Parents in law ran up debt on husbands credit card

kod8

I realise how gullible this post is going to make me sound, however if you can't trust your parents who can you trust.

In 2007 I lent my in laws £14000 to pay off a repossession order they had on their house due to an unpaid VAT bill from 6 years previous. It was verbally agreed they would sell their house and then give me my money back.

At the time, we didn't know it was related, but my husband (then boyfriend) stopped receiving bank statements. He called the bank on several occasions and eventually changed banks and got online banking. More on this later.

I badgered them to get estate agents round and apparently they did, but in the meantime we applied for a mortgage which got refused due to 5+ defaults on my husbands credit file (which we were shocked and devastated at). We managed to get a mortgage however in 2008 the in laws were again about to be repossessed - we stupidly took out a loan for £7500 to pay this off (under the logic if they lose the house we lose the original £1400). I then found out my father in law was bankrupt.

6 months later we started received a lot of debt collection letters to our new address ... again this was devastating. We requested statements from all of them that came in and for some we still have not received them. We received one set where every single transaction was either O2 top-up (my husband had a contract with T-Mobile at the time, cash withdrawal (he was earning a decent wage and was paid weekly, he didn't need this) or ebay. I managed to link the paypal names with ebay shop names and realised they were all purchases my mother in law made. We confronted her but she denied it.

In 2011 the in laws finally got their house repossessed. They moved in with us for 6 week then began renting.

This week we have just received another set of statements as well as all correspondence sent/received. In there are letters that my mother in law has written to the credit card company pretending to be my husband (even tried to forge his signature!!). Unfortunately the statements only go back 6 years and we can't really tell what has been bought. Our relationship with the in laws in barely existent, at the moment there is a standing order set up to pay off the loan we got in 2008 and we don't want to jeopardise this as we can't afford it, not to mention it is hard to report your own family.

Where do I and my husband stand, we can't afford to pay them off and I know the other several credit cards we are still waiting to receive statements for will be the same...

marmitepotato

It's fraud and a case for the police. I feel for you op but you can't pay this debt off for your family again.

Robisere

If you can reach an agreement with your husband that your own family's future and welfare, is more important than that of your cheating, lying, fraudulent in-laws, then it is brutally simple. First, collect all the evidence you have, then see a solicitor. Then the police.

You may not believe this, but after a long, hard, difficult struggle, you and your family will be stronger.

I wish you all the luck and better fortune in the world.

CAB_Swansea_Bay_representative

Hi Kod8, thank you for you query re parents- in-law ran up debt

I understand this must be a very difficult situation for you and your husband. You have said that you had a verbal agreement regarding the first two loans for mortgage arrears that they would be paid off with the proceeds of the house sale but you have not said if there was any proceeds of sale when the house was repossessed and whether you were able to recover any of that. You have also not said if you have been in contact with your father in law's Trustee in Bankruptcy as they should be informed of any debts owing prior to bankruptcy even if those debts are to family.

Regarding the identity fraud issue I would suggest you discuss this with your husband and seriously consider contacting the police and getting a incident number number and informing the creditors of the situation as your husband should not be responsible for these debts. I would also suggest you get a copy of his credit reference as this will show who he owes to, how much, address debts taken out in, last payments made etc which will help you ascertain the extent of the problem. You can find more information about dealing with identity theft at www.adviceguide.org.uk and if you need more support and assistance I would suggest you seek advice from your local Citizen's Advice Bureau which you can find at www.citizensadvice.org.uk.
Hope this is of assistance.

kod8

I contacted the trustee in bankruptcy which was a firm called Walsh Taylor and submitted proofs of debts and she sent me all the paperwork. She was always quite sure that there would be no dividend at all, and even if there was there is a preferential debt of £90K (from a previous house repossession if you can believe it).

There was no money back from the repossession of the house, it was remortgaged up to the hilt.

We have had several copies of my husbands credit file and there are so many anomalies and things that just do not make sense. His sister's name/his DOB, etc. and a look of CC accounts and catalogues such as Marshall Ward (at the time of applying for these catalogues he would have been 19 - what 19yo boy orders clothes from Marshall Ward?!)

I have sent letter after letter querying thing, tried calling every man and his dog and it is only now, 4 and a half years after starting I feel like we've got some concrete evidence.

Thank you all for your replies, I appreciate your help.

oldtractor

I just want to say that I really feel for you. My in laws ripped both me and my DH off too. A lot larger amount of money than this. He worked 20 some years on their farm with no pay apart from "pocket money". He was told he's be left half the farm and a cottage when they died. This didnt happen, they left everything to their other son so the business could continue and not be split. Obviously their own selfish ends were more important than the lives of us and their grandchidren. Its very difficult when its family as its hard to believe they will do this sort of thing. But they do.

magpiecottage

With the credit cards, it is worth reporting it (a.s.a.p.) as unauthorised transactions.