The Bank Wants their Money I am Gaurantor

ballymack

My wife and I stood Gaurantor on a loan to try and help my son. He has been laid off, my wife is retired and I am due to retire. Lately we have fallen behind with payments and have been to the CAB for help. The amount outstanding is approx 15k. We have approached the bank with what we can afford but even after 40 years loyalty they have refused to listen. They have told us that they want their money or they will sell the debt to someone else to collect. My worries are that Bailiffs will come and take our belongings. I have been told that this is a civil debt and that they cannot enter to take my belongings does anyone know anything about where we stand and what will happen to us.

ILW

They can only send in the baliffs after getting a court order.

StuTheDon

Hi - we really need more information. How much did you tell the bank you could afford? Do you have any income? What is your son doing about getting another job?

RobertoMoir

Sadly, this is what standing as guarantor means - you are liable for the debt and the bank are able to approach you to repay it.

As for bailiffs, this is not an immediate concern. They would need to obtain a county court judgement (CCJ) against you, and would have to have had trouble collecting on the debt at this point and then gone back to the court to have the debt enforced by bailiffs after all this, which is not an overnight process by any stretch of the imagination.

You do need to consider your next move carefully however. The whole point of being guarantor of a debt, as I said, is that you will repay it if the person you guaranteed cannot, so the bank will most certainly be aggressive in chasing you for their money. To them, this isn't about "loyalty", it's about business.