Loan problem or fraud?

orelanic

I have just found out that my elderly parents in law are in their late 70’s and are struggling to pay back £200 per week with about 10 different loans from the same company; my parents in law are not well and find it hard to manage living on just a pension, but have kept this hidden until now.

The person collecting the payments has even got them to apply for loans in the names of other family members who know nothing about the money.
About 10 loans in total but only four are in their name.

They are very worried about this and I find it hard to understand how this could have happened, the money collector has always persuaded them to carry on with the other loans and not pay them off saying its not the right time?
This is not a loan shark but a well known company.

Not sure how to go about this, I have told them to not pay the next instalment as they just can’t afford it, until I have had a chance to see what is going on, they are terrified of ending up in court.
Is this a police matter or is it best to gather as much evidence as possible and report it to the company first and try to get a better agreement with the money they borrowed or threaten bad publicity if they don’t etc.

Am I right in thinking that any loan taken out must be signed for by the person receiving the money and also counter signed by the agent?
If the company agent is involved is the company responsible?

Any ideas would be helpful.

Gentoo365

A difficult one.

Your parents in law knew what they were doing and took the money. I assume they have spent it (otherwise they could just pay it back). So they benefited from this. It could be argued that they were willing parties in this fraud which was arranged by the company employee.

However given that it was an employee of the company that suggested and went along with it the company may want to sweep it all under the carpet. i.e. write it off and sack the employee without pushing for charges.

On the other hand the company could decide that as your parents knew what they were doing they should pay it back.

I am not sure what you should do. However I would probably ring the loan company and explain, and hope that they do not want to involve the courts, especially as their own employee is involved.

Gentoo365

Also the other family members should really be informed so that they can ensure their credit record is not affected.

Depending on the size of the loans, some of these family members may even decide that the best course of action is to pay back the loans that are in 'their' name just to close the unfortunate matter.

oh, and if this employee is doing this to your parents they may be doing this to other people, so the loans company may want to shot the whole issue down cleanly (to save their own licence to trade).

claret_mike

From the limited information that you have given, I would say that without legal intervention then you cannot expect any other outcome than for your parents to be liable/responsible for these loans.

You have got to understand that you/your parents are accusing another person of pressuring/convincing them to take loans out in other peoples names.

Your parents, unless classed as vulnerable individuals, are adults who can make decisions for themselves so if they went along with it, you have to accept that they could have said no.

If you try and challenge this, then police involvement may be the only route forwards and for your parents to try and prove that whoever has convinced them has done what you accuse them of.

Your parents may be weak and if that is the case, have you considered that they have deflected responsibility for your benefit?

Clearly not a nice situation but sometimes you just need to focus your energy in the right areas and I cannot see anything coming of this if your parents have been complicit in applying for loans knowingly in other peoples names.

Do you know these other peoples names, are they family? Have they been told?

orelanic

Thank you for your kind responses, they have not accused the agent I have, I maybe wrong but I see my parents in law as vulnerable people, they do get a bit confused and sometimes find it hard to understand and have not been in good health for quite a few years.

The family members will be informed but there is no way we can pay back thousands of pounds to cover the dept, but it will all come out in the end as they have been using an overdraft to keep up the payments and not being able to pay the gas bill and that has to stop.

I just feel angry that someone can loan out thousands to people who have no way of paying it back.
It is a difficult situation and it needs to be sorted out asap.
I don’t suppose a judge would be too hard on them if the police thought they were at fault but the shame would probably kill them in the end.
What would happen if they just said we can’t pay, I don’t think they have any assets or savings maybe that is the best way so they can renegotiate the loan or just pay a nominal sum.

bigadaj

This is basically how door step lenders work, keep rolling over loans to keep the interest coming. Is this a company with a name suggesting lucky or fortunate?

They could default and would be taken to court theoretically though its a civil matter not a criminal one. They would be put on a payment plan assuming no savings and limited income of a few pounds a week.

If its a large sum then the lender could apply for a charging order on the property, but that would only come into force when the property was sold and it wouldn't affect their right to live there.

chesky

The first thing to do is to get a statement of all the debts - how much was originally taken out, how many payments have been made, and how much is still owing, etc. I'm sure your parents in law won't be able to outline this sufficiently, so you'll have to ask the agent for a full written statement of affairs. Should be interesting.

claret_mike

If the loans in family names are not paid on time then it could impact on their credit file. When you tell them, will they call the police?Will they not contact the lender and dispute the loans etc.

The lender could then take action (not sure how likely this would be)

Just some considerations - I would be doing as previously stated, getting details of all loans, amounts borrowed, confirmation of any arrears etc and also amounts outstanding.

JuicyJesus

I would be concerned about the applying for loans in the names of other people. That most certainly is fraud, and potentially carries a criminal penalty.

barbarawright

How easy is it to take out 6 loans in someone else's name? Wouldn't you need some sort of identification?

pvt

bigadaj wrote: »

though its a civil matter not a criminal one.

Are you serious??

Taking loans out in someone else's name? Presumably by providing false information, and forging signatures?

OP, as others have intimated, this could well backfire on your In Laws. The agent could say that he/she left the application forms and picked them up next time they visited, and obviously assumed they were completed and signed by the named applicants... "I'm horrified! Mr & Mrs In Law seemed so sweet and genuine, I would never have guessed they were falsifying these applications".