Parents in debt!!!

Pinksocks_2

Hello I was wondering if anyne can help me and my parents.

My parents aged 66 and 69 and in poor health have run up debts of over £20,000 and are struggling to pay due to interest and late payment fees. I only found out last night.

They have two credit cards and one loan which is not secured on their house. Their income is £1500. One credit card is £250 per month, the other £200 and the loan is £200.

My Mum has told me she is having to withdraw cash on her credit card to live.

I have no idea how this has happened as they have always paid their bills and been careful with money.

I would be so grateful for any advice as to what to do for them. Thank you in advance.

ILW

Do they own their own house?

Pinksocks_2

Yes they own it outright.

sickasachip13

This sounds like it's quite a shock to you but well done for deciding to help. This is a problem especially if they're relying on credit cards to live.

I guess it would be useful for them / you to do a statement of affairs (income and outgoings) etc and post it here so we can see if there are any obvious areas that they might wish to look at.

Also, I'd seriously suggest getting some free, impartial advice from a charity such as CCCS or Payplan. You can ask a debt advisor a question in the thread at the top of the debtfreewannabee page. Also, here is the link to CCCS page: http://www.cccs.co.uk/?gclid=CIm5kei31KsCFYUMfAod-nYARA

oldtractor

Can you help them with the payments?

RAS

Can you also check www.turn2us.org.uk to find out if they are getting all the benefit help that they should be, please.

And maybe contact Age UK.

Does the loan have PPI on it? Can you check, please.

Pinksocks_2

Wow thanks for the quick reply!

I've tried to get a statement from the bank via cashline but they have stopped doing this.

I have arranged to take my Mum to the bank to get all the details of household bills, I can then post a SOA. My Mum wants to borrow more money, I've tried to tell her this is a bad idea but hopefully the bank will say no.

I can help her with foodbills and other essentials but I cannot help with the debt repayments.

Do you think it would be a good idea to write to the credit card companies to freeze the interest for them?

As you can imagine it is a total shock to me I am worried sick as my Dad has suffered a few strokes in the last couple of years. My Mum told me she can't afford to visit the dentist, but I'll give her the money for this.

Thanks.

Pinksocks_2

Sorry forgot to say I will check if the loan has PPI on it tomorrow.

Thanks for the links I will have a look.

immoral_angeluk

Borrowing more money is definitely not going to help. They should get some independant debt advice ASAP....

oldtractor

seeing about benefits etc is a great idea. Maybe contact Citizens Advice too. Have they considered Equity Release? All ideas to think about.

Tixy

Have they got paperwork round the house? eg bank statements so you can try to see who they are paying by DD to try to figure out what money is going where? If debt repayments are £650, then there is another £850 being spent every month plus whatever she is taking out in cash from the cards and you need to work out what its all going on.
Have they got utility bills and similar you can look through and try to find them better deals on.

Do you know what the loan was taken out for?

Its obviously going to take you some time to pull all the figures together to work out where the money has gone historically and how much they can realistically afford going forward on everything. In the meantime get mum to stop taking out cash on the credit cards, it will be costing her a fortune and will only add to her problems.

Pinksocks wrote: »

Do you think it would be a good idea to write to the credit card companies to freeze the interest for them?

I wouldn't do this just yet until you have a full picture of their finances. Are the credit cards/ loans with the bank(s) they have their current account with? If so definitely don't 'tip off' the banks that they are having problems just yet.