Assets seized without my consent

TBagpuss

It's also possible that she has been in debt for a long time, and that the crisis came because the interest payments, and late charges etc got to the point where she could no longer manage the debt.
It is, of course, possible that she also has a gambling addiction or some other problem, but it may be that 15+years of spiralling debt has finally reached the point where it is totally unsustainable. £450 a month for storage may have been the final straw if she was already using all her income to service her debts.

It's probably not any comfort, but I noticed that your £100,000 estimate related to 'new for old' value. The true value of your stuff would have ben it's sale value, not replacement value.

You may need your ex to consent for your personal items to be returned to you, as she was the one who signed the agreement with the storage company.

You are not liable for anything which wasn't in your name or joint names. You may get bailiffs or debt collectors coming looking for her, but they cannot take your property, or enter your home without your consent.

You ill have to decide whether there is any future in your relationship - and what support you may need in order for that to happen.

Partner-in-debt

TBagpuss wrote: »

It's also possible that she has been in debt for a long time, and that the crisis came because the interest payments, and late charges etc got to the point where she could no longer manage the debt.
It is, of course, possible that she also has a gambling addiction or some other problem, but it may be that 15+years of spiralling debt has finally reached the point where it is totally unsustainable. £450 a month for storage may have been the final straw if she was already using all her income to service her debts.

It's probably not any comfort, but I noticed that your £100,000 estimate related to 'new for old' value. The true value of your stuff would have ben it's sale value, not replacement value.

You may need your ex to consent for your personal items to be returned to you, as she was the one who signed the agreement with the storage company.

You are not liable for anything which wasn't in your name or joint names. You may get bailiffs or debt collectors coming looking for her, but they cannot take your property, or enter your home without your consent.

You ill have to decide whether there is any future in your relationship - and what support you may need in order for that to happen.

To your point, I am starting to worry about the bailiffs. When I called the storage company on Saturday I had no idea about the non-payment of the account, so happily gave them my name and number to call me back, which they did to explain that the goods were sold. I got home from work today and there was a voicemail from the owner of that firm asking me to call them urgently. They may assume that she still lives with me and may use my name and number to locate my address. As you say, even though most of the goods were mine, I have not signed any agreement so cannot see how I can be liable for anything, but I may have inadvertently given them a new lead to recover their debts.

Partner-in-debt

hollydays wrote: »

So, what explanation has she given you for behaving like this?


You should get a credit check done on yourself ASAP

The explanation she gave is that she couldn't make the payments but also couldn't admit this to me as everything else would start to unravel. Her debts had been accumulating and she was living hand-to-mouth, using payday loans and basically not paying any of her obligations until the final demands or court summons arrived and eventually it all caught up with her. I may well do a credit check on myself, as you suggest.

Thrugelmir

Partner-in-debt wrote: »

, but I may have inadvertently given them a new lead to recover their debts.

Your don't owe your ex anything.

[Deleted User]

First of all, my sympathies for the situation you are in. I am sure the shock and questions you are asking yourself are difficult to imagine.

You have done a hard but correct thing.., someone who can get into this kind of situation just can't be trusted. I know, i've been there in a more minor way. You find out something, you argue, you think you've gotten through that this is a betrayal of trust and must never happen again.., and then it happens again.

Remember your ex probably can't admit even to herself what she has done, and may still be lying about what the companies she owes money to have said. However, this is immaterial.., the people asking you to contact them urgently probably just want contact details for her. It is her debt, not yours. They may try to get you to pay something but you don't have to.., it isn't your liability.

I would advise you to get a credit report from Experion http://www.experian.co.uk/creditexpert2/04_credit_score.html?sc=410006&infinity=gaw~Brand%2BUK%2BENG%2BSPART~BRAND%2BEXACT%2BExperion%20%28Misspelling%29~52253001790~experion~e to see how the situation has affected your credit.

You must feel pretty awful right now, but at least you know now and can start dealing with the fall out.

I hope that the situation will also give her an opportunity to reassess her life. Perhaps bankruptcy is an option (don't really know why she didn't consider this before things became as impossible as they obviously were). However, what she does is her decision, don't take responsibility for that process on yourself. Its something she needs to do.

Pollycat

Partner-in-debt wrote: »

The explanation she gave is that she couldn't make the payments but also couldn't admit this to me as everything else would start to unravel. Her debts had been accumulating and she was living hand-to-mouth, using payday loans and basically not paying any of her obligations until the final demands or court summons arrived and eventually it all caught up with her. I may well do a credit check on myself, as you suggest.

But WHY couldn't she make the payments?

WHY did she have to take out payday loans?

WHERE did these debts come from if she had a good job and didn't spend anything on herself?

Her salary must have been spent on something.
So on what?

StuieUK34

I would say, in a nutshell:

Nothing you can do, except chase her for £££...
You entrust her to look after goods.
She has someone else look after goods, who has a right to obtain payments as written in there T&C's.
She messed up, you lose.

They cant chase you for outstanding debt, nothing to do with you...
As for personal possessions not sold, I guess they have the option to give your minor goods/non-sellable stuff back to, and ask you pay a charge based on holding/storage for those items....


She basically became your broker/middleman.... your contract is/was with her....

hollydays

Did you not ever see her bank statements?

Partner-in-debt

hollydays wrote: »

Did you not ever see her bank statements?

No, she was very secretive about them. I do know that she only has a £1000 overdraft so has very little debt to the bank and because she is always overdrawn is unable to get a bank loan - hence the payday loans. I have however done a credit check on her now and her rating is excellent, presumably because she has very few direct debits with me paying most of the bills so she has built up a consistency for paying the small items. There is nothing about the storage debt on there but I guess if it hasn't been recovered or it has been written off, it may never show up? She clearly didn't set up a direct debit for the storage which also might explain why there is no credit history for that obligation.

Partner-in-debt

Pollycat wrote: »

But WHY couldn't she make the payments?

WHY did she have to take out payday loans?

WHERE did these debts come from if she had a good job and didn't spend anything on herself?

Her salary must have been spent on something.
So on what?

As she explained it, things were all good when her expenses were planned but whenever something unexpected came up these 1-off items derailed her. I also think it is highly dubious that this has happened but the reality is that I am probably not going to get a proper answer now. As I say, with her credit report not looking too bad, she was obviously paying most of her obligations but could not afford the storage and should therefore never have put her hand up for it at the time. And, as for letting it go for 3 years without making a meaningful contribution to the storage debt, whilst trundling along with everything else and living with me rent free, I have no answer for you...