Help please. I dont have a clue!!!!

roxy86_2

Hi all, OK firstly Im posting this for my mum so please dont go judging, she just wants advice on where she stands.:(

My mum decided to move to Turkey last year after meeting someone over there. She moved in with him and he told her she needs no money, he would look after. Well this was not the case. My mum was claiming incapacity benefit before she went and was still claiming it while over there for about 6 months or so until it suddenly got stopped.

Now I understand the reason it prob stopped was due to them finding out she was claiming while out of the country (fraud).

She also has an IVA which she was meant to pay about £60 a month to and has not paid that for the last year or so.

She also has a loan of £1000 which she took out just over a year ago which she has also not been paying.

Her bank account has been taken away from her due to the fact that she was always in the red and never able to repay it.

Now she is starting to see the light and realise that the move to Turkey was prob the biggest mistake she has ever made. Now comes the problem that she has no money, has commited fraud and also in a pile of debt.

My questions are can she get help to get home?
What will happen to her if she comes home?
What will happen bout the debt?
What will happen because of the fraud?
I hate to have to ask but can she claim her benefits again and if so how long would they take?
Also, before she moved she was living with my stepdad and he paid the rent etc, if she can come back she will need somewhere to stay and so will the council help her with this?

I really would like her home as she is not a stable person and is very depressed. We all told her the move was a ridiculous idea and could see this coming but she tends to just go with the flow and worry about problems when they arise not in advance.
Any advice anyone could give would be so helpful.

Also is the right place for posting? I posted on benefits board and then thought that maybe this board is more appropriate.

Tixy

Hi roxy

I'm not sure about a lot of the things you have asked, but with regards to the finances/ debts/ failed IVA etc - I think she might want to consider bankruptcy. Does she have any assets at all?

Do you know how much she owed originally within her IVA?

I think (but am not sure) that her benefits overclaim that was fradulent may not be part of the bankruptcy, so she would still need to repay.

What sort of benefits would she be looking to claim? is she unable to work still (what was the reason for her incapacity?) or will she be looking for work and therefore hoping to claim jobseekers?
I would imagine she could still get benefits but they will probably make a deduction from her payments for the amounts that still need repaying. I would imagine a claim would take the same amount of time as they usually do (is it about 12weeks?)

With regards to finding somewhere for her to live when she returns I think shelter would be a good place to ask for advice.

Not sure where the ideal place to post this would be (but on here is a good starting point as at hopefully you'll get people trying to help not judge which sadly cannot be said for all the boards).

savingmummy

Hi sorry your in this sort of situation, must be very strssful for you.
I have no dealings with this sort of thing either so can`t offer concrete advise to you BUT if i was in this situation i think it would be better to get expert advise, so CAB to see what is what!

Regarding housing i am not sure but most councils have a waiting list and so it may take a while for her to rehoused, so somewhere to stay in the mean time would need to considered if she was too return.

Quote - My mum was claiming incapacity benefit before she went and was still claiming it while over there for about 6 months or so until it suddenly got stopped.

Now I understand the reason it prob stopped was due to them finding out she was claiming while out of the country (fraud).

Did your mum not inform them that she was moving abroad?
Has she had letters regarding fraud etc?
She may need to contact these benefit offices and go about repaying what she owes to them, again i am not sure if this is a route to follow but it is what i would offer to do.

Hope someone can help!!

RAS

roxy86 wrote: »

My mum was claiming incapacity benefit before she went and was still claiming it while over there for about 6 months or so until it suddenly got stopped.

Now I understand the reason it prob stopped was due to them finding out she was claiming while out of the country (fraud)..

It may depend how they found out but her best bet would probably to fess up and accept paying a bit back from her benefits each month.

roxy86 wrote: »

She also has an IVA which she was meant to pay about £60 a month to and has not paid that for the last year or so..

It is most unlikely that she is in an IVA as the minimum is usually £300 per month on a minimum £15K debt.

Most likely a DMP which could be re-activated. How much does she owe?

roxy86 wrote: »

She also has a loan of £1000 which she took out just over a year ago which she has also not been paying...

let's hope she was with a fee-paying debt manager as she should not have taken out more debt on either a DMP or IVA.

roxy86 wrote: »

Her bank account has been taken away from her due to the fact that she was always in the red and never able to repay it....

She should be able to get a basic bank account but may have a few problems if she has no permanent address. More problematic is if any CIFAS flag has been raised after she took out the loan, knowing she did not have the income to cover it.

roxy86 wrote: »

Now she is starting to see the light and realise that the move to Turkey was prob the biggest mistake she has ever made.

Now comes the problem that she has no money, has commited fraud and also in a pile of debt.

