86 year old being crippled by interest rates

Superted1986

Looking for a bit of advice really, My Grandma broke down in tears over the weekend as she's in a right old mess one of her kids forced her to take out a 4K loan with Halifax about 3 years ago. He hasn't paid a penny and it's all in her name she pays back £140 per month and they add on £70 in interest. The balance is still at £3500+ which I don't understand. She's only on a state pension and it's totally crippling her each month she's in a right state. What are her options if she stopped paying it is there any assistance she can get with like debt orders or anything she's happy to pay it back but the interest is just crippling and it's making her ill. :(I've said I will try and find out what her options are and let her know. If this post is in the wrong section please can someone let me know which one I would get the best answers from or could a moderator move it?

PeacefulWaters

What is the interest rate?

What is the loan term?

Does she own her home?

Does she have a private pension in addition to a state pension?

Superted1986

I'm not sure of the interest rate she cannot find it in the papaerwork she doesn't have a private pension I think she may have a small one she gets from my grandads time in the army. He died about 10 years ago and I don't think it's alot. She lives in council accomodation so to be honest I'm not even sure why anyone would loan someone in their 80's money like that. It's a Halifax buy now pay later loan but I can't see any rates online for it.

jmhgibson123

personally, i would stop paying..if her pension is paid into halifax you need to open a new account else where or they are allowed to snatch money from accoung, then contact national debtline or step change and they will negotiate payments that she can manage. its so sad that some children leach like this off their parents

dzug1

Superted1986 wrote: »

I'm not even sure why anyone would loan someone in their 80's money like that. it.

If I were in my 80s and wanted a loan that I could repay I'd be mighty miffed if I was turned down just because someone thought it shouldn't be allowed because of my age.


If she had anything to leave she could cut the offender out of her will - but it doesn't sound like she has


Buy now pay later sounds like she's only recently started repaying - which may be why relatively little's been paid off.


Maybe defaulting would be her best option - though it wouldn't stop her worrying.

Gaz83

Superted1986 wrote: »

She lives in council accomodation so to be honest I'm not even sure why anyone would loan someone in their 80's money like that. It's a Halifax buy now pay later loan but I can't see any rates online for it.

It's a sorry situation your gran is in, but (rightly) age is not a barrier to borrowing money.

margaretclare

'One of her kids forced her....'

'The kid' wanted the loan, the kid should make the repayments.

I think if it was me I'd allow it to go to County Court and then go along and explain it all to the judge. And make sure the local papers and everyone knew 'the kid's' name and what he/she had done.

PS: You cannot be discriminated against on grounds of age in financial services. How is the lender to know she only has pension income - she might have been a very wealthy woman who could well afford it.

Mojisola

And look into getting Power of Attorney for your Gran, if she's willing, so that you can protect her from her children in future.

dancingfairy

One of her kids forced her to take out a loan? If this is the truth, and it's not that she volunteered then she has a few options. She can take action in the civil court to try and reclaim the money but obviously this could be expensive, time consuming and possibly stressful. Another option to consider is whether this is a case of elder abuse? She could report it to the police and possibly someone like help the aged etc and they may (note may take some action).
In terms of debt orders etc then either a debt management plan (dmp) where she pays what she can afford each month or possible a Debt reduction Order (DRO) which is a mini bankrutpcy which shouldn't really have too much effect her on her life given that she is unlikely to want any more credit and she doesn't own a house or anything.
Someone like National Debtline, CAB or StepChange can talk her through the debt options - they also have good websites which explain a lot of the different options.
Also, it's worth finding out if there are other debts that she is too frightened to tell you about.
I'd also do a benefit check online and check she is receiving everything she is entitled to.
Best of Luck
df

ViolaLass

margaretclare wrote: »

PS: You cannot be discriminated against on grounds of age in financial services. How is the lender to know she only has pension income - she might have been a very wealthy woman who could well afford it.

Surely income is one thing any sensible lender checks? We still don't know what the income is though. £140 a month isn't a huge amount.

Superted1986

to be fair he's in his 50's so I shouldn't really refer to him as a kid he frightened her and took her down to the bank she did it just to get rid of him it took her ages to let any of us know. I suggested stopping the payments and going straight down to the CAB to sort out some sort of agreement where the interest is cancelled and she pays it off monthly. I know she gets a standard state pension but I am not sure what she gets now my grandads passed away off the army so I will have to find all this out. I don't think she could cope with the police/court options she's old frail and I just don't want her to live out the rest of her life worrying about a poxy loan her son forced her to take out. I can't see her being too fussed about having a bad credit rating I don't think she has any overdrafts or credit cards she's only had things like a sofa and washing machine on credit in the past. Thanks for the advice guys.