no income but I got a credit card!

molly22

my son (19) has recently applied for and received a Capital One credit card with a £1200 limit. (all unbeknown to me)
he is a student at college and has no job. = No income.
he then bought an old classic car with his credit card.
(he already has a car, which i bought and fund, so he can get to college)
the new purchase has no MOT, and although it drove here it is now dead.
My main worry is, he has no way of paying anything off this credit card.
and another card arrived today, (assume this is for the upgrade he will need for insurance, at least an extra £1000 on top of the £1300 ive already paid) again from capital one, with a credit limit of £500. (i have cut it up)
i have no idea how he is obtaining these cards, although they do have a high interest rate of 25.5%, so obviously not that difficult.
I'm thinking when he defaults as he will do, my address will be blacklisted, i've always had an excellent credit rating, never spending what i couldn't afford.
obviously i haven't passed my experiences on very well!

any ideas what i can do?

lisyloo

I'm thinking when he defaults as he will do, my address will be blacklisted

No addresses are not blacklisted, only people.

any ideas what i can do?

The only way you can be associated with him financially is if you open a joint account - so don't do that.
It might be worth getting you credit reports just to check. They are £2 each from Experian or Equifax or you can get the Call Credit version for free from Noddle. I personally do not recommend free trials as they can be difficult to cancel and people get grief. The Noddle one is entirely free and NOT a trial.
Ideally you need all three, but getting one will give you some re-assurance.

I personally would not lend him money if I was related to him as I don't think he would leanr anything. Seem tough love but I think he needs to face up to the consequences of his actions. Lending to him IME will just kick the can down the road and make things worse.

m0ns00n

Not much you can do about the purchases now, other than pay them.

Best solution would be suggest that he get a part-time job and have him pay off his debts ASAP.

If you are worried about the defaults, then you can pay off the cards, and set up some sort of repayment plan for him to pay the money back to you (once he gets his job).

lisyloo

then you can pay off the cards, and set up some sort of repayment plan for him to pay the money back to you

As already stated I think you need to make sure he's facing up to problem before you help.
Helping someone that's not facing up to it, just makes it worse.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
I'll shut up now, but I'd just say think very carefully about lending to him because sometimes it doesn't get the problem addressed and just kick the can down the road.
I promise I'll shut up now :-)

Tixy

Sounds as though he is obtaining the credit fraudulently and lying about his income.

Can you sit him down and talk to him about this - and the long term impact it could have on him. Committing fraud on applications now could mean he could struggle to get credit for years to come.

Talk to him about how he intends to repay the cards - where is he planning to find part time work - or which of the 2 cars is he planning to sell.

State to him very clearly that you will not be helping him out with these bills and he best find a solution quickly before the first bill becomes due.

Maybe help him calculate how much interest he will pay at that high APR if he only makes minimum payments a month - and then ask him if the car is worth the x amount he'll end up paying in total.

(of course you might decide to help him out if he does try to find work or does try to do something to get on top of this - but you don't need to tell him that at this stage).

molly22

i think i know what i need to do, its just very hard to sit down and talk seriously with my son, he is 19 and knows everything!!

he is very logical and can explain things in such a way that i agree with him even if i think its all wrong!!

but i will try to explain the consequences, i might write a letter, so he can read it when he is in the right frame of mind.

when i think of all the people on this site alone, struggling with debts etc, i just find his actions unbelievable.
i was widowed just before he was born so he has always known i have to be careful with money.

teenagers!

thanks again
Molly
xx

KingElvis

19 and already up to his neck in debt...I would be having serious words with him, like I had to my eldest about mobiles and mobile bills.

reclusive46

Tixy wrote: »

Sounds as though he is obtaining the credit fraudulently and lying about his income.

Agreed my son gets paid over 20k (He is 20) and has next to no credit history and gets limits of 500.

Bravehearted_2

molly22 wrote: »

i think i know what i need to do, its just very hard to sit down and talk seriously with my son, he is 19 and knows everything!!

he is very logical and can explain things in such a way that i agree with him even if i think its all wrong!!

but i will try to explain the consequences, i might write a letter, so he can read it when he is in the right frame of mind.

when i think of all the people on this site alone, struggling with debts etc, i just find his actions unbelievable.
i was widowed just before he was born so he has always known i have to be careful with money.

teenagers!

thanks again
Molly
xx

He's committing fraud - plain and simple.

Nothing to do with hime being a teenager - and certainly doesn't excuse this. There's no way he can logically explain this.

Seems like he takes you for a ride and you're making excuses to make this nonsense behaviour OK.

I know plenty of teenagers that arent committed to sinking into debt at 19.

molly22

Bravehearted wrote: »

He's committing fraud - plain and simple.

Nothing to do with hime being a teenager - and certainly doesn't excuse this. There's no way he can logically explain this.

Seems like he takes you for a ride and you're making excuses to make this nonsense behaviour OK.

I know plenty of teenagers that arent committed to sinking into debt at 19.

i totally agree, but as his mother that is what i do.
i can makes excuses for him whatever he does.:)
but i do know this is wrong.
any ideas what i can do to help him see that what he has done is wrong?
he will be helped financially so that isnt really the issue here, its the moral side of things thats a problem.

his take is, he is at college and will get a good job so whats a thousand pounds?
so scary, im lost as to what to say to him.

Plxply

I know this has already been said but I'm in the exact same situation as your son. I go to college and have no form of income from a job, I applied for a Capital One Classic card and was declined but instead offered a Capital One Secured Card with a £200 limit at 35%. He has certainly been committing fraud to get these cards as there's no way to get that amount of credit for someone in the same situation as me.

The best advice I can give is that you need to sit him down as an adult and tell him that he isn't a child anymore. Their are real world consequences to this actions, the absolute worst being he could theoretically be charged with fraud by the police which will ruin any chances to get a job. If the banks find out they'll certainly give him a CIFAS marker and he will never be able to get any further credit and most likely the banks will close any accounts they have with him and he'd find it incredibly difficult to get a bank account again let alone a mortgage or loan in the future.

To be honest with you, I think your cushioning him too much. You suggest that he will get financial help from you, he's 19 now. He placed himself in this position, he knows what he's doing, he is an adult. If I got into financial trouble I wouldn't expect my parents to help me in anyway especially if it was self induced (I'm only 18). I think he has got used to the fact that you will fix any problems he has and he doesn't need to worry about any consequences and it's up to you to show him that he's an adult now and he lives in the real world. I personally wouldn't pay anything towards his debts and tell him that he needs to get a part time job if he expects to be able to pay back what he owes.

I don't want to be harsh to you OP, but I feel that your son is taking advantage of your generosity and it's time that you put your foot down and let him know you're not always their to fix his screw ups.