My questions are can she get help to get home?
What will happen to her if she comes home?
What will happen bout the debt?
What will happen because of the fraud?
I hate to have to ask but can she claim her benefits again and if so how long would they take?
Well a couple of guys locally who raised £700,000 over a decade and are currently claiming since being released.
Also, before she moved she was living with my stepdad and he paid the rent etc, if she can come back she will need somewhere to stay and so will the council help her with this?

As a single person she would be very low priority in the LAs eyes.

Some replies above.

Without knowing her total debt it is hard to advise exactly. She needs to speak to one of the debt charities herself.

It also very much depends if her future is on benefits or wshe has any chance of a decent salary down the line.

But options might include a Debt Relief Order if the total is less than £15K and she is on benefits or bankruptcy if they are higher.

roxy86_2

thankyou all for the advice.

Her debt is £13000

The loan she got was with barclays which is where she was banking before her bank account was stopped.

No she didnt inform anyoone that she was eleaving she just up and went. My step dad just informed me that he had a debt collectore at his door asking for her to pay the £13000 she owed a few days ago.

As for the future it is very unlikely she will ever earn a decent salary. She will most likely be on incapacity benefit for a while. she was on it due to being severely depressed which she still is.

RAS

roxy86 wrote: »

Her debt is £13000 .

Is this before she added the loan from Barclays.

How much does she owe on the bank account.

I am assuming she lived in England or Wales?

If the total is more than £15,000, she would need to go bankrupt rather than get a Debt Relief Order.

If it is unlikely that she will be earning serious money in the future, those could be reasonable options.

She MUSt get advice from a debt charity.

The real issue might be

1. How does she get home? Do any of the budget airlines offer routes she can access?

2. She might well need to book into a hostel for cheap B&B for a week or two and may have difficulties getting alternative housing. her best bet might be lodging or contacting someone like MIND.

basieman

It sounds like you need to deal with this in stages. The first question I would like to ask is - Does uour Mum WANT to come home? Has the relationship broken down?
Has he thrown her out?

If your Mum wants to come home and "face the music" for whatever reason, is there any way you can't have a "whip-round" and get her a cheap 0ne-way ticket?

If there isn't a relationship problem, and it's simply a lack of money, why not try getting a job in one of the tourist resorts. I am sure an English-speaking waitress etc., would go down well with the amount of Brits visiting. Depends, of course how bad the incapacity is?

As for problems with the bank in England and the outstanding IVA - I don't think they will hire any "hit-men" anytime soon! Hanging has also been banned!

Just get your Mum back home and then come clean with DWP. Wipe the slate clean and start over again. "Older and Wiser"!!

Probably just get a fine and have to re-register for benefits again.

Just take it a step at a time.

Hope this helps

roxy86_2

hi all, im just updating. have spoken to my mum and her debt is about £27,000. She says she was on an IVA but was only paying £60 a month towards this debt.

Also I have spoken to CAB who have taken notes and are going to get back to me next week but cannot be specific with info as im phoning on behalf of mum so can only give me basics.

Until then though, I was wandering if anyone else could tell me that if you have been away form the UK for a year and come back is there a period in which you have to wait to be able to claim benefits again?

My mum has heard from a few english people living in turkey that she would have to be back ihn the UK for 6 months before she could start claiming.

RAS

Hi

The figures you quote simply do not stack up. Check whether your mother's details are here http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/.

if not she was on a DMP whihc masqueraded as an IVA (quite common with less scruplous providers).

If she is on there, one sensible option would be for her to go BR when she returns to the UK. But she HAS to take proper advice and to be in England or Wales to do that.

roxy86_2

RAS wrote: »

Hi

The figures you quote simply do not stack up. Check whether your mother's details are here http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/eiir/.

if not she was on a DMP whihc masqueraded as an IVA (quite common with less scruplous providers).

If she is on there, one sensible option would be for her to go BR when she returns to the UK. But she HAS to take proper advice and to be in England or Wales to do that.

i just had a look and she is not on there so does that mean she was on a DMP? What is that exactly? And what route can she take from that? By the way thankyou so much for all your advice, its very helpful.:T

RAS

Well, the three main debt managment options are bankruptcy, IVA and debt management plans.

The first two are forms of insolvency, and taking out the loan from Barclays would have got her into real trouble.

She needs to write to the debt management company and terminate the relationship.

The basics are:

She needs to get advice from a debt charity. She could do the CCCS debt planner on-line and then arrange to speak to them later - she will probably have to ring them.

If she wants to go bankrupt, at least she is not already tied up with an insolvency practitioner who does not want to release her or petition for her.

You need to check out the benefits thing on the benefits board but you may well want to acquire armour first, as there will be some who think she should not bebable to claim if she has not been resident, irrespective of whether and what she can claim.