Help for dad who lives in France

spidermaaaan

Please do not judge my dad.

Basically my mum had bipolar disorder and racked up tens of thousands of debt in joint names.

My dad was unaware of much of this as was working very long hours.

Anyhow they moved to France in 2008 and despite me telling them not to, they stayed in touch with creditors offering to pay £5 off a month here and there.

Mum died in 2013. Since that time dad has taken my advice to cut all contact with debt collectors as they can hardly recover debts since dad is in rented accommodation in a foreign country.

Anyway dad now wants to move back to the UK. However he cannot check his credit score as he only has one UK bank account and that is £3k overdrawn so I have advised not using it.

What can my dad do? He has a good pension, but no assets.

shortcrust

Is this about him getting a credit report or general advice about his situation? Either way, there's nothing stopping him from coming back to the UK. If he doesn't intend to pay the debts he'll just have to keep a low profile until the debts are statue barred (i.e. six years after the last payment or written acknowledgement by your dad of the debt). Just come back, open a basic bank account and live off the pension. Does he need a credit report at this stage? Bear in mind that getting a credit report will associate him with the address he uses (I think...).

spidermaaaan

I think he will just come back and live in private rented. It is a shame for him really as he always worked 2 jobs and one was a professional job.

He deserves better than what happened however I do not think he coped very well will my mum's illness which got progressively worse and in the last decade of her life she was basically sectionable.

Tixy

When Dad was in touch with the creditors from abroad did they have his address in France? and if so are any writing to him/chasing him currently?

You (or anyone) could check if he has any CCJs registered against him by looking at the registry trust online database. It costs £8 per address you search but would give him an indication as to whether any creditors have taken court action against him.

For completeness sake you might want to check the insolvency register - just to check no creditors have petitioned for his bankruptcy whilst he has been abroad.

There is a way to get a copy of your credit file whilst abroad although its a little more complicated than if you live in the UK, but it may not be advisable at this stage as shortcrust says.

Is his pension currently paid into an account overseas? When he returns to the UK the first step will likely be to open a new basic bank account with a bank he doesn't currently owe any money to.