Alzheimers - what should I do.

Snowedunder

For some time now my sister has not been 'herself'. Devastatingly she has just been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers.


We need to stop her racking up any further credit, and to help deal with the debts she already has.


We have already spoken to 2 x Credit Card companies and they are being helpful.


We now have to tackle 2 x catalogues totalling £3000. Both with the same company.


Does anyone have any suggestions. From past experiences myself during a major illness, we had to agree a repayment plan which was just not realistic. As her illness progresses, we expect her benefit income (only income) will diminish with her need for residential care.


She is, even now unable to deal with her own affairs with any reliability, but I do not really want a Power of Attorney - I am 70 this year and have my own problems, she lives with me at present and I cannot have debt collectors constantly harassing my home. What can/should I do?

Reya

Hello, Snowedunder, and welcome to the forum.

Firstly, I'm sorry to hear of your sister's diagnosis, and your own struggles as you try to cope with caring for her as well as dealing with her financial issues.

I have no experience in this field (hopefully someone more knowledgable in these matters will come along to help soon), but there are some resources which may prove helpful to you.

This site (MSE) has its own guide for Mental Health and Debt Problems that you can download. It was written, in part, with help from the Alzheimer's Society. You can access that here. It's in the PDF file format, which requires a program like Adobe Acrobat (which most computers come pre-installed with) in order to open and read it.

There is also a comprehensive section dealing with Legal and Financial Matters on the Alzheimer's Society website, too. The link for that is here.

I hope those two links offer some help, and I'm sure that soon enough more forum members will come forward with detailed advice for you

Tixy

Hi

There may be some useful information on the Alzheimers Society website on some of these issues.

Is there someone else, another relative or friend who your sister would choose and trust to appoint as an attorney?

How much are her debts in total? does she have any assets at all?

In the short term in terms of new credit, if she/you are willing she could appoint you with a third party mandate to her bank, which would mean you could then discuss her account with the bank, and then ask them to note on file that she has been diagnosed with alzheimers and does not want to be offered access to any credit facilities.

fatbelly

The power of attorney is probably more important than the debts

https://www.gov.uk/power-of-attorney/overview

Note "You must be 18 or over and have mental capacity – the ability to make your own decisions when you make your LPA."

Then ask for write offs of these non-priority unsecured debts- maybe with the help of a support worker.

Early onset Alzheimers only travels one way unfortunately. You and your sister are going to need help. Her condition should make it easier to get NHS Continuing Healthcare when the time comes but you don't want to be having to battle catalogues and credit cards when there are more important battles to be fought

Westie983

Tixy wrote: »

In the short term in terms of new credit, if she/you are willing she could appoint you with a third party mandate to her bank, which would mean you could then discuss her account with the bank, and then ask them to note on file that she has been diagnosed with alzheimers and does not want to be offered access to any credit facilities.

Third party mandates only work on savings accounts and not current accounts so if you want to disuss banking accounts held you will need a power of attoney registered first...

dancingfairy

The 2 main options I would consider are:
1) writing to the companies, tell them the situation, explain her only income is benefits and she is able to make payments of x a month (this is likely to be £1 per month each as she is on benefits).
2) a DRO - this is basically a mini bankrutpcy and would wipe the slate clean for her.
It's worth getting in touch with a debt charity such as National Debtline or Stepchange and they can talk you through the options.
Remember it is highly unlikely they would come to your door, and as you and her are vulnernable the banks and credit card companies have to treat you in a fair way. This would mean dealing with Stepchange or whoever you are working with and would mean that they should not be employing debt collectors to chase this debt. You do, however obviously need to make the aware in writing of the situation.
df

fatbelly

dancingfairy wrote: »

The 2 main options I would consider are:
1) writing to the companies, tell them the situation, explain her only income is benefits and she is able to make payments of x a month (this is likely to be £1 per month each as she is on benefits).
2) a DRO - this is basically a mini bankrutpcy and would wipe the slate clean for her.
It's worth getting in touch with a debt charity such as National Debtline or Stepchange and they can talk you through the options.
Remember it is highly unlikely they would come to your door, and as you and her are vulnernable the banks and credit card companies have to treat you in a fair way. This would mean dealing with Stepchange or whoever you are working with and would mean that they should not be employing debt collectors to chase this debt. You do, however obviously need to make the aware in writing of the situation.
df

There maybe an issue with option 2 in regards to mental capacity in addition to the other criteria.

I wouldn't rule it out but the intermediary would have to be convinced that she understood the declarations she was making.

dancingfairy

Fair enough, I was thinking that maybe the power of attorney (once granted) could apply on the debtors behalf if it was in the debtors best interest but maybe it is better to push for the compete right off due to the circumstances as you have described above.
df

Liliyanna

Hi there,

I'm so sorry to hear of your sisters diagnosis.

The only thing I can add really is more aimed at not getting any more credit. If your were to let some of her existing accounts lapse/go unpaid then she would surely start gathering black marks on her credit file. This would be a sure fire way to ensure no other credit company would lend to her. It may seem a little harsh but would save both of you stress and anxiety further down the line.


Lily x x

patman99

OP, you have my sympathies regarding your sister. I work in a dementia care home and whilst some of the residents arrive with only mild symptoms, they can deteriate over time to the point where they no longer know what day it is.

It would be a good idea to research Lasting Power of Attorney as you need to fully understand what an LPA can and cannot do.

Snowedunder

Thank you all for your suggestions and information. I am at present going through treatment for Breast Cancer and really cannot and do not want to go through Power of Attorney etc. as I am uncertain of my own future at present. There is no other family able to offer any help so I would prefer to deal with this 'once and for all'. I am going to write an explanatory letter to this catalogue company advising them that there is not and will not be anyone able to accept responsibility for these debts. I expect to get no help from them. I will advise them of my own situation and inform them that neither my sister nor I will be in any position in the future to deal with ongoing threat letters, and that if they wish to go to Court, then that may be the quickest way of sorting this out once and for all.


I could really, really do without this at this time in my life.


Again many thanks for suggestions and advice.