My Brother's debts- he's moved abroad

teawithmilk

My brother has gone off to Australia and left outstanding debts from his rented house - its not a huge amount but he is being chased by British Gas, Virgin media etc.

Unfortunately he has given my other brothers address as a forwarding address and they have the same surname (obviously!) and initials.

My other brother is fuming as he thinks he might get debt collectors knocking or get the address blacklisted. I think he is particulalry worried about debt collectors knocking as he works away a lot and he dosnt want his wife and kids getting hasled. Hes just a bit annoyed with brother 1 for doing this to him.

Could we phone British Gas etc and let them know that brother1 has moved on.....would they accept that or would they still chase him at brother 2's address.

Dragonista

Can you not get in touch with your brother in Australia and tell him he needs to settle the debt like right now?

teawithmilk

Hello, he is just irresponsible that way, always has been.

now he has gone to Australia for good I doubt he will be back.

I could always give the utilities his forwarding address in Australia......but how does that leave Brother number 2?? He just doesnt want anyone coming knocking and upsetting his wife or kids or getting his address blacklisted somehow.

Dragonista

Yeah I understand. I would give them a call and explain the situation. The thing is, your brother owes money, it doesn't matter what country he is in.

Mojisola

teawithmilk wrote: »

My brother has gone off to Australia and left outstanding debts from his rented house - its not a huge amount but he is being chased by British Gas, Virgin media etc.

Unfortunately he has given my other brothers address as a forwarding address and they have the same surname (obviously!) and initials.

My other brother is fuming as he thinks he might get debt collectors knocking or get the address blacklisted. I think he is particulalry worried about debt collectors knocking as he works away a lot and he dosnt want his wife and kids getting hasled. Hes just a bit annoyed with brother 1 for doing this to him.

Could we phone British Gas etc and let them know that brother1 has moved on.....would they accept that or would they still chase him at brother 2's address.

Annoyed? I'd be livid!

Your brother needs to write to everyone owed money, giving his full name and your brother's full name, his new address in Australia, state that he has no responsibility for his brother's debts and tell them to stop sending post to his address.

teawithmilk

I know, Im annoyed with him too....but I said I'd help brother 2 sort it out as I don't want them falling out and never speaking to each other again....

poppasmurf_bewdley

Mojisola has given you the correct information. If I were you, I would also give them his telephone number in Australia.

moohound

teawithmilk wrote: »

Hello, he is just irresponsible that way, always has been.

now he has gone to Australia for good I doubt he will be back.

I could always give the utilities his forwarding address in Australia......but how does that leave Brother number 2?? He just doesnt want anyone coming knocking and upsetting his wife or kids or getting his address blacklisted somehow.

Addresses don't get blacklisted so don't worry.

19lottie82

as described by moohound, addresses can't get black listed, only people.

if I were your other brother, I would just call the companies involved and explain the situation. Do you have a forwarding address in Australia that you can give them? They prob won't chase him using it, but at least it shows you are cooperating.

Also, after he has provided this info to all the creditors, he should check his credit report in a few months, just to make sure there it doesn't contain any inaccuracies due to his brother. If ti does he will need to re contact the companies in question to request they remove any defaults.

worried_jim

Your "good" brother just needs to return to sender all correspondence for his "bad" brother- that's it. Nothing else to worry about and nothing to do with him.

matttye

19lottie82 wrote: »

as described by moohound, addresses can't get black listed, only people.

if I were your other brother, I would just call the companies involved and explain the situation. Do you have a forwarding address in Australia that you can give them? They prob won't chase him using it, but at least it shows you are cooperating.

Also, after he has provided this info to all the creditors, he should check his credit report in a few months, just to make sure there it doesn't contain any inaccuracies due to his brother. If ti does he will need to re contact the companies in question to request they remove any defaults.

People don't get 'blacklisted' either; at least not centrally. I have no idea whether individual companies keep their own blacklists or not, but there's definitely no central/shared one.

What people refer to as being blacklisted is usually just because they have a poor credit file.