Worried :/

Laurabeth38

Hi All

I am currently living with my boyfriend and the house that we live in is his mum's (but she doesn't live there she lives with her partner)

His mum is terrible with money and even though we give her a lump sum for the bills each month they never get paid, she also won't let us pay them ourselves for some reason as she say's she will "sort it" Everything is in her name. None in mine or my boyfriends.

She is a lovely lovely woman, and I appriciate her letting us live in her house but I am getting really stressed out. I don't think she is doing it in a malicous way, I genuinely think she is very forgetful.

Last night I got in from work and there was a note pushed through the door from a bayliff saying they had came round in the day but no one was in.

My boyfriend tried to hide it from me because he knew I would freak out, But I saw it when he left the kitchen.

I haven't mentioned it to him yet. I am so so so worried that they are going to come and take our things because of his mum's debt

I've heard they can take your car away and I wouldn't be able to get to work without it.

Any advice would be very welcome, I am going out of my mind with worry! It's also not the first time it has happened, they came round and cut the gas off before, His mum paid it as soon as she found out.

Also, we rarely lock the front door in the day when we are in. Should I start locking it?

It is making me ill because of the worry.

Thank you

RAS

Hi

Bailiffs can only take his mum's things to pay his mum's debt. They will foam at the mouth and tell you they can take anything for which you do not have a receipt but that is lies. They cannot take your car either. If necessary you can do a Statutory Declaration, which costs about £5-10 to get witnessed by a solicitor, listing all your goods which prevents the bailiff touching anything you own.

However leaving any door or window open means that the bailiff can obtain peaceful entry and levy on goods in the house that belong to his mum. That measn they can enter the house any time they want thereafter and charge his mum loads of extra fees. So lock that door

Laurabeth38

Thank you so much.

To be honest the house isn't very secure at all, we are living there to save up to get a place of our own.

I'll lock all the windows/doors I can in the meantime.

DarnIt_3

You need to talk to this lady about Direct Debits, to ensure all her bills are paid OR ring each provider and tell them you are new in the home and cancel all previous accounts and get them put in your name! You can do that, admittedly it might disturb the peace, but you could simply say to the MIL that you are really grateful for doing the bills but you don't think it's fair she should have the extra hassle for you.

lauzt1987

Maybe i'm really cynical but it all sounds a bit dodgy. Is this a council house you are living in by any chance? Just wondering if the reason the mum won't let you take over the bills is that if the council found out she wasn't living there, she'd lose the house. If you are giving her money for bills and she isn't paying them, what is she doing with the money? I hate to say it, but I think she is pocketing your money and making a nice little profit. I'd move out as soon as I could!

Laurabeth38

Its not a council house, she owns it herself and has had it for about 25 years.

She lives with her long term partner but wants to keep the house as like a little nest egg for herself incase anything happens and that's why she likes her son and myself living in it instead of keeping it empty. I think she's looking to sell it when we move out and give her son a lump sum, but it isn't in the best state.

We are saving every penny to get our own place but it's taking time. To be honest I can't wait to get out!

I don't want to believe she is pocketing the money but it sure seems so

I've spoken to her before about direct debits but she refuses to pay by them because "she likes cheques"

I think I need to go along the "Taking the hassle off her" route and word it nicely.

bargainbetty

You could also point out that you would have more chance of getting a mortgage later etc if you have a credit history that includes utiliies bills etc.... it would help you out if you could handle these things yourself for a while....

Good luck x

DS4215

Is she on benefits? - could she be claiming as living there even though co-habiting somewhere else?

Laurabeth38

DS4215 wrote: »

Is she on benefits? - could she be claiming as living there even though co-habiting somewhere else?

No she's not on benefits, she has a very well paid job.

My boyfriend has always said that she's just "very bad with money" over and over again.