My son's debt.

Boddy_2

What advice would you give me...my son ran up a debt of around 2,000..after he left home, approximately 18 months ago, but must have given my home number as a contact number....At the end of last year and the beginning of this year (he was not living here then) I was constantly being contacted by recorded messages from a debt recovery agent, asking for my son to get in contact.. I have not been contacted for a few months now, and my son is back home temporarily ....My concern is, that this debt must be accruing interest,....I told him to contact the National Debt Line as I had also spoken to them for advice, which he has not done yet....I am quite worried about what the implications may be....Please can someone advise...I am also quite angry that he has not made any moves or even talk about this situation to try and rectify it...What would be the best advice you could give me?

Gordon_Hose

Well the implications are all for your son really. You won't be blacklisted, neither will your address. No bailiffs will turn up to remove your posessions either, unless the creditor takes your son to court and obtains a CCJ....which is the worst thing that could happen.

Your son needs to deal with it one way or another though.

Hannah_10

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Until your son is ready to face up to his problem himself there isn't a vast amount you can do about it.

The implications you worry about are probably impossible to be honest. There is so much minunderstanding of debt out there and it's fuelled by the existance of debt collection agencies (DCA's) who lie shockingly and act as though they are above regulation. Those DCA's are the norm, not the exception *sigh*. Allow me to address some of the main fears:

Someone will come to your house and take your stuff: They wont, they can't.
Your credit reference will go down in flames because of his actions: Not correct either, they are not linked to houses anymore, only individuals.
The debt will mount: Yes it will.
He might get a CCJ: He might yes, but if he responds to the invite to court instead of ignoring it he wont be ordered to pay it at any rate faster than he can truly afford.

He needs to take responsibility for himself and either come on here or speak to a reputable advisor (like national debtline or any of the others on this link). I don't know how you could persuade/cajole/tempt/force him to do that. I think to be honest you can't.