Parents in debt

[Deleted User]

It might be an idea to work out what their current budget is (and after making any savings possible) see how much they have left to make debt repayments. Based on this, when could they be debt free?

Always pay the minimum towards ALL debt, and overpay as much as possible to the debt that's costing the most.

jellymid

You could try posting on the Mortgages and Endowments board, you might get some help there specifically about the endowments. Good luck.

oscar52

I would look to be claiming back all the credit card charges and any PPI - this will at least help to reduce the debt.

carolann215

Hi kgall,
I'm usually just lurk on here instead of post but I might be able to give you a bit of help with the mortgage / endowments although my knowledge is limited!
Don't cash them in until you are 100% sure it is the right thing to do even though I know how tempting it must seem to clear your parents debts ASAP.
When they mature I think most policies have a terminal bonus at the end so by cashing them in now they would lose this. If the policies were taken out to pay off a mortgage they should have been getting warning letters for about the last 10 years saying there was a danger they would not pay out enough. If they have been getting these I believe one of them would have given them a final date they could complain. I think this is 3 years after their first warning so they probably are far to late to complain now but it may be worth checking. It may just be worth leaving them in place as who knows what will happen in the next 5 years , they may go up in value , they may go down but at least they will pay some of the mortgage off leaving you all a much smaller figure to worry about.
That might be a bit easier for your mum to deal with as well but you know her best. It obviously depends on where they live but if they have to downsize because of this that £40k that the endowments pay out will make a big difference to what they can afford.
I hope that helps a bit and that everything works out OK.