Parents debt. Do I offer to settle, or am I screwed?

Elle7

sourcrates wrote: »

I wouldn't bother, they don't need a signed agreement if it was taken out online, different rules apply.

I thought that might be the case.

I'm gutted by this, to be honest. Is there anything I can do now?

Actionfraud seem a bit powerless to help. They've put me in touch with Victim Support.

sourcrates

Right, with your mum been in the condition she is, obviously there wont be money coming from that direction, and for all intents and purposes, you are now been held liable for the debt.


As you seem to have explored all other avenues, and come up blank, it looks like your going to be stuck with it.


As you cant afford the monthly payment Littlewoods are demanding(and who could ?)you are left with two real choices.


(1) Ignore it completely, and hope they don't take you to court, although if they did, the judge would not expect you to pay more than you could reasonably afford.


(2) Ignore Littlewoods for now, allow the debt to progress through collections, then there "inhouse" debt collectors, NDR Payments, and wait until they sell the debt on to an external DCA, who will be willing to take lower payments.


I cant think of a third option in all honestly, its up to you what you decide to do.

Elle7

sourcrates wrote: »

Right, with your mum been in the condition she is, obviously there wont be money coming from that direction, and for all intents and purposes, you are now been held liable for the debt.


As you seem to have explored all other avenues, and come up blank, it looks like your going to be stuck with it.


As you cant afford the monthly payment Littlewoods are demanding(and who could ?)you are left with two real choices.


(1) Ignore it completely, and hope they don't take you to court, although if they did, the judge would not expect you to pay more than you could reasonably afford.


(2) Ignore Littlewoods for now, allow the debt to progress through collections, then there "inhouse" debt collectors, NDR Payments, and wait until they sell the debt on to an external DCA, who will be willing to take lower payments.


I cant think of a third option in all honestly, its up to you what you decide to do.

I suspected as much.

They'll accept £10 a month, but I'll need to send them an SOA every three months. It'll also be recorded on my credit file as an arrangement to pay, and the current defaults will remain, so it'll trash my credit file anyway.

If I just ignore it, it'll go to a DCA, and I'll be no better off.

It seems that there is no way for me to not be punished for this...


Is it worth me recording this as fraud through Experian?

Actionfraud suggested possibly offering £40 as full and final settlement, but on the condition that all information is removed from my credit file. That's around 1% of the debt, though, so they are unlikely to accept it, I think?

I'm really at a loss here.

sourcrates

Elle7 wrote: »

Is it worth me recording this as fraud through Experian?


Actionfraud suggested possibly offering £40 as full and final settlement, but on the condition that all information is removed from my credit file. That's around 1% of the debt, though, so they are unlikely to accept it, I think?

You could, but Experian would require some kind of proof.


Try the F & F they can only say no !!

Elle7

sourcrates wrote: »

You could, but Experian would require some kind of proof.


Try the F & F they can only say no !!

I can give them the Crime Reference Number from the police/Actionfraud.

Otherwise, what kind of proof could I have? I can't prove that I didn't order something...I can't prove a negative.

I can't really believe that I can be liable when I don't have the goods. If I did, I could sell them and recover the money to pay the debt. This is a nightmare.

I'm a bit worried that the stress of owing this is going to send me spiralling into a bipolar crash. I'm v.careful with credit now, to avoid this, and now I've been caught out with credit that isn't even mine.

sourcrates

Have you contacted Mind ? they may be able to offer advice.


Also Martin Lewis was involved with Mind a few years ago, you could maybe contact him for advice on this ?


He has a twitter account I am led to believe.

longtermplanner

Legally this just isn't fraud. You opened the account. You let your mum use it. Sorry but it's your own fault for letting her do this and not checking.

You have a potential case for suing your mother for the money, but even if you won the case she couldn't repay it so this would be pointless.

You need to find the best way of tackling this debt. Do you have other debts of your own? Paying £10 a month is pointless, you will never clear £4000 that way. Can you not afford more? If you can't then realistically you can't be saving for a deposit so you have no chance of getting a mortgage anyway. That sounds critical, it isn't, I'm just saying that you should lett vague dreams about a mortgage stop you from taking the right action now to deal with this debt.

Elle7

longtermplanner wrote: »

Legally this just isn't fraud. You opened the account. You let your mum use it. Sorry but it's your own fault for letting her do this and not checking.

You have a potential case for suing your mother for the money, but even if you won the case she couldn't repay it so this would be pointless.

You need to find the best way of tackling this debt. Do you have other debts of your own? Paying £10 a month is pointless, you will never clear £4000 that way. Can you not afford more? If you can't then realistically you can't be saving for a deposit so you have no chance of getting a mortgage anyway. That sounds critical, it isn't, I'm just saying that you should lett vague dreams about a mortgage stop you from taking the right action now to deal with this debt.

That's an interesting point of view.

I didn't ever give her my password, or allow her to access my account. I simply placed an order or two for her. I regret that now, because I should never have let her know about the account, but I didn't know that she'd steal from her own children at that point.

I'm not sure that my mortgage situation is relevant, but yes, I'd be in a position to be looking at a mortgage within the next year or so. I'm disabled, and therefore my ability to work and save is limited, but I've spoken to mortgage brokers and I'd be eligible to go on the mortgage. As you've said, it's not worth considering if I can't get this removed, because my credit will be trashed until the end of time.

T-Mobile and Barclays have closed the accounts, removed them from my credit file and reported them to CIFAS. They've not blamed me at all. While I expected more of a fight from Littlewoods, because the debt is higher, I'm upset that they haven't even looked into this.

I've tweeted Martin, but no reply. I've also emailed Mind.

foolishboy

I'm confused, maybe I missed a post.

How were the fraudulent orders placed? Who signed for the goods?

sourcrates

foolishboy wrote: »

I'm confused, maybe I missed a post.

How were the fraudulent orders placed? Who signed for the goods?

I believe the OP opened the account, but on the understanding her mother paid for any goods ordered, from what I can gather, all goods were delivered to the mother, who has now, obviously, ceased paying, due to health reasons.
The mother had in the past, opened various accounts in the OP`s name, even though the OP was a minor at the time, most of these have been closed when the creditor was challenged, however, Littlewoods are not accepting her mothers previous financial conduct as reason enough to cancel the debt.


I think that brings you up to speed !!