Advice needed for in laws

neverindebtagain

My in laws are on a state pension. Father in law owes tax man a lot and he cannot pay them. House is prob in negative equity,but there definitely is not enough in it to pay tax man.Mother in law owes a small overdraft and about 1200 on a credit card, thats all I really know she owes. The overdraft people are screaming for the money, she cannot pay them, they have suggested putting the overdraft on to her credit card or take a loan out with them. But rightly she says that is only shifting the debt. They have got no money. She has seen on the other forums you can reclaim bank charges, but is that only if you have been over the overdraft or is it for the charges for the use of the overdraft, I think she is hoping that by claiming all charges back it may clear the overdraft. I want to help them but I think the only solution is talking to a charity debt line.
If the tax man starts br proceedings it may include mother in law, it may not. They cannot afford to declare themselves br. I really want to help them through this as their health is not brilliant and it is not right to have this over them at their age.
Any advice at all is most appreciated

miss_spooky

Hi & welcome,

Relax and don’t panic. First rule of thumb! Get a cuppa & have a good read.

I'm not sure whether you are just asking about the bank charges or whether you can thinking of your il's going BR. I've given you some reading for both. There is also a forum for reclaiming bank charges & bits, so it may be worth having a read there. The charges that you can reclaim are for any unpaid direct debt, overdraft charges. This doesn't include interest or banking fee charges.

I've put together some info for you il's to read to so that they can get the best impartial advice.


Your first port of call will be to have a look thru this sticky.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/...html?t=1056083

It's at the front of the board. You will also need to get advice from one of the FREE debt charities –

National Debtline - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/ - if you ring them they will go through everything for you then you can come back here for help thru your br journey. Be prepared to hold as they are busy.
CCCS - http://www.cccs.co.uk/ - you can do an online debt remedy and request a ring back. They will go through most stuff but may make an appt for a later date.
CAB - http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ - a drop in where you'll first see an advisor who will make an appt with a money advisor. Most CAB are booking approx 8 week ahead as really busy. I'd say NDL is the best bet for a quicker answer.

You could post up a Statement of Affairs so we can get an idea - you will have to go thru this with charities anyway.

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html

When completed, press the MSE button to format it for here. A new window will open, copy & past into yr thread.


Good luck.

tigerfeet2006

As you rightly suppose the best course of action is to talk to a debt charity. They will go through all the options with them both. National Debtline will give advice on the phone straight away.

If they do suggest BR then come back to us and we can help and support you through helping them.

If they do opt for BR then as the house is in negetive equity they probably won't lose it.

neverindebtagain

Thank you both for replying, I should have said that I am br, 6.5 weeks to AD. Husband was discharged last month. I was in too deep for reclaiming bank charges to help me, so have never looked into it. I took advice and br was the only route for us both. My in laws as far as I know are not hugely in debt, the only big demand is from tax man to my father in law. I feel that they need professional advice but I know they are scared. So the bank charges you can reclaim are if you have gone over your overdraft, not the charges for using the overdraft properly, i.e monthly interest charge.