My parents and their debt

sweeper12

Hiya

My parents are in their 70's and have about £25000 worth of debt - credit cards to be exact. My mum has attendance allowance and my dad is her carer. They get pension credit, IS and housing benefit, they have no savings or any assets apart from a car that my dad is paying on for the next 2-3 years. I set them up with Payplan who worked out that they can afford £239per month to pay to the creditors, only problem is it will take 12 years to pay off and they are not getting any younger. They are finding it a real struggle to manage and I know that they go without things but don't tell me. I have tried talking to Payplan but they say that the figures they are allowing them are generous.

Does anybody have any further advice please...........

angelavdavis

Have payplan negotiated a low interest rate or interest rate freeze for them?

It might be worth entering all their pension and benefits information into entitledto.co.uk to see if they are entitled to anything else.

Why don't you sit down with them and go through their statement of affairs to see if you can spot anywhere they could be saving?

immoral_angeluk

I know it seems extreme but would bankruptcy be an option for them? Like you say they're going to be paying a DMP for a good 12 yrs and sorry to sound morbid but there's no guarantee they'll alive that long so they could face spending the rest of their days with no money and lots of debt. Whereas if they were to go bankrupt their debt would be written off and it's not like they're realistically going to need any more credit in the future?
That's just my opinion and I'm sure others will be able to advice on different options..

sweeper12

Hi - thanks for the reply

I think some have frozen the interest rate. Some are still charging but I'm not sure how much. They have all stopped writing threatening letters apart from Barclaycard who want them to pay more, I told them to ignore them anyway. I just wondered whether there might be another solution as they hardly have much food in the house lately and they could do with a break as they are very depressed - I don't mean a cruise, just a short break, whilst my mum can still walk ???

*zippy*

Hi sweeper

I found out my parents had large debts last year so understand what a worry it is so sending you a ((hug)).

My first thoughts like IA were bankrupcy, the only thing we found is that there is no way my parents would consider this as they saw it as a great shame. Have you also tried CCCs to see if they will give your parents more disposible income?

best wishes
zippy x

sweeper12

Hi Immoral Angeluk

I did suggest BR to them but they said no as they cannot manage without the car and their landlord is a bit stuffy with anything like that. I understand what you are saying though and might try to have another word with them.

Thanks

sweeper12

Hi Zippy

Your parents sound like mine. They scrimped forever when we were kids and then I think they went a bit daft because credit was so easy to get and they were working then. I haven't tried CCCs yet but I could look into it.

Thanks

I_was_a_fool

It may be that they have expenses they have not allowed for. Can they keep a spending diary so they know how much they actually spend each month? Could you do an SOA for them & post it up here? They should have a budget that is comfortably sustainable over the long term.

You can also put the figures into the CCCS website & get an advice booklet emailed to you.

saffronflowers

It is very unlikely that they would have to sell their especially as it is still on finance and I am pretty sure that they would not have to tell their landlord and if he did find out he would not be allowed to evict them for it.

I suggest that you speak to national debt line or the CAB and discuss it as a real option. It is not fun but in their position it is very viable.

SFx

fallenwiccan

yeah im sure the OR only tells the landlord if they are in arrears with rent, you may want to check the tennancy agreement though because some landlords do put in that if people go bankrupt it voids the agreement (no idea why they're just dumb)

you may want to go and ask on the other forum as they can help more