My wife has ran up debts in my name

leftinamess

In the last six months I have recently split with my ex wife to find that she has left me with a mountain of money problems I wasn’t aware of. One I am looking for a bit of advice is a Lloyds tsb credit card. Basically she has added ten thousand pounds of debt onto it then somehow froze the interest and I pay £100 a month. I have rang them a number of times to get statements but don’t seem to get any joy. I knew nothing about the debt as I found out today my post was on a collection service for 4 years which I am getting written proof of royal mail for other reasons. Is there anything I can do?

dmg24

If your wife has been obtaining credit in your name without your knowledge you should contact the police.

Have you not realised that you have received no post for four years?

leftinamess

dmg24 wrote: »

If your wife has been obtaining credit in your name without your knowledge you should contact the police.

Have you not realised that you have received no post for four years?

I work 12 hours a day full time, she didnt work so i was getting post just not the post she was spending on. I have been told to contact the police before but we have two children not really the route i want to go down. was wondering if there was any other solution.

lisyloo

Did she obtain the debt without your permission or with your permission i.e. you gave her an additional card on your account.

If it's with your permission then I'm not sure there is anything you can do.
If it's without your permission then you have the option of reporting her to the credit card company which probably also involves the police.

I can't personally see any other solutions, other than paying it or reporting it. Sorry.

Tiddlywinks

If you signed for the credit card then you are responsible even if she spent on it as a secondary card holder.

However, if she pretended to be you to get the card then it is fraud - the only way to prove this to the CC company would be to report the crime to the police. Without a crime report the CC company will continue to hold you responsible as they have no evidence to suggest it was anything other than a legitimate agreement.

Your choice - report it and the debt may not be enforcable (from you) but your family will have other issues as a result or don't report it and live with repaying the debt.

whitewing

I think you should report it. It takes serious deviousness to have your post on collection without your knowledge, especially if you would normally have been out anyway at the time. I think there's possibly worse to come.

How old are your children?

lisyloo

If you don't report this then it could have a very serious effect on your divorce settlement especially if she has done other things as well.

I do appreicate your problem though as she can make access to the children extremely difficult if she chooses.

leftinamess

Tiddlywinks wrote: »

If you signed for the credit card then you are responsible even if she spent on it as a secondary card holder.

However, if she pretended to be you to get the card then it is fraud - the only way to prove this to the CC company would be to report the crime to the police. Without a crime report the CC company will continue to hold you responsible as they have no evidence to suggest it was anything other than a legitimate agreement.

Your choice - report it and the debt may not be enforcable (from you) but your family will have other issues as a result or don't report it and live with repaying the debt.

I thought this would be the case and it answer my question, thanks for all your help.

leftinamess

whitewing wrote: »

I think you should report it. It takes serious deviousness to have your post on collection without your knowledge, especially if you would normally have been out anyway at the time. I think there's possibly worse to come.

How old are your children?

18 months and five. I think i have found everything now and this is the biggest, she got me a ccj in joint names and a couple of other bank accounts that i didnt use and maxed them. Just gutted! never mind keep smiling

leftinamess

lisyloo wrote: »

If you don't report this then it could have a very serious effect on your divorce settlement especially if she has done other things as well.

I do appreicate your problem though as she can make access to the children extremely difficult if she chooses.

Yeah this is the case. she has agreed to let me take a bigger chunk out of the house (from the little amount we have made) for the mess she has left me in.

thenudeone

lisyloo wrote: »

If you don't report this then it could have a very serious effect on your divorce settlement especially if she has done other things as well.

I do appreicate your problem though as she can make access to the children extremely difficult if she chooses.

If she were to be convicted of fraud or even if the creditors were to be successful in pursuing her in the civil courts (which sounds likely given your post), this would be likely to count in your favour in any court hearing, though I understand that a court result is sometimes different from access in real life.

Alteratively, if you can agree a divorce settlement significantly better than you would otherwise get, sufficient to cover your losses, but without reporting her, it may be worth considering.

In the meantime, I suggest that you DO NOT make any payments to the creditors of the loans she took out; this will create an acknowledgement of the debt in your name.

I would see a good divorce solictor about the best way forward, get a copy of your statutory credit report from all 3 agencies and check the land registry files (if you have a house) just in case she's taken any other loans as well.