Loan advice needed.

Red_Iron

Hi.

My wife took out a loan when she was with her first husband. Unfortunately he passed away. I then met my wife and married her.

Can the loan company make me pay back the loan, my wife is unable to work and has no income to do it herself?

The loan was in her name only.

iolanthe07

No, the loan company can only chase your wife if the loan was in her sole name; but she is responsible for it, working or not. Perhaps she could come to some mutually agreeable arrangement to repay what she owes.

Tixy

Hi and welcome to the forum

No you are not legally responsible for her debt.

How long since she last paid anything towards the debt?

Is she making any payments at all towards the debt now (token payments even?). If she is unable to work is she receiving some benefit income that could pay for token payments.

How much is owed on the loan? if she doesn't reach an agreement with them then there is a chance they may take court action against her.

Red_Iron

My wife thinks its approx £15k.
She was paying token payments but stopped. Do you think this can be restarted (token payments only)?
It's been 6 or 7 years apparently since she paid anything.
I'd much rather token payments than hide from the debt.

Tixy

If it has been that long then it is possibly statute barred.

Did the creditor or a debt collector ever take court action against her/them?

If they haven't commenced court action and there has been a period of 6years where she has paid nothing towards the debt and hasn't written to acknowledge the debt is owed then it would be statute barred.

Link on the limitation act and statute barred debts here - Statute barred debts and the Limitation Acts
(Say if you are in scotland as the law is different).

Make sure she is pretty certain on the dates before sending a letter saying she believes it is SB.

Red_Iron

I'll get more info from her later and post back here, thanks.

Do you mean she hasn't written to acknowledge the debt or debt company hasn't written?

Tixy

Red_Iron wrote: »

I'll get more info from her later and post back here, thanks.

Do you mean she hasn't written to acknowledge the debt or debt company hasn't written?

She hasn't written to them (the debt collector or the original creditor).

Red_Iron

My wife has told me it was more like 4 years ago she stopped paying. She says she hasn't had any written contact with them for a lot longer though. But she has received letters she has ignored. That is not even opened.

Do you think it's wise to initiate contact?

macman

Might be an idea to open the letters then...why is she now concerned about this after five years-is she now seeking credit?
Since her credit status will presumably have been trashed some years ago, there's little to be gained form initiating any contact before you check her credit file.
If you start to make token payments again, then the debt will not be statute barred and they can potentially pursue the full amount.

Tixy

If she has not opened letters then it is possible that they have already taken court action against her and obtained a CCJ.

Are they actively chasing her for the debt at the moment? I would tell her the worst thing to do is not to open the letters.

If they haven't been to court and if it is only 4years since the last payment then they still have 2 years to take court action to prevent the debt from becoming statute barred.
For a debt of this size it is unlikely that they will allow it to become statute barred.

She really has a couple of choices, either contact them and offer token payments or wait for them to contact her. If she goes for the latter option then ideally she would be best trying to start building up a savings pot towards the debt.