The ex's liability for debt

xx_michelle_xx

Hi there, i have a couple of questions and i am hoping someone can help me.

My ex and i separated a year ago after a 7 yr relationship. During our relationship i accrued £13,000 worth of debt in my name. All debt was taken out to raise our family each time he quit yet another job and i was a stay at home mum.

Does he have any liability at all for any of this?

Also, i have set up and manage a dmp to pay off the previous. All but one of my creditors have accepted the token payments and have stopped charges and frozen interest. I offered the company in question £10 every 4 weeks. (i specified 4 weekly because this is my CHB and is the only spare money i have.)

They initially refused the payment to which i sent my financial statement. They did not respond to this or letters thereafter regarding the statement. They also still charge a late payment fee if my four weeks fall after the due date and charge interest at around £40 pm.

Are they allowed to do this? Do they have any legal obligation r.e frozen interest etc to the consumer that is in financial hardship?

I hope that all makes sense. As i mentioned, all other creditors are happy with the arrangement and are being some what pleasant.

Thankyou

Michelle

fermi

Unless your ex took out loans/credit in joint names with you, then only the person who is named on and signed the credit agreement is liable.

Creditors are not obliged to stop interest or charges I'm afraid.

dancingfairy

Sadly the debt is in your name. Unless you wanted to take him to court which wouldbe costly and I doubt you would have any success.
With respect to companies stopping interest and charges - no I don't think there are any legal requirements at all - apart from I think the banking code or the ombudsman or someone requires customers to be treated fairly - how you define fairly is obviously open to interpretation. Eventually the company concerned should stop interest and charges - once they figure out that really is all you have- keep sending them the amount so IF they decide to try their luck in court you can prove that you are payng them off as best you can despite them paying a pain. Keep a copy of all letters sent to them - again if they try anything funny in court you can prove everything.
You might want to write the company concerned a complaint letter - I've heard that different departments have different things they can do - your letters might just have been ending up on Joe Bloggs desk so far for all you know - at least if it's a complaint then someone more senior/with more authority might get involved. Point out to them you have been a loyal customer for x number of years, always paid on time, and that now you've hit hard times, point out that all your other creditors have accepted, try and quote something from their literature about supporting people in financial troubles, and treating customers fairly etc if you can find anything.
If that fails then you really just have to keep plugging away and pay them month in month out until you've finished paying the others off or they get bored and accept your payment plan or you somehow managed to scrape a few bob together and you can offer them a settlement figure.
df

xx_michelle_xx

Thankyou for your replies. I thought that probably would be the answer, was living in hope tbh. I've learnt my lesson now.

As for the difficult company, i have written to them again using your advice. I've decided to try and scrape some extra pennies and pay as much as i can until they're paid off.

Thanks again

michelle

MrsTinks

I don't suppose you and your ex are/were married? Because that is just about the only way you can get him to be given some liability for the debt... in a divorce court...
Have you posted up you SOA yet?

xx_michelle_xx

No, we weren't married. We did have a joint bank account though. (Not sure if that makes any difference.)

Here is my soa, any advice would be muchly appreciated. I would like to point out that i don't have this surplus amount at the months end. I don't know where it goes, i generally try and do all the weekly stuff (gas, elec, shopping, petrol etc) the same day i get paid so it doesn't get frittered. Hmm, that was a wake up call!

Monthly Income after tax £0.00
Partners Income £0.00
Benefits £996.64 (ctc 136.61 pw, chb 188.40 4 weekly, income support 130.90 fortnightly)
Other Income £0.00
Mortgage payment £0.00
Secured HP/Loans £0.00
Rent £0.00 (full housing benefit paid direct to landlord)
Management Charge £0.00
Council Tax £0.00 (full c.tax benefit paid direct to council)
Electricity £40.00
Gas £40.00
Oil £0.00
Water rates £42.00 (10.50 pw due to arrears)
Landline £0.00
Mobile phone £25.00
TV licence £12.50
Satellite/Cable £0.00
Internet services £15.00 (dongle)
Groceries £240.00 (inc nappies, toiletries, cleaning products)
Clothing £32.44
Petrol £80.00 (have to drive daughters to school 4 miles away)
Road tax £18.34
Car ins £34.00
Car maintenance inc MOT £33.34
Car parking £0.00
Other travel £0.00
Other child related expenses £6.67 (eldest daughters spare glasses, hers get knocked at school and she cant be without them)
Medical (prescriptions etc) £0.00
Pet insurance/ vet bills £0.00
Buildings insurance £0.00
Contents insurance £0.00
Life assurance £0.00
Other insurance £0.00
Presents (Birthday/xmas etc) £50.00
Haircuts £20.00
Entertainment £30.00
Holiday £0.00
Household emergency £10.00

Debts:

Natwest Loan/Overdraft-£9250-£10 pm 0%
Tesco CC-£882-£5 pm 0%
Parents-£1200-£50 pm 0%
HFC Bank-£233-5 pm 0%
Natwest CC-£280- £5 pm 0%
Freemans-£161- £5 pm 0%
Studio-£77-£10 pm 44.9%
Avon-£52- £5 pm 0%
Additions -£1998-£10 pm 37.9%

