BIL ran up debt.

mich13x

Hi everyone,

New to this board as havent needed debt advice but here goes...

Before OH and i moved in together 3 years ago he shared a flat with his brother, upon moving out he agreed brother could keep the BT calls, tv and internet package in my OH name as brother has very bad credit (irresponsible with money).

The package was £50 pm and for the first few months everything seemed fine when my OH checked to be sure bills were not being run up (brother has history of this) and being paid on time. So as the months went on we stupidly began to put trust in him and stopped checking bills.

To my horror a letter from a debt collection agency arrived last week saying a trace had been put on my OH and found him to be living at this address, there was no mention of what the debt was for or how much at this point. Then this was followed up by another letter today demanding payment for a BT account to the tune of £568 :eek:

Im furious with BIL for letting us down again, he stopped paying in April 2009, the services were cut off and he just never told us, he had also ran up substantially more than the £50 pm as he was constantly calling mobiles and watching pay per view movies and when he could not afford the bill panicked (his words).

Anyway he has offered to give us £50 pm until its paid off, however i just cannot wait that amount of time for it to be cleared so i will pay it off in full from our pockets and then BIL can pay us back what he can afford, what i would like to know is...

shoud i just pay in full right away? Or should i try for a lesser amount for full and final settlement?

I am not sure if as its BT such a thing wouldnt be possible and they would want full amount.

Any advice appreciated and sorry for the long post

beanielou

Not sure why you think they would accept less?

DarkConvict

Neoigate with BT, if you repay in full now you loose your bargining power.

Explain that you realise it was your responsibility as its in your name, but the bill was run up by a family member who you were mislead into eventually trusting. Keep it brief and state your not look for a sob story/sympathy, but would like to negotiate the swift repayment of this debt on the condition that all credit history created by this account is removed from your credit file(s), late payment/defaults etc. (as these can cost you £100's over several years in higher interest rates on other stuff)

Written letters are recommended, but I would see no harm in initial phone call just do not agree to anthing. All settlement offers MUST be in writing.

mich13x

beanielou wrote: »

Not sure why you think they would accept less?

Well normally i wouldnt but since reading this board there were lots of posts about full and final settlements and people offering lesser amounts initially to settle the debt in full so thought i would ask advice if this was applicable to this debt. Also because no doubt BIL will pay us a few times and then we will never get all the money from him, he is always full of excuses, so was trying to cut my losses.

Fiddlestick

mich13x wrote: »

Well normally i wouldnt but since reading this board there were lots of posts about full and final settlements and people offering lesser amounts initially to settle the debt in full so thought i would ask advice if this was applicable to this debt.

No chance.

Lenders only usually offer a full and final settlement when it's clear that it's the only chance they have of getting a sniff of the money.

If you have the money, you have an obligation to pay up.

mich13x

DarkConvict wrote: »

Neoigate with BT, if you repay in full now you loose your bargining power.

Explain that you realise it was your responsibility as its in your name, but the bill was run up by a family member who you were mislead into eventually trusting. Keep it brief and state your not look for a sob story/sympathy, but would like to negotiate the swift repayment of this debt on the condition that all credit history created by this account is removed from your credit file(s), late payment/defaults etc. (as these can cost you £100's over several years in higher interest rates on other stuff)

Written letters are recommended, but I would see no harm in initial phone call just do not agree to anthing. All settlement offers MUST be in writing.

thanks for the useful advice, i assume as the debt has been passed to S.R.J debt recoveries, all correspondence will have to be through them instead of BT?

mich13x

Fiddlestick wrote: »

No chance.

Lenders only usually offer a full and final settlement when it's clear that it's the only chance they have of getting a sniff of the money.

If you have the money, you have an obligation to pay up.

Thanks for advice, i wouldnt quite say i have a spare £568 lying around as have an 11 month old, one on the way and new mortgage to pay but im scared of it ruining OH credit so will find it somehow.

I undertstand we have an obligation to pay but was worth a shot, doesnt hurt to ask:D

Fiddlestick

mich13x wrote: »

Thanks for advice, i wouldnt quite say i have a spare £568 lying around as have an 11 month old, one on the way and new mortgage to pay but im scared of it ruining OH credit so will find it somehow.

I undertstand we have an obligation to pay but was worth a shot, doesnt hurt to ask:D

Sorry, I didn't mean to trivialise finding the money but I can see you got the gist of what I was meaning

DarkConvict

Settlements on non defaulted accounts never tend to drop below 90% and its uncommon for it to be less than 100%.

The main part is you want to ensure your credit file stays intact, as its in your name you risk been blackmarked for 6 years!

You may wish to get your credit files online for free - experian free trial and see if its already happened.

chuckley

u should give the DCA ur brothers name and address and tell them he owes the money.

this happened to me, when a bill was in my name, but paid by someone else. the company harassed me my phone and letter, so i gave them the other persons details and never heard from them again. and nothing ever appeared on my file.

ur brothers been scamming u for over a year... u dont owe him anything. he clearly knew what he was doing. H'es takin the right mick out of u offering a measly £50 a month.... he WONT pay it.

mich13x

DarkConvict - I believe it will already have defaulted as BIL was receiving the debt letters at the flat initially from late last year onwards, he just ripped them up so i think thats why this company have done a trace and found that my OH doesnt actually live at the flat anymore as he pays council tax etc here obviously. Will this default be removed once account is settled?

I have tried to do as you suggest to obtain a credit report and just get emails saying i have already registered in the past or something even though i dont actually remember doing so or what for

Chuckley - Unfortunately even if they would accept BIL as liable for the debt he has been of no fixed abode since February 2010. He works full time, no dependents or bills but never seems to have any money so you are probably right in that he wont pay but for the sake of keeping the peace within the family i just wanted to get it sorted, shall get OH to call them after work today to see about payment.

Thanks for advice.