Mum's Debts...

Louise198504

Hi! Was told to repost in this forum for some advice too -

My Mum currently is undergoing treatment for Leukemia and will be in hospital for about 4 months due to the serverity of the chemo she is having.

I have taken over her finances as unfortunatly my Dad comes from the generation where he knows nothing, and does nothing!

She has a few debts, I'd say amounting to around £9000, and for ease I have set her up on a debt management plan, at least that way we know everything is getting paid with one payment (I also know the company we have set it up with as a few friends have recommended them and they have been brilliant)

I had a call last night from my Dad to say that there was a calling card put through the door whilst he must have been up the hospital from a bailiff - no information as to what its for, just a reference number, that it is for a court order and a mobile number to contact. I have taken the information from him but I am terrified about talking to them (I have never had anything like this before!), I'm scared they are going to come round and Dad will let them in etc, and I just don't know what to do?

Can someone please give me some advice as to where to go next with this? Should I contact the DM company and tell them so they can deal with it or should I call myself and expect a nasty man to tell me to get lost?

Tixy

Hi

First off are you sure its a bailiff not a debt collectors card? Do you know the name of the bailiff on the card - if so please tell us? are you aware of any CCJs she has? or is she in arrears for council tax? If its a bailiff make sure Dad is not going to let them in. Tell him not to under any circumstance.

Don't hand over dealing with this to your DMP company. You need to find out what its for and deal with it yourself. If you are not sure if mum has any CCJs you could either get a copy of her credit file (although this could be difficult as would need to be her requesting it), or you could look at the registery trust online which costs £8 to search. This would tell you if any CCJs existed but not who they were to. If you think it could be council tax (and it often is) then try contacting the council to get details of the liability orders and amounts due - Dad will probably have to make the call. If its council tax then you may be able to get the council to take back the debt from the bailiff, especially if you explain about your mother's current situation.

As an aside, and no so critical at the moment - who is the DM company? is it one of the charities or someone who is charging a monthly fee? how long has the DMP been set up for?

RAS

There is another thread elsewhere https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3603089 - mum is on a fee-paying DMP .

Louise198504

RAS - Yes that's my thread, was told to repost in this forum for some more advice.

Hi Tixy - it's a fee paying DMP, but they have been great and have taken quite a big chunk of my stress away with all of this, obviously a lot of this is hard with Mum being in hopsital so much (She has only been out 10 days in the last 2 months).

I have a feeling it is for the council tax (I've not got the details to hand atm but I'm sure the card is from White & Co????), the arrears have been put through the DMP but they did warn us at the start this might not be something they could deal with as it depended what stage it was all at etc. Would it be best me ringing the council then do you think and explaining the situation?

Tixy

Council tax arrears should not go into a DMP. In fact if there are council tax arrears then these should be paid off first with all unsecured creditors not getting anymore than token payments a month (or at the very least an arrangment made with the council first before you pay anything towards other creditors).

I don't want to come down on your commercial company but no charity DMP would consider letting you put priority debts into a DMP.

I guess the council will probably not talk to you - so it may be that Dad needs to ring them - you need to find out

ask how many liability orders there are
the liable years the debts relate to
the period of each liable year the debt relates to
the amount of each liability order

and ask what year liability order the bailiffs have been instructed to collect.

I'd suggest that you cancel the DMP and switch to a charity one, but even if you don't do this as a minimum you need to find out how much is being paid from the DMP payment towards council tax and reduce your DMP payment by at least that amount. And ask DMP company for a list of all the payments made to the council for council tax.

RAS

There is a bailiff firm of that name.

the bailiff should have signed the letter that has been left.

check and see if this bailiff is certificated to White & Co the list is not always 100% accurate you may have to phone the Ministry of Justice Public Register of bailiffs on 020 3334 6355 to confirm is certificate details (thanks hallowitch for the link)


www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/CertificatedBailiffs/

HAs dad or mum applied for Council Tax benefit whilst their income is reduced? Check www.turn2us.org.uk to see if they can get any help at all.

immoral_angeluk

How have you set her up on a DMP, do you have power of attourney?