than one insurance policy on one thing, only to try and make multiple claims, so don't let that worry you too much.
The problem is that whilst I understand your anger, I am not sure there is much you can do about that if none of the institutions were given any warning that your uncle suffered from dementia. They'd claim they had no idea and in all fairness, that is quite possible. Don't forget that most of the charges and interest will be a completely automated system, so it would have taken just a little infraction to start the charges snowballing.
From your description of the charges, I recognise the account as a Barclays one and I would suggest a strong letter to them. It is obvious they opted in your uncle in their Reserve scheme and that he didn't know about it or didn't know or realise he was supposed to opt out of it, so you may get somewhere by mentioning that an old man with dementia couldn't possibly have been aware of the scheme and that they should therefore remove all charges and associated interest. If they don't play ball, you could take it to the FOS and get them to deal with it (long, but at least that's one less thing for the family to deal with).0 -
If you contact the Home Insurers who involved you should be able to get each of them to refund a portion of the premiums he paid (This is called Dual Insurance / Dual Indemnity).
It would be sensible to keep one of the policies running as the home will need to be insured whilst you deal with the estate and sell it. When you contact the Insurer advise them you want to retain cover, that the property is vacant whilst the estate is being sorted out. They will impose some conditions which it is important that you abide by0 -
Six months ago you had a rare call for help ? The poor bloke should have been thought of and visited without the need for a call for help.Did you not think of visiting him 2 or 3 years ago ?0
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We are trying to sort out his affairs which are a mess; we had warning of this 6 months ago when we had a rare call for help,
As well as the illness that caused his death he was also diagnosed with dementia, which does not appear over night..
It also seems likely that a man who was financially astute in his prime clearly was not in recent years.
I am angry at the injustice of all this. I want to complain, but not sure where to or to what effect. Not only has he paid out hugely in charges, the debts are still there. To the bank and credit card companies etc they are gain, but ill-gotten.
What are you angry about? Why didn't any of his family notice instead of the blaming the bank and credit card companies?
Like you say dementia doesn't appear overnight - if his family didn't notice why should a bank?0
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