EEEEKKKKK......... Mother-in-Law in Debt....HELP

fletch3163

Hi. the phone part is a Virgin bill actually. It's kind of phone, telly, broadband in one.

RosaBernicia

Nothing practical to add, just thought you and MIL could do with some of these :grouphug:

Rosa x

MrsTinks

fletch3163 wrote: »

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household.........
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 1007
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 0
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 1007
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 238
Council tax............................. 26
Electricity............................. 40
Gas..................................... 78 I don't have gas but this seems high to me... have you checked they are getting the best deal for combined gas and electric?

Telephone (land line)................... 66 Still high for BB, Phone and TV - can they drop down a package?
TV Licence.............................. 11 If they are pensioners do they still have to pay this? Sorry if they are not pensioners I can't remember what the first post said
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 20 Have you counted this twice? Wasn't the phone £66 including this?
Road tax................................ 20
Car Insurance........................... 41 Def seems high... £492 a year? That's more than I pay fully comp on an 08 VW passat CC!
Buildings insurance..................... 37 Check for better deals - seems very high to me!
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 10
Total monthly expenses.................. 587

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 0

Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 51560....(238)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 51560.....-.........-
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Loan...........................2000......82........18.8
Greenwood......................200.......0.........144 This one needs to be addressed ASAP...
Total unsecured debts..........2200......82........-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 1,007
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 587
Available for debt repayments........... 420
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 82
Amount left after debt repayments....... 338
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 0
Total HP & Secured debt................. -51,560
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,200
Net Assets.............................. -53,760
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

Do they spend nothing on clothes, food, petrol, any luxuries?

First of all request the bank statements - you can't start reclaiming anything until you have those and I strongly doubt they fall under the hardship rules definitely get her payments moved to another account so she can at least pay her utility bills etc. Then treat the bank account as just another debt and cancel all the DDs and so on from it.

fletch3163

Thanks for your kindness Rosa, truly.

I've just found a Lloyds TSB loan she got in November too £2,000 with LPI. Can I ask for this back too? I've also discovered she's on some premium account cost £25 a month. Oh, God......................

Oh, I'm overwhelmed by it all:eek:

She's going to RBS tomorrow to see if she can get a basic account, I've drawn a letter to Lloyds asking for a list of her charges, what the LPI is and did she agree to it, cancel 3 pointless direct debits (totalling nearly a £100) and a mandate giving them permission to give me information as I see fit.

Hopefully, if I can even stop the rot getting worse we can stabilise and work from there

boo80

Hey Fletch, you need to put the OD in the SOA and how much are the monthly repayments to Greenwood? The SOA is showing a surplus so does your MIL have any idea where this money goes? I've just noticed there isn't any money for food, how much does she spend on this? Don't panic, it's all going to be ok, it's really not a massive amount of debt and totally fixable!

LTSB whacked huge charges on my account, I phoned them and appealed to their 'better nature' and got the charges removed. You need to get your MIL to take her head out of the sand and realise that if she is pro-active it will be delt with a lot quicker (easier said than done I know) Good luck, Boo.x

fletch3163

MrsTine wrote: »

Do they spend nothing on clothes, food, petrol, any luxuries?

First of all request the bank statements - you can't start reclaiming anything until you have those and I strongly doubt they fall under the hardship rules definitely get her payments moved to another account so she can at least pay her utility bills etc. Then treat the bank account as just another debt and cancel all the DDs and so on from it.

Sorry, didn't see this till I'd posted.

I've just cancelled the General Insurance, her car insurance (she doesn't even drive it) and some gas cover for a boiler, drains, etc at £36:eek:

Her phone bill is a package with Virgin and I've just called just about every number on her phone bill. This Morning competition lines, Dickinsons Read Deal............ I need to talk to her.

Is there a rule on hardship because I think it's pitiful what they've done to her? She's nearly 70, widowed 2 years and had 2 heart attacks last year. She's banked with this shower for most of her life and this is how the repay her............ by robbing her!!!

donny-gal

Hi Fletch

Just wanted to add a :grouphug: too!

I must say I liked the earlier suggestion of signing on for internet banking with her permission, and then you could get a lot of info without them realising what you were planning.

Even the most numerate of people can start getting confused when they get older, to any of you with M&D's who are over 75, try to get them to let you help them. My M&D though not in debt had £6k sat in their current account earning nothing, when I took it over, and had taken it from their ISA! just in case they needed some money, I found they got the 0's confused between 10's 100's and 1000's.

Part of the trouble with all this is not bank workers are now sales people on commission, and not what they used to be.
DG

fletch3163

donny-gal the bank workers are NOT HALF on commission. MIL has house insurance, a loan, an account costing £25 for nothing........ but you're right on protecting this age group from the unscrupulous. It's disgraceful. My MIL wouldn't dream of appearing as if she didn't understand and she finds debt a bad word

Horace

Do you have an idea on how much she spends on food too?

The insurance is probably high because of her age and whether or not she has accidents and has had to make claims.

theoretica

Don't forget the mortgage backlog as a debt- this is a very important one as it is secured on her home.

It is possible for Virgin to ban you from calling premium rate numbers. Might she agree to doing this? Why if she is paying £66 to Virgin for everything is there also a £20 for TV?

Is the other adult in the household contributing anything or do they both live on her pension?

Now the car is uninsured will it be sold?