Help please- I have debt in my name from a family member taking out credit!!!

tosh2225

Hi there,

I was hoping that one of you could please give me any help or advice that you can- I am really struggling to know what to do...
A few years ago I checked my credit report only to find that a family member had taken out almost £9000 of credit out in my name- a mix of credit cards/catalogues/store cards- all registered to their address.
Obviously it was a very upsetting thing to find out and I was angry, upset, disappointed and confused as to what to do. The person in question totally admitted everything and promised to help me sort it, but hasn't. It has totally ruined my relationship with this person which was heartbreaking, but it has gone a bit more towards being repaired recently- just because I want this person in my life. I tried to track down all the creditors which was actually very very difficult and I found myself leaving it and hoping I could find another solution.
A couple of years ago, after numerous calls (some threatening) from debt collectors, I decided to finally go report it to the police. I had two options- 1: Prosecute the person and them risk jail- which I simply could not bring myself to do, or 2: go to each creditor and try to sort it out that way. I chose 2 and am still nowhere to sorting anything. I have been asked to provide proof of address for one but I was at Uni at that time and have no documentation of POA for then so that lead has come to a dead end.
If anyone could offer me some advice I would be so grateful- I want my credit cleared but I also want the best for the family member in question. I may seem too 'soft' but I love this person a great deal. If I were to report them for fraud officially what would happen? Is there a better way I can go about all this to finally get it sorted?
Thank you for reading this post.
x

ILW

So you are saying the lenders should bail out your friend?
Or who else do you think should pay?

tosh2225

Absolutely not- my perfect solution would be to have the whole debt transferred to them so they have the responsibility the pay off the debt that they created! However I know that this is very unlikely I am just really unsure of what to do, that's all.

mrbrightside842

I'd go for option 1. They've committed a crime, got you into a lot of debt, and haven't 'helped' you since. They obviously don't love you as much as you love them.

tosh2225

That's the thing, they do care- they are just in a really dire financial situation themselves which I think has caused them to stick their head in the sand about it. They have offered to pay off each debt at £1 a mnth (apparantly legal!) but this would never ever get the debts paid off!

ILW

tosh2225 wrote: »

Absolutely not- my perfect solution would be to have the whole debt transferred to them so they have the responsibility the pay off the debt that they created! However I know that this is very unlikely I am just really unsure of what to do, that's all.

If they are in a position to pay the debt off, why are they not paying you?

tosh2225

Well, they are not in a position to pay it off in full, but I would just rather the debt lay with them and away from me. Also, if I begin to create payment plans then I have accepted responsibility and then it will remain on my credit report for the rest of time!! I just want it away from me- I don't want to be connected with any of it.

ILW

tosh2225 wrote: »

Well, they are not in a position to pay it off in full, but I would just rather the debt lay with them and away from me. Also, if I begin to create payment plans then I have accepted responsibility and then it will remain on my credit report for the rest of time!! I just want it away from me- I don't want to be connected with any of it.

In that case you need to report the fraud so the thief can be chased rather than you.

Somerset

tosh2225 wrote: »

Well, they are not in a position to pay it off in full, but I would just rather the debt lay with them and away from me. Also, if I begin to create payment plans then I have accepted responsibility and then it will remain on my credit report for the rest of time!! I just want it away from me- I don't want to be connected with any of it.

Tbh I think you've left it way too late to do anything, you are stuck with the debt and the trashed credit file.

You said :

I decided to finally go report it to the police. I had two options- 1: Prosecute
the person and them risk jail- which I simply could not bring myself to do, or
2: go to each creditor and try to sort it out that way. I chose 2

So you reported the fraud to the police but then essentially retracted it because of the consequences to your friend.
- So the fraud is not official just your 'say-so'
- Years on, I doubt the police would revisit it
- The consequences that deterred you would still apply.

As far as the creditor's are concerned, you owe the money. They would probably have accepted the fraudulent argument but they require the criminal act to be reported and be dealt with by the police. You refused to do that.

Given that (in their eyes because of the above) it is your debt:
- they will not transfer it to someone else
- even if they would, why on earth would they transfer it to someone who can't and won't pay ?

Normally the only way to resolve this is the police route. But given that you did, then backed out, some year's ago, I don't even see that as viable.

Tirian

Unfortunately there's absolutely nothing you can do if you're not prepared to be honest about how this situation came about.

I can understand the reasons for your reluctance - but you also need to bear in mind that it would not be you getting this person into trouble. They have done that for themselves.

If you want to be a martyr for their sake, and take on all the burden and the consequences of their actions, then you can do that. But there isn't a nice middle ground on this one.

You don't help yourself by being unable to supply "Proof of address" for your own whereabouts during the time this credit was taken out. Did you pay not rent? Have no bank account of your own? No phone? No internet?

If you genuinely have none of this, then maybe it doesn't really matter, because being unable to provide an address history will fail you most credit checks for any serious credit anyway.

Which brings us to the question of what address you gave when you applied for the credit record check. If you gave the address of this family member, then this would tend to indicate that your primary address at the time was the same as theirs. If so then you have to ask yourself how you expect anyone to believe it wasn't you without telling the whole story?

But in any case, you had better think seriously about how you wish this to end up - such as, what do you propose to do when it gets to the stage (if it hasn't already) that the lenders issue county court judgements?

tosh2225

Thank you all for your help, particularly you Tirian, for at least acknowledging the emotional impact. Sadly when I was at Uni my bank statements all went to my home address (not the address of the family member), but even though I was able to prove this, AND get an electoral role document, the department wouldn't have any of it.

I know I have left it, but I have been trying my best to contact all the creditors- some of them haven't even responded to me! It has also been a really difficult thing to do due to the emotional implications- on top of this the family member (NOT 'FRIEND') has been suffering medically for the past couple of years- I really didn't want to add this stress on top of it. Yes, I know some may think I am too soft and maybe foolish, but please try put yourself in my position. If this person had been simply a friend then I would have had NO hesitation whatsoever in full on prosecuting.

I know that the best route will probably be fraud investigating- I just worry that it would result in a jail sentence- which would be the worst possible scenario.