barclaycard wont help my pensioner mom

caz1976

hi,a few years ago i had to lend off my mom on her credit card around 2005,for a couple of years every month i paid around 85 pound,then my financial situation changed and i was struggling to pay each month,my mom asked them to help which they did and they stopped charging interest ,so what i paid come off the actual bill,they did this every 6months for arond 2 years now i still owe about just as much as i did when i started ,over the last year my situation has got even worse and i havnt been able to make any payments so my mom has been payin,which is causing tension between us as she cant afford to pay it either,and barclaycard wont help us any more so the payments are back to normal,my mom is 70 and lives off a pension and im a single parent with four kids and i have pennies left in my pocket at the end of each week so i cant help my mom with the payments i need help desperatly ,my mom cant take the stress any longer ,she has gone through breast cancer and she dont need this stress its only a stae pension she is on what can we do?i told my mom to stop paying it months ago but she wont she cant use the card anymore anyway,i thought if she did that then it would go to a debt collector where we could pay so much each month with no more interest being put onto the debt,but she wont do it ,i feel like my hands are tied and i feel guilty that im putting my mom through this,cab have been helping but barclaycard have said that they can set up a 60 pound a month with no interest again but we cant afford it we offered 30 pound but they said no ,what can we do thx

Gromitt

Have you defaulted on any payments?

Have you sent them a SOA (statement of affairs) along with your suggested monthly contribution?

Tixy

How much is owed in total?

Obviously legally this debt is your mother's and so barclaycard will only consider it as her debt and her financial situation, regardless of which of you pays.

If she is living just on the state pension then she could write to them, explain that she cannot afford the minimum repayments and can only afford £x per month (x being whatever she can afford) and ask them to freeze interest & charges, they don't have to but they may well if she can clearly not afford the full amount.

Once she has sent that letter bcard may say the won't accept it, they may say they will, but regardless she should just pay them the amount she can afford and no more.
They'll probably accept it eventually, the other alternative might be that they seek to obtain a CCJ, but even if they did she could ask to pay in installments and the judge would not make her pay more than she can afford.

One other possible option if mom does not have assets / own her own house is that she could try writing them a letter to explain that she lives only on state pension, possibly mention her illness and ask if they will consider writing the debt off - its a long shot but could be worth a try - there is a template letter on the national debtline website if she wants to try.

Also it might be worth you going over to the debt free wannabe section of this forum and posting up a statement of affairs. Helpful posters there may well be able to offer you some advice on how you could reduce your outgoings /get things cheaper etc so that you could free up some money to pay something to mom towards this debt.

chanz4

How many hours work do you do? Not sounding harsh but I think its you that needs to help your mum

Rupert_Bear

Not at all helpful but this is an example about loaning money to family and friends. No doubt at the time the person had every intention of paying it back but none of us know what is around the corner.

Premier_2

caz1976 wrote: »

hi,a few years ago i had to lend off my mom on her credit card around 2005,for a couple of years every month i paid around 85 pound,then my financial situation changed and i was struggling to pay each month,my mom asked them to help which they did and they stopped charging interest ,so what i paid come off the actual bill,they did this every 6months for arond 2 years now i still owe about just as much as i did when i started ,over the last year my situation has got even worse and i havnt been able to make any payments so my mom has been payin,which is causing tension between us as she cant afford to pay it either,and barclaycard wont help us any more so the payments are back to normal,my mom is 70 and lives off a pension and im a single parent with four kids and i have pennies left in my pocket at the end of each week so i cant help my mom with the payments i need help desperatly ,my mom cant take the stress any longer ,she has gone through breast cancer and she dont need this stress its only a stae pension she is on what can we do?i told my mom to stop paying it months ago but she wont she cant use the card anymore anyway,i thought if she did that then it would go to a debt collector where we could pay so much each month with no more interest being put onto the debt,but she wont do it ,i feel like my hands are tied and i feel guilty that im putting my mom through this,cab have been helping but barclaycard have said that they can set up a 60 pound a month with no interest again but we cant afford it we offered 30 pound but they said no ,what can we do thx

Sorry to sound harsh, but the situation is that barclaycard have lent to your mum. It is an arrangement between your mum and barclaycard only. Your mum needs to get seek help if she is unable to meet her commitments.

Then there is a totally separate loan agreement between you and your mum. As others have said, lending in the family often ends in tears. It's time to get yourself a job, or 2, or 3, or as many as it takes to repay the money you borrowed from your mum.

Just be thankful its only your mum you owe the money to. Your mum has the more difficult task of dealing with the credit card company and all the stress that will lead to if she doesn't pay them.

Edit: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2393689 :think:

lisyloo

3 jobs whilst looking after 4 kids.
I agree that caz should try to help, but some of you are pretty harsh at a time when there aren't many jobs around.

caz1976

thx for all the responses,heres the situation,we have asked barclaycard to lower the payments to around 30 pound ,they wont so for the last few months she has been paying what she can as little as 20 pound sometimes but because she is not meeting the minimum of 60 pound with no interest they are putting the interest on still,she has no assets doesnt own her own home or any savings.i am going to write to them to see if the bill can be squashed its worth a try and read the other forums like some of you have said.and just to mention i have tried getting a part time job with no success,i have no qualifications look after 4 kids,and live in a poverty stricken area with no jobs,and before anyone says anything about people on the dole ,my eldest daughter is 19 got gcse's a levels,and is studying at birmingham uni to get a degree in buisiness management,she has been applying for jobs around 50 a week since leaving 6th form and she is still unable to find work,even part time,from cleaning to shop work office etc ,so what chance do i have.i had a bad start in life but ive tried to give my kids the best and im proud that my eldest is where she is.i wish people wouldnt have a blk and white view of the world and stereo type people not all on benefits want to be their but for some its a necessity ,ive worked before and i ended up in a worse situation,and barely survived i wouldnt put my kids through that again,so before you respond to people like me and have a one way opinion just think would you be so judgemental if it was you with after paying your bills you have 5 pound left to treat the kids,i dont think so.and she owes around 2000/2500 pound it was only 3000 grand when it started over 6 years ago

chanz4

Give her money out of you benefits, why should she pay your debt? Also Mcdonads, rac all take on regular

skintdad

Time to start ebaying/carbooting etc to make the money you need to pay your debt

lisyloo

Caz - I would ignore these judgmental people who clearly have no idea about your situation. Try the dealing the debt board who are quite friendly and non-judgmental.