Help!! Which Debt Do I Pay Off First

dithedancer

my husband as just died leaving me £11,500 insurance. which debts do i pay off first.i owe
£5,500 child tax credit
£4,368 loan should end dec08 taken out at 9% apr
£2,320 car loan should end jan 09
£2,800 tesco credit card taken out at 0% till june 08
£919 natwest credit card taken out at 0% till july 08 paying off at £60 a month
£1,800 MBNA credit card taken out at 0% till june 08 paying off at £100 a month
£3,000 british gas for new boiler that husband ordered before dying(now fitted) no idea what apr he took it out at.
£1,000 for husbands loan should be cleared by sept 08.
i know this shouldnt be in this thread but as anyone got any idea if this loan was legal because he took it out without my knowledge he was 76 years old at the time so no guarantor was with him to sign. i know he was pestered into taking it out by the bank to clear his visa card by the amount of telephone calls and questions every time he went into the bank to pay it.
if anyone can help it would be a weight off my shoulders
thanks dithedancer

LookingAhead

First of all, I'm so very sorry to hear about your husband.

About the legality of the loan - I don't know. Perhaps someone here will be able to say more on that but I can't help personally.

If it were me, by looking at that little list, I think I would find out the APR of the boiler ASAP as for all you know it could be 29% or something silly like that.

I would pay off the 9% loan.

I would then try to clear some of the other cards so that the payments you would have made on those can be put towards other cards to be cleared quickly.

Hopefully others will be along soon to offer even more advice.

Again - my condolences to you.

LA x

dithedancer

thanks LA for taking the time to reply i checked on the boiler situation and i was shocked to see that it was 19.9% so i think this is one debt that will take priority as for the loan legality im still in the dark. do you think the child tax credit overpayment should be seen as priority because as far as i can see it wasn't my mistake but at thismoment in time i cant face fighting it.

sammiboo

really sorry about your husband

As regards your debts, I would pay off the debts that have the highest interest as the longer you have these the more they cost you.

0% isnt an issue as you are paying back what you borrowed but you will need to pay these off before it runs out or move the debt on another 0% if possible when the time comes

LookingAhead

Hi there dd.

I don't have children so I really don't know what to say about tax credits but I would have thought that if it wasn't your fault, you have a case to argue and perhaps this will buy you time if nothing else and they might well negotiate a low payment back?

But as I say - I am no expert as I don't know the system.

I am sorry I cannot be more help on that.

I would agree the boiler bill needs to be cleared at that APR!

Lydia.42

Hi
Sorry to hear about your husband. Big Hug.

Re: legality of loan, as the other poster said, someone may be along soon to help.

As for which debts to pay first, i would go for the highest interest first and work backwards. If you can clear all that are currently costing you any APR, and have some left over, i would put the spare cash into a saver and leave it there until your 0% cc runs out. That way you will be earning interest on their money

dithedancer

what a good idea i never thought about leaving my 0% till last and earning interest on what i would save
thanks