Help please....can I take additional card holder to court?

londongirl30

Hello

I wonder if anyone can help me please. About 6 years ago I added my ex as an additional card holder on my credit card. I have never added anything to the card and over 5 years he managed to put about £9k on it (yes I know I was stupid).

He has paid it since he got it and although we split up a year ago has (with monthly encouragement) paid the card. I offered to pay £1k off tge card if he paid the rest to get it over quickly, which he agreed to by text. I also have other texts saying he will pay it.

I have been told I can take him to court for the remaining balance but if anyone has experience of this, any advice on what kind of evidence I need would be gratefully appreciated.

Thank you

londongirl30

Sorry, I should have said. He is now refusing to pay I.

meer53

As the principle card holder, you're responsible for the debt on the card. Even if you take him to court because he owes you money, you still have to pay it. Do you really think he'll pay you anything ?

londongirl30

He has been paying it, but has just refused to pay anymore. I know ill have to pay it if he doesn't, but I just wondered if it was worth taking him to court and whether his agreement to pay via text was enough to show an agreement

Thanks

PaulW922

The answer is yes you can, but as part of your case you will need to establish that there was an agreement between you, either implied or stated, that he would be responsible for his own charges to the account. Alternatively, you may wish to make it your case that when your relationship ended, so did his permission to use your card account. If he has continued to use the card after your relationship ended I would think you have a pretty good case.

As the previous poster has already said, you are responsible to the card company for the entire debt. Anything between you and your ex is a separate matter.

In any situation such as this, as the claimant it is up to you to prove your case although at the initial stage you only need to summarise your position. the cost to you depends on how much you are claiming. If your ex has no money and no assets, and is unlikely to come into any, you may think it is not worth issuing a claim. If however he has a job, even if he cannot pay the whole amount, you can obtain a judgement for xx a month until the debt is paid. You might want to take some advice, although it is probably something you could consider doing yourself without a solicitor.

You can certainly use the text messages in your case. They are not as good as a written agreement but better than a verbal agreement with nothing to back it up at all.

I take it you have stopped the cards?

Savvy_Money

Yes agree with the above posters you can take him to court. But be prepared for counter arguments - if I was representing your ex partner I'd be ascertaining that you were fully aware and agreeable to all purchases, that there was no actual agreement in writing to form a valid and authentic contract (text messages can form a contract but it is easy to dispute who sent the message - I could state it was even sent in jest and a bit of a private joke or that you had access to his phone and sent the text messages to your phone) plus you lacked sufficient insight in not cancelling your ex as a supplementary card holder.

I would therefore list all purchases - if you can show that the purchases and/were used exclusively by your ex it will strengthen your case. Personally I would consult a solicitor unless ex is a bit thick or naive.

londongirl30

Thank you, that's helpful

I actually stopped the additional card when I was still with him (as I came to me senses). So there hasn't been any expenditure on the card for around 2 years....its just been getting paid off very slowly.

I will transfer the balance on to another card to get a 0% and then deal with the £3k as money owing to me rather than the card then?

Can I write to the bank and get them to send me information about when there was an additional card, the name on this card etc. He has a good job so can pay, he is just refusing to and trying to say that he paid everything over 6yrs when I can show that I transferred money to him for house expenses etc every month.

I have most recently allowed him to make a reasonable offer to resolve the situation which he has also point blank refused so I think I canshow I have been reasonable.

Thanks for your help

londongirl30

Thanks savvy. I have a lot of words for me ex but sadly thick isn't one of them. I know he will get a solicitor and to make it harder, there were a lit of cash withdrawals. I live about 400miles away from him mow so can definitely say I didn't get hold of his phone but I think proving the goods purchased were solely used and purchased by him may be difficult.

But you then have to question why he has paid it for so long if he hadn't used it or knew he had to pay for what he purchased

Savvy_Money

I think you need to provide a few more details - he added 9k over 5 years but you only split up last year - how much has he added in the past year - otherwise I'll just assume you knew about all purchases to that point - also why were you not keeping an eye on statements since the split?

Your case is already shakey

digging

londongirl30 wrote: »

I actually stopped the additional card when I was still with him (as I came to me senses).

You should probably fill out a disassociation form too then. Even if you have no financial connection with him anymore, you are still financially linked to him (through history). When a credit check is done on you in the future it shows you were linked to him once (unless you 'disassociate' yourself from him). It could go against you for any future credit you try for.

For more info:

http://www.thecreditagency.co.uk/credit-report/check-my/financial-disassociation.html

Or check it out on the credit ref agencies. I had a joint account with a girl at uni (for the bills) for the first year only. She left uni, got in alot of debt blah blah blah. I was refused a contract phone 3 years later. I'd never missed a payment had good credit. Checked my credit score, saw I was linked to her, filled out the form, disassociated from her, got a contract phone.

and yes....I realise you didn't ask about this :rotfl:

londongirl30

There have been no new transactions for about 2 years...he has just been paying it off since then but at a very slow rate. When we split he did pay some larger sums of £1k's and £500's but has now refused to continue.

I knew about the transactions when we were together but trusted him when he said he would pay it off. I know I was stupid and should never have let him have it in the first place.

Thanks digging...I will do that