Need advice about order of things

bigdec

This is a request for information about the correct way around a problem my brother is in 42000 pounds of debt and has no way of paying anything to clear the debt as he has had a breakdown and is in hospital, and has lost his job as well. What is the best course of action do we pay a nominal amount to each of his outstanding credit cards and loans ie 1 pound and advise them them with a letter regarding his situation and say that we are going to contact cccs to get the situation sorted or do we approach his creditors are selves. We hope is that I might be able to be made ward of court for him and get his money problem sorted out .

:A

Wonder_Girl

His creditors will be unable to discuss anything with you due to data protection, you will either need written authorisation signed by your brother for each of his creditors and CCCS or a copy of power of attorney before they will disclose any information about your brothers accounts.

In the mean time i would write to them and pay them a token amount just to keep them updated.

I hope your brother starts getting better soon

bigdec

I am trying for power of attorney or ward of court

CLAPTON

if there are DD or standing orders due to leave his bank account (and i'm assuming there isn't enough to pay the bills) then you need to get power of attorney asap so you can manage his account.

can you say some more about his situation...does he have a wife, children, house, mortgage, any benefits payments,

Eager_Elephant

The first thing to do is to get power of attorney/ward of court. How ill is your brother, does he have all his facultys - if someone is mentally ill or has suffered some sort of impairment (stroke.etc.) then a doctor has to decide whether someone is fit to sign the Power of Attorney document, if he is not then you need a Ward of Court which may take a while.

If you happen to get a Power of Attorney then you need an Enduring Power of Attorney, this will last until someone withdraws it whereas a Power of Attorney is just to cover this period or to oversee something (such as if you were going abroad but were selling a property in this country you might give your parents PoA to oversee the sale and deal with the finances)

I would not be making any payments to any creditors at the moment, the first they get wind that family are willing to pay they will start demanding all sorts of payments.

You could try writing to all the creditors explaining the situation and saying there is no available money at present and you will be in contact as soon as PoA has been sorted. You even enclose a note from his doctor or CPN confirming your brothers ill health.

If your brother is not likely to get better then you may be able to suggest a write off of the debt due to his poor health and the fact he won't ever be able to pay much.

You will not be able to approach CCCS without PoA, they won't discuss anyone's finances without permission. If you feel you need more advice then contact your nearest Citizens Advice Bureau, they will be able to advise on the best course of action.

EE

bigdec

CLAPTON wrote:

if there are DD or standing orders due to leave his bank account (and i'm assuming there isn't enough to pay the bills) then you need to get power of attorney asap so you can manage his account.

can you say some more about his situation...does he have a wife, children, house, mortgage, any benefits payments,

there are various dd not sure at the moment as sending off for credit report from experian and i have spoken to cccs they will speak to me only after i have written permision from my brother.

situation wise . no job ( was dismissed but that was due ti illness )
no income applied for disability support ( but that will take up to 5 weeks )
also applied for income support (again a wait before he will hear if he can get any money )various DD but still not sure what and to weremarried but his name is not on the mortgage. He is in a DMP with a company called all clear finance but has no income to pay anything. I know that in the end he will proberly end up being made bankrupt.

If i do find out any more info i will post asap

:T :T :rotfl:

CLAPTON

and can you clarify his mental state...is he able to sign documents to give you enduring PoA or otherwise authorise you to deal with his affairs.
also not sure i understand about his housing situation...

Wonder_Girl

Is your brother well enough to sign a letter giving you auth to deal with his accounts? if so this will do for creds & CCCS until you get POA

bigdec

CLAPTON wrote:

and can you clarify his mental state...is he able to sign documents to give you enduring PoA or otherwise authorise you to deal with his affairs.
also not sure i understand about his housing situation...

Bi polar disorder and very bad depression, he is able to sign documents as we had to ask him to sign some letters so we could get a credit report and so cccs would speak to a family member instead of him. he is aware that we are trying to resolve his money problems. He is married but the mortgage is paid by the wife and his name is not on the documents.

bigdec

Little bit of a update I have managed to get my brother to call CCCS ref the debt and he now has a telephone appointment on the 18th October and CCCS did not automaticaly say that he would need to go bankrupt so that could be a good sign

seven-day-weekend

That is good news, hope it all works out for him.