Help with Father's debt with Wescot urgently needed !

ladybelle

Dont even know where to begin.

Going back possibly as much as 15 years if not longer, my Mother took out a loan in my Dad's name for a loan with what was then Midland bank I think ? my Dad was aware of it at the time, must have signed paperwork etc, but then my Mum got into arrears and over a long period of time it eventually ended up at Wescot, which she has been paying £5 a month for years now. The total debt is still about £2400.

My Dad has no knowledge of this debt.

Cutting through a long saga ...... my Mum had a massive stroke end of March and has now been moved to a Nursing home, she has no movement on left side and completely incapable of independent living, and also only has limited capacity. My Dad was already very poorly and infirm and has now moved into the Nursing home with her. The house is unoccupied and is up for sale.

I wrote to Wescot explaining the circumstances - oh before that- before we knew what was happening with Mum I kept up the payments and because I wasnt sure if she'd made the Feb payment, I actually made 2 in March so paid £10, then in April paid £20, so in theory they have had 6 months payments in 2 months !! - so I wrote to them explaining the circumstances - WITHOUT giving them the new address !! and saying I wanted to pay off this debt and clear his name etc, I offered them a sum of £500 in full and final settlement fully expecting them to write back and perhaps negotiate and I would have gone up a bit.

It was the bank who told me to offer a low amount, that they would probably accept it ? as we are changing bank accounts and had to declare the debt on my Dad as we were opening a joint account, and funnily enough it didnt stop him being allowed to open a bank account ??

I have not heard a thing !!! They have not replied to me at all. I havent as yet telephoned because I just dont think they will speak to me. I dont have power of attorney for my Dad yet, it's all going through the Office of Public Guardian but doesnt become final until July.

What should I do ?? Write again - or ring to offer the money - OR ignore them but I cant just ignore them because once the house is sold the new people will get debt collectors or letters and I dont want anything sent on to me at MY address or the Nursing home they are in now.

I just want it paid off, but not the full amount as when sorting out the paperwork I found several offer letters to reduce the payments which my Mother ignored because she didnt want to pay them !! but it cant just be ignored forever.

So any suggestions ??

vax2002

You should do nothing, if you communicate they will commence harassment, they know about it already, there has been no mistake, they will go away if you sit tight and ignore them.
Not your debt = not your problem.

dt3887

WITHOUT giving them the new address !!

how do you expect them to be able to get any reply they sent if you do not give a good correspondance address?

tallyhoh

I had this problem when father in law went into a nursing home. I did ring the company to try & sort things out but was told I couldnt deal with it as I didnt at that time have POA.
I didnt give my address, his house was empty & they didnt have a forwarding address for him.
To be honest I ignored it as once his pension was taken off him to pay for care he was left with £20 a week for personal stuff.

Do you have power of attorney? if not they shouldnt be dealing with you at all.

fatbelly

tallyhoh wrote: »

Do you have power of attorney? if not they shouldnt be dealing with you at all.

And that could be why you haven't had a reply.

If this is your father's debt, then the letter (not phone call) needs to come from him offering the settlement deal.

Use the National Debtline template

Factsheet | Full & Final Settlement offers

Cranny44

Hi

I would write andf tell them he only has £23.50 per week personal expenses and can no longer pay.

ladybelle

dt3887 wrote: »

how do you expect them to be able to get any reply they sent if you do not give a good correspondance address?

Clearly I used HIS address !!!!

ladybelle

Cranny44 wrote: »

Hi

I would write andf tell them he only has £23.50 per week personal expenses and can no longer pay.

Yes that's all what was in the letter, and detailed explanation that he now does only have that money and if they went down the route of financial statement he would get less than he/she was already paying.

There would be nothing to stop me paying £5 a month forever more until he passed away but I want it gone so there is nothing else to worry about other than their care and welfare in the Nursing home.

ladybelle

tallyhoh wrote: »

I had this problem when father in law went into a nursing home. I did ring the company to try & sort things out but was told I couldnt deal with it as I didnt at that time have POA.
I didnt give my address, his house was empty & they didnt have a forwarding address for him.
To be honest I ignored it as once his pension was taken off him to pay for care he was left with £20 a week for personal stuff.

Do you have power of attorney? if not they shouldnt be dealing with you at all.

As I put in my original post, that is going through the Office of Public Guardian right now and will come through in July but the house will be sold by then and I want the debt gone. I'd even pay the whole amount if they would talk to me !! but I'd rather not obviously !
Once the house is sold, the new people will have MY address or the address of the Nursing home and if I stop paying them I dont want Wescot to get hold of my address and turn up on my doorstep !!

ladybelle

fatbelly wrote: »

And that could be why you haven't had a reply.

If this is your father's debt, then the letter (not phone call) needs to come from him offering the settlement deal.

Use the National Debtline template

Factsheet | Full & Final Settlement offers

He isnt able to understand or communicate to be able to write a letter. I tried telling him about the debt but he doesnt understand, he never knew about the debt and when I tried to explain it to him he doesnt believe me !!
And I looked at the factsheet - and I have been down this route before with my own debts years ago but until they let me know what is still owed I cant work anything out ??