Debt help. Left in mess by ex?

bluepeter14_2

Hi am looking for some help in relation to the way my ex left me in a whole lot of debt. When we met I had savings, an excellent credit record and was happy with life. My ex had a bad credit rating and ccj's and really should have seen the warning signs then but such is life you think things will be different???

To keep things short she ended up leaving me with outstanding debts of £ 3500 for a car and ran up a creditcard in my name of £7900. These debts were in my name as she couldn't get credit because of her history. I am still paying these debts as we speak , I have none of the items purchased, she still has the car ????

When we split she took on the house and mortgage but defaulted so adding £19000 to the debt. I managed to sell the house just in time to avoid repossession , pay off the mortgage and even be left with £15000 left over. We are at the moment going through a legal battle as she believes she's entitled to that money which I know would be put behind the bar of the local pub! I however need the money to pay off the outstanding debts she left me with!!!!

My ex had an account of her own when we met and after a while she added me to her account (can't remember why as I had my own) . I never once used the account or the card that came with it and when we separated I requested and signed a document she provided to remove my name.
Imagine my horror when the other day I received a letter from a debt recovery agency looking for £1500 she had run up on the overdraft for this account. Immediately I contacted them to explain the situation , they said they would look into it and write back to me!

This person has had such a negative financial impact on my life and even now 5 years later her ignorance is still affecting my credit score.

I really now don't know what to do for the best and am looking for suggestions from you??????

HELP
The other day I received a letter from a debt recovery agency

Tixy

Where is the £15k equity at the moment? Are you actually in the process of dealing with this through the court? what stage are you at?

It would seem sensible to try to get the court to pay off the joint debt first from this - it sounds like this is just the overdraft on 'her' account.

If this was in an overdraft position when she (or you?) submitted the form to the bank to take you off then its likely that this request would almost certainly have been declined by the bank.

If that is the only joint account you have then as soon as that is paid and closed you should file a notice of disassociation with all 3 credit reference agencies. At least you will then no longer be linked, although obviously you will still have the mortgage default & overdraft default on your credit file.

Are you currently up to date with repayments on the card and car finance? Are you able to maintain payments until you get some of the funds from the house equity?

How was the car financed? persumably it was a loan rather than HP? I assume the car has always been in her name?
Is the car finance

bluepeter14_2

Tixy,

Thanks for your reply.

In reply to your answers all the debts barring the mortgage are in my name due to her bad credit history.The mortgage was in joint names (hers added at a later date).

The car was a personal loan and at the moment I have repayment plans in place for that and the credit card that I have obviously adhered too.

The outstanding amount is held at a solicitors awaiting a decision. At the moment neither of us are entitled to legal aid or cannot afford to take the matter to court as we've been quoted £3500 to do this??

chesky369

Were you married or just living together?

Tixy

Could you not come to an agreement between you? To first use it to pay off the joint overdraft debt to the debt collector, and then split the remainder between you equally?

I can't imagine in court that they would give it all to either party and so this would seem to be the most likely end result anyway, and doing it without going to court will save the substantial fees.

jonjamie1970

Listen, I too was in a smilar sitauation in 2004/5, Pay off the debts and then argue the toss later, seriously, get it done. She ran them up, worst comes to worst then you prove she had a car etc, spend it now on clearing your name. If there is anything left then do a balance sheet detailing what you have done and then split the amount 50/50.

bluepeter14_2

We weren't married, financially I'd have been better off if we were.

My legal adviser had told me not to settle the debts as once they're gone, they're gone.

As for amicable , unfortunately she doesn't understand the word. This woman didn't let me see my daughter for 9 weeks when we first split up, I had to apply to the courts to get access to my daughter. There was no reason why , we had or so I thought parted on good terms ?? Personally she'd obviously realised that she'd bled this cashcow dry and there were no more funds!!!!!

She only thinks of herself and that's why she believes she's entitled to the money even though she still has the car I'm paying for and virtually lived rent free ( by not paying the mortgage) in my property for 18 months. I would argue that she's had above and beyond any money's owed her from the property.

bluepeter14_2

What needs to be done is to pay off the loan and creditcard with the outstanding funds as these were as agreed by my and her legal teams ' joint debts'. Whatever is left should then be split in half.

That's it pure and simple . She should then pay her own overdraft thats outstanding as this had absolutely nothing to do with me. Like I say i have never accessed that account. The card was never activated.

I see it as so simple but unfortunately she doesn't.

Even both legal teams don't understand her???

Tixy

Whether or not the overdraft had anything to do with you, you are legally just as responsible for the repayment as she is - that is you are legally responsible for the whole debt as is she. Just the same way that legally only you are only responsible for the loan and the credit card.
If the overdraft debt collector went to court the CCJ would be against you both (and they'd be most likely to pursue you after as you seem to be the one who might be able to afford to make repayments and care about your credit file).

Didn't realise you had a child between you, agree that that complicates matters somewhat.

bluepeter14_2

She works full-time and her income is more than mine so how could they chase me for the amounts she ran up ?????

There isn't a cat in hells way I can afford to pay her overdraft. I've been paying the loan and visa for over 3 years now because of her so there's no way I can take anything else on. Even if I could I still wouldn't .......

bluepeter14_2

As far as I'm concerned I signed the documents to remove my name from that account.. Job done.. Nothing more to do with me.