Asset

Cash £0.00
House value £0.00
Shares etc £0.00
Car £250.00
Other assets £0.00

Number of Adults 1
Number of children 3 (6,5 and 2)
Number of cars owned 1

Total monthly income £966.64
Outgoings £729.29
Available for debt repayment £267.35
Unsecured debt repayments £105
Surplus £162.35

Assets £250.00
Secured debt £0.00
Unsecured debt -£14133
Debt minus assets -£13883






Um, hope i did this right.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Mowgli87

xx_michelle_xx wrote: »

Monthly Income after tax £0.00
Partners Income £0.00
Benefits £996.64 (ctc 136.61 pw, chb 188.40 4 weekly, income support 130.90 fortnightly)
Other Income £0.00
Mortgage payment £0.00
Secured HP/Loans £0.00
Rent £0.00 (full housing benefit paid direct to landlord)
Management Charge £0.00
Council Tax £0.00 (full c.tax benefit paid direct to council)
Electricity £40.00
Gas £40.00
Oil £0.00
Water rates £42.00 (10.50 pw due to arrears)
Landline £0.00
Mobile phone £25.00
TV licence £12.50
Satellite/Cable £0.00
Internet services £15.00 (dongle)
Groceries £240.00 (inc nappies, toiletries, cleaning products) This seems quite high, even for 3 kiddies. Have you tried meal planning? It worked wonders for me and cut my grocery spend by 50% Even if you got it down to £180 that would be a spare £60 a month for your debts
Clothing £32.44
Petrol £80.00 (have to drive daughters to school 4 miles away)
Road tax £18.34
Car ins £34.00
Car maintenance inc MOT £33.34
Car parking £0.00
Other travel £0.00
Other child related expenses £6.67 (eldest daughters spare glasses, hers get knocked at school and she cant be without them)
Medical (prescriptions etc) £0.00
Pet insurance/ vet bills £0.00
Buildings insurance £0.00
Contents insurance £0.00
Life assurance £0.00
Other insurance £0.00
Presents (Birthday/xmas etc) £50.00 I would suggest trying to cut this down too - Dont give beyond your means. Im sure people with understand that you are a single mum with three kids again, even cutting it down to £30 a month gives you a spare £20 a month
Haircuts £20.00 Try salon training days for yourself. I have always done this as every time I come out of the salon with a fab free haircut. Even though they are trainees, they are overlooked by a senior stylist. As for the kiddies, invest in a pair of hair scissors (about £5) and DIY!
Entertainment £30.00
Holiday £0.00
Household emergency £10.00

Debts:

Natwest Loan/Overdraft-£9250-£10 pm 0%
Tesco CC-£882-£5 pm 0%
Parents-£1200-£50 pm 0% Will they consider cutting this down due to your circumstances? £30 a month until youre back on your feet?
HFC Bank-£233-5 pm 0%
Natwest CC-£280- £5 pm 0%
Freemans-£161- £5 pm 0%
Studio-£77-£10 pm 44.9%
Avon-£52- £5 pm 0%
Additions -£1998-£10 pm 37.9%

Asset

Cash £0.00
House value £0.00
Shares etc £0.00
Car £250.00
Other assets £0.00

Number of Adults 1
Number of children 3 (6,5 and 2)
Number of cars owned 1

Total monthly income £966.64
Outgoings £729.29
Available for debt repayment £267.35
Unsecured debt repayments £105
Surplus £162.35

Assets £250.00
Secured debt £0.00
Unsecured debt -£14133
Debt minus assets -£13883






Um, hope i did this right.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Have a think about my bits in purple. If you think you can do it, that will give you an extra £120 a month for your debts.

Have you been in contact with CCCS about a debt management plan? They would be very helpful. DO NOT go to one of the companies you see on the TV, they charge a fee (about £30 per £100 you pay) and are useless.

xx_michelle_xx

Thanks for your advice mowgli! I have spoken to my parents who have agreed to let me off paying anything for the next few months so that i can knock additions on the head. I did meal plan this week and only spent £50.00, which saved me £10 straight away! And i have decided to reduce the present fund and buy routinely from ebay etc only.

Anyway, thanks again. I really appreciate it.

xx

RAS

xx_michelle_xx wrote: »

No, we weren't married. We did have a joint bank account though. (Not sure if that makes any difference.)

Can I check that you have closed that account now?

Otherwise your ex can continue to accrue debt in your joint names and leave your totally liable for it.

CommitedToChange

I'd advise keeping a spending diary for a couple of months since you don't know where the surplus goes - write down every little amount as its amazing how it all adds up. You should then be able to figure out where this extra cash goes to.

xx_michelle_xx

Hi RAS, yes i closed the account straight away and i now bank elsewhere.

Hi ctc, i will start a diary this week, i'll go rummaging for a notepad tomorrow.

On a slightly different note, how much does everyone put by for emergencies? After i have paid my additions account i want to build this fund up a bit but not sure what a reasonable figure would be.

xx