Desperate to help dad

gromit73

Good evening everyone

I am looking for advice and hope one of you kind people can advise me.

My dad is a widower in his 60's and has never been great with money but since my mom died he has got even worse.

I have tried to help him but he has now got himself in a position where he owes about 6k to credit card companies and as he is retired and disabled he has got no way at all to pay it back and is absolutley in a mess.

It is only a matter of time before people start sending letters and he gets calls and people knocking on his door.

Should he go bankrupt?

Thanks everyone in advance, I am really worried about him x

NorthernLas

He needs advice from an organisation who will give advice for free. Have a look at the following link https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2077631.

If he wants to talk face to face, he should try CAB or CAP. You can help by looking at the national debt helpline self-help guide, so you can help him set a budget and work out how much money he has left to pay his debts.

Hannah_10

Bankrupt for £6k is possible, but it's not generally considered a first choice for that kind of money, usually bankruptcy is something you start thinking about when the debt is well into five figures. Very few people have no way to pay a debt back at all, even if he can find a tenner a week after his rent/food/essentials then he's a candidate for a debt-managment plan (which the CCCS can set up and manage for him). Then there are other options like a debt reduction order (DRO) and so on. He really does need some specific advice.

Although bankruptcy is an option open to him, people who haven't yet had cause to learn about getting debt free often see it as a straight choice between paying the huge "minimum payments" forever, paying the loff off in a lump sum or going bankrupt. In fact there are a lot of other ways, a lot of options, a lot of less drastic things he could do t work his way out of debt. He needs to speak to one of the charitable organisations NorthernLas linked.

gromit73

Thanks for the advice, dad has never been great with money and has been in a bit of a pickle since my mom died but it all got a lot worse when he had a cancer scare earlier this year and basically thought sod it and spent money he didn't have as he thought he wouldn't be here to worry about it anyway!