help me help my mum

susieanne

I will try to keep this as brief as poss my mum is in a right mess .I have just found out she has told me that she owes over 10,000 with a Lloyds tsb credit card .My dad knows nothing about this .My mum & dad are nearly 70 years old they have a pretty old fashioned way of dealing with things as in my mum deals with all the money and my dads happy as long as he has his news paper .This debt has not happened out of stupidity my dad had to give up work due to ill health in his 50,s and my mum looked after him ,she must have been using the credit card to pay bills ect .All they both get now is old age pension .
With help from me she has wrote to Lloyds and they have agreed to a DMP and accepted £80 per month as payment instead of the £200 per month that she was paying .They wont stop the interest but they have reduced it for her .
I dont see how she can afford to pay £80 per month on a pension but she says she can in her words she will have too .Shes even more worried now because if she carries on paying £80 per month she will still owe when shes 100 years old .
Basically where does she stand ? Whos liable for that debt if anything does happen ? would my dad have to carry on paying it .Im so worried for her ,she lives on the bread line ,she pays all her bills and struggles to eat .Any advice ?

RAS

Hi

I suggest you need to do a couple of things.

1. Ask mum to get her credit record, so you can see when these accounts were taken out. If this has been going on for a while, the legal documentation may be faulty and may protect her from legal action.
2. Find out if she has any joint accounts with dad. If not, then any failure on her part to pay the bill has no effect on his credit rating.
3. Find out if she took out PPI, aas this is wholly recoverable in her case.
4. Do a full benefits check with one of the older people's charities like Age UK, as I believe the Age Concern/Help the Aged are now called.

Do they own a house?

susieanne

thankyou for the reply
yes they do own a house why do you ask this ?
thanks again for your good advice but i dont think she will go to any people like age concern ect as ive already tried .She doesnt want my dad to find out which knowing what my dads like with her i thinks its best but not ideal

RAS

Pity about the house, as this make her situation more vulnerable. At worst, Lloyds could go for a CCJ and then a charging order on the house, at which point your dad would find out. They would not have to sell the house but the debt would be secured against it.

Plainly she and you would prefer to avoid this.

Does mum bank with Lloyds or any of the other banks in that group?

She definately need help with benefits. You could try here www.entitledto.com

Are they in receipt of the older person's tax allowances? Pensions Credits?

Are they entitled to any help with insulation and heating (what used to be Warm front)?

di3004

Hi there

So sorry to hear this.

I agree with RAS, and find out if there is payment protection insurance (PPI), was added to this, because it could have been mis sold, and they would not have been eligible to make a claim.

How long ago was the credit card taken on?

If ppi is added then this would be shown on the monthly statements.

So check the policy details, if this was mis sold then if on reclaiming they are to be successful, this would certainly help to reduce the debt.

More info here.....
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/ppi-loan-insurance

firesidemaid

as well as checking that they are getting all they are entitled to, you could also try and check theit outgoings, direct debits etc to ensure that they are not paying too much for anything and they are getting the best deals - i do this with/for my mum and dad every so often.

also, do you know whether she took the card out in store or via phone/post etc.

if their income is low and they have no savings and are struggling they may well be entitled to more help.

Jacey53

It's also worth writing to the CC company every 6 months or so asking again if they will freeze the interest. If they see that they are getting money regularaly and the debt is still not reducing then they may reconsider, particularly as your parents are elderly and on a fixed income.

susieanne

Wow thankyou all so much for your wonderful advice .I will do everything i can to help mum ,im glad she has told me she must have been out her mind for years .Im on a DMP mines because of my own supidity being young and wanting it all but for my mum i know that shes never had nothing its such a shame shes got in this mess .
If my dad knew he wouldnt help he would just blow his top and make mums life a misery .

RAS

firesidemaid wrote: »

as well as checking that they are getting all they are entitled to, you could also try and check theit outgoings, direct debits etc to ensure that they are not paying too much for anything and they are getting the best deals - i do this with/for my mum and dad every so often.

Good point, when I did this for my mum, I reduced all her outgoings by between 25-35%, either because the DD was set very high or she was buying "deals" which she did not need.

RAS

susieanne wrote: »

Wow thankyou all so much for your wonderful advice .I will do everything i can to help mum ,im glad she has told me she must have been out her mind for years. If my dad knew he wouldnt help he would just blow his top and make mums life a misery .

Hi it really is important that you find out when this account was taken out and whether it was on-line or at a bank.

Please can you do this.