joint debt

jeanette251978

Hi all,

i have a joint debt with an ex partner, we jointly own the house that i live in which a pay for, he pays for his own flat...... we have a dmp which he gives me half towards.

I maybe able to pay off my half of the debt, which would include half of a joint debt totalling £8800, im assuming i would still be liable for the other half even though i have paid all my debt including half of the joint debt, so what would happen? would i be forced to do a dmp for the half of this joint loan or if he accepts responsiblity for his half would they accept this?

any help greatly appreciated, sorry for the short and sweet post, i did a big post explaining everything then my pc goofed up n lost it, running late for work lol...

thanks all xxx

tallyhoh

You would still be liable & I am 99% certain that they would not accept his taking on the 50% in his name only.

MrsTinks

Unfortunately if he can't get the other half of the money they you would both still be jointly liable for the debt. If you are already in a DMP it may be worth trying to negotiate for a lower settlement figure if you can?

jeanette251978

Thank you for your reply.

That is how i thought it would be.

I am now at work so ill try and explain abit better my situation.

Me and my ex went on a DMP through CCCS 3 years ago, last year our relationship crumbled and in xmas 08 we split up completely. We jointly own our house, i live in the house and pay all bills on it, he has just moved into a flat on his own and gives me half towards the DMP.

We are now on review with the CCCS so obviously our circumstances have changed alot which i need to inform them of. I got a letter last night from the company acting on a joint debt worth £8800 advising that they were placing a charging order on the property, i dont really understand what the implications are of this, but she did advise over the phone when i called her, that it would effect me selling the property (it is currently on the market to sell to pay off all debt).

I have managed to stop this for another 3 months but i was extremely upset last night, it felt like the beginning when i first got pestered and felt like real poo.

A really close friend of mine has offered to have a loan of £9k which would clear all my debt and half of the joint loan, were i understand that this is a massive thing, if it can stop all of this and give me my sanity back then i would take up the offer, pay it off monthly (as i hoped i wouldnt anylonger have a DMP) then pay off once the house is sold.

My problem then starts with the other half of the joint loan, my ex said he would have to go on a DMP on his own to pay what he owes, but im not sure he would be able to pay alot. Would i still be chased for the other half of the loan which technically he owes, would i have to do my own DMP through CCCS to pay towards the other half of this loan?

I am really confused with where i stand, there are outstanding issues on the house which prevents the sale, damp in celar and a new boiler is needed before winter which i cant afford, last winter i had no boiler and sat most nights in a real mess because of being so cold. I cant go through that again if i am to stay in this house. I hoped by paying off my half, it would get me off a DMP so that i can sort out issues in the house to enable us to sell up/move on/pay off and sort this sorry mess out.

Can anyone help please x

jeanette251978

MrsTine wrote: »

Unfortunately if he can't get the other half of the money they you would both still be jointly liable for the debt. If you are already in a DMP it may be worth trying to negotiate for a lower settlement figure if you can?

Thanks for your reply, i just posted alot more info above lol xx

He cant get the money together, i have more money than he does, we owe £16k, id be paying off £9k which is in my name, £4400 of which is half of the joint loan.

Would i have to do a dmp on the remaining £4400 ? also if my friend got a loan to pay off my half i would have to pay him this money each month so that would have to go on a DMP, would this be acceptable for the CCCS?


Thanks

MrsTinks

Yes you would still be chased for the other half of the loan because they don't care that he morally owes the other half - on paper you are JOINTLY liable for it. So long as you can't pay the full payments for the loan etc then you need to stay on a DMP.

If you paid off your debts and half the DMP then you would still have the remainder of the loan outstanding... If he can't afford it then for all the creditor cares it might as well be in your name solely because YOU are the one with an asset in the form of a house.
What you can do is split your DMP - provided the debts are fairly evenly split in your name and his name. And then make some full and final offers on your debts. Offer them 40% of the debt and hope they accept and then the money your mate is willing to lend you might be enough to pay off all the debts...

Unfortunately the short answer is NO - paying half the loan wouldn't negate your responcibility for the other half which "technically" he owes.

MrsTinks

jeanette251978 wrote: »

Would i have to do a dmp on the remaining £4400 ? also if my friend got a loan to pay off my half i would have to pay him this money each month so that would have to go on a DMP, would this be acceptable for the CCCS?


Thanks

No.

Any payments to friends and family do not really carry any significance in a DMP. There is no lending agreement and he wouldn't be a "priority" debt... Only the loan would be.

Personally I would not recommend that he lends you the money because taking debt out for anyone else is always a bad idea...