Thanks to the wife............

barneybeagle

I recently found out that the missus had accumulated a debt of £60,000 over the last 12-14 years. I'll not bore you with the rest as it has turned my life upside down but this is the facts and this is my first post:

Should I remortgage. I have £28000 outstanding on our mortgage and want to borrow the extra 60 grand to pay off all the debts (total £90,000 grand ish).

I would like to pay back this over a period of 15 years or 10 years if possible.

The other option I believe is to get a loan for £60,000 only over a 15 years or 10 years period if possible.

We have a good credit record and I do not expect to encounter any problems getting a remortgage or loan.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thanks
BB

yung

Welcome to the forum, may be if you post some detail of the loan and an S.O.A, look here: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280 the good folks will be able to help and advise.

cathybird

do you mean a personal loan, or a secured loan? You won't get a personal loan to run over 15 years, it would be shorter, and I think most people on this site would avoid secured loans like the plague - the companies that run them are sharks, in my opinion, and usually very inflexible. My thought would be remortgage with a flexible mortgage that allows you to make overpayments and try to pay it off as quickly as possible, quicker than 10 years if you can manage it. But there are other people on this site who've had to deal with debts of this size that are no doubt more expert than I am!! best of luck with it though and thanks for posting :T :T :T

immoral_angeluk

even if you did get a remortgage or loan.. whats the guarantee that she won't run up more debt? Consolidation is not always a good idea because you're not tackling the issue of why the debt happened in the first place and all too often you end up with double the debt because it soon gets run up again as your attititude to debt doesn't change.

Dumyat

maybe there would be a way of reducing the debt before you consider remortgaging.
if you mend the mess who's to say the same wont happen again.

flowerofscotland

Hi and welcome.

Before you remortgage have you worked out how you are going to prevent future debts building up? So many of us on this board have been through the debt - consolidation - debt again pattern.

If you have just found out about this problem you are probably in shock so don't take the first course of action that occurs to you. Take some time to read some of the threads and great advice on this site before deciding on the best course of action.

If you move all the cc debt to your mortgage you are taking on your wife's debt: are you sure you want to risk your home to do this?

There are alternatives. If you have a good credit history you should be able to get 0% credit cards and by card tarting and then snowballing your debts you should be able to pay off the debt in a shorter time than you are considering for the remortgage. There is a great article by Martin about card tarting and the snowball calculator is at https://www.whatsthecost.com

Good luck with whatever you decide but keep asking questions here - there can't be many situations that someone hasn't already been through

cathybird

immoral_angeluk wrote:

even if you did get a remortgage or loan.. whats the guarantee that she won't run up more debt? Consolidation is not always a good idea because you're not tackling the issue of why the debt happened in the first place and all too often you end up with double the debt because it soon gets run up again as your attititude to debt doesn't change.

this is a very good point

barneybeagle

Thanks for the info. Here's my SOA:

Take home pay: £2400 (plus overtime, but the figure shown is my basic)
Endownment mortgage: Originally £58000 but I have now only £28000 to pay which is now £160 per month.
Total outgoings, including the £160 mortgage above, saving plans, endownment (endownment complete in about 12-13 years), life insurance, food, petrol, etc £1700.

The wife whose debt I am inheriting to help her out:
Take home pay: £1000
Bills: £350
Credit Cards: ?? Basically she has been using one to pay off the other and I just found out before her last one had maxed out so all I can say is her total wage is accounted for as a single outgoing as I have always provided everything else.
In her favour she will be going back to work full time in January which will bring in another £200 extra a month.

As I see it we will have her £200 plus my £700. On top of this I am fortunate enough to get a bit overtime which can significantly boost my wage somewhat. I would also want to save around £200 a month of this for rainy days.

Does this help and can anyone recommend if I should go for a loan or remortgage. I would also want a facility whatever I do to be able to pay off lump sums when I can.

Thanks for your quick response yung, very helpful and appreciated. I'm on nightshift so I'll read any replies when I get up later.
Cheers
BB

vicki_1981

Hi there,

So sorry to hear about your situation. As much I can't understand how people can keep such debt from their partners, I also feel sympathy for the people involved. Debt is such a burdon, I cannot imagine coping with it on my own, you must feel pretty bad right now, but perhaps try to understand how your wife feels rather than being angry.

Regarding the issue with the debt - definately look around this site and check out the advice. Find the root of the problem, why does she overspend? Once you find the root of the problem you're halfway to sorting it. Like someone said, re-mortgage is an option, but be very careful. If your wife slips back into old habits you will end up with a high mortgage and possibly higher monthly payments, and further debt on credit cards/loans.

I'm not an expert, I just have personal experience like most people here.

barneybeagle

Thanks again for the quick replies. I take onboard the points about will the missus run up more debts. Speaking for myself I've always handled the major finances in the house and I am anti-debt. I had SFA when I was a kid so I've always appreciated money and handled it correctly.

The missus I always though was useless with money, but generally speaking and I didn't suspect or have a clue about this kind of debt (approx: £60,000).
Virgin Credit Card - £9,864.60
Capital 1 Credit Card - Around the £10,000 mark.
Barclaycard Gold Visa - £10,182.33
Barclaycard Mastercard - £9,023.31
Debenhams Store Card - £2,203.12
Next: £500
I found out a week ago when I opened up one of her letters by mistake thinking it was junk mail to see it was 10 grand owed on the credit card. That kicked it all off and the tears etc. started. I asked her to list all of her debt in which she did and f*** me when it turned into 60 grand my head was in a cloud. All that I have worked for over the years I feel has just gone down the drain. However I've asked her if she is addicted to spending or if there is some other problem of which she has said no and she had a loan out before we even got married but was too embarrassed to tell me, then it continued to steam roll until finally and as she said, it was only time before I found out. She admits she is thick, embarrassed, ruined everything, etc etc... and is pleading for me not to tell her family as she wanted for nothing as a kid and has always had everything, from her family and from me, yet she still done this. She is basically sh****ng herself incase it gets out to her family & friends. But, apart from this (yeah I know a big this) she is perfect in every other way 'that I know' and a great mother to our two young bairns.
Sorry for the story, but just thought a bit background info may give you a better idea.

BB

immoral_angeluk

Don't be too hard on her. Yes £60,000 is a lot of money but people get into debt for different reasons and your wife sounds very naive to the fact it was getting out of control. Now you just need to concentrate on moving forward and don't dwell on why she's got the debt, just deal with how to get out of it.