Uncle in potential dire straits

JohnLF

Asking for some advice to try to help out my Uncle who is potentially in serious financial trouble.
To cut a long story short he has a Pension mortgage. He is hitting retirement shortly and the Pension lump sum(s) he has will no where near cover the mortgage payment.
He is also currently looking for work after a serious illness so the chances of him working again are pretty slim - something he will not admit to.
Trying to find out exactly what he has and owes is proving a bit of a nightmare as he is a little eccentric/forgetful to say the least.
He also lives the other end of the country, on his own, with no other family nearby so we are all trying to help him over the phone etc. He is at least coming round to the idea of accepting help lately.
I think his only option is to sell the house before it is repossessed. He has had a valuer in and it is worth approx 3-4x the mortgage so that is good news. He is warming to this idea but the slim hope of more work for a few years is delaying any action from him and he absolutely NO sense of urgency or the potential disaster of repossession no matter how often we try to drive this home.

My question is: Given that there is no way this Pension was ever going to be enough to pay off the mortgage is there any point in trying for mis-selling? I'm not even sure if there is anything he could claim back exactly..?

Any other ideas/tips will of course be gratefully received. I appreciate you will probably need a lot more info to go on, so fire away and I will see what I can supply.
--
John

csgohan4

If he is forgetful, does it impact his capacity to make decisions over his finances and has his GP referred him to a memory/ Dementia clinic?


Consider a power of attorney over his finances if his capacity is impaired.

Thrugelmir

JohnLF wrote: »

Given that there is no way this Pension was ever going to be enough to pay off the mortgage is there any point in trying for mis-selling?

The situation hasn't just happened. There's been many years over which to take remedial or alternative action.

ACG

Letters are sent to say there will be a shortfall and an estimate of how much.

Presumably he has ignored these as they are sent annually I think.

JohnLF

ACG wrote: »

Letters are sent to say there will be a shortfall and an estimate of how much.

Presumably he has ignored these as they are sent annually I think.

This I did not know but it would not surprise me.
I think it is a case of sell up quick and move closer to family while we still can!

Thanks for the input folks

sleepless_saver

Selling up may not be the only option. For example, equity release to pay off the mortgage might be possible. Have a look at the Money Advice Service booklet on dealing with mortgage shortfall.

TBeckett100

When you say pension lump sum, do you mean tax free cash? As you can take the rest as a lump as well, subject to it being taxed as earned income

silvercar

Pension rules have changed, so he could take all his pension pot out if he wanted instead of just 25%.

If he does that and uses it to clear the mortgage, that will leave him with just the state pension in retirement. WOuld that be enough to live on?

Let_Us_See

JohnLF wrote: »

I appreciate you will probably need a lot more info to go on, so fire away and I will see what I can supply.

The following would help:-
Age
Outstanding mortgage balance
Current lender
Property value
Guaranteed income in retirement (state/private pension/anything else?)
Value of private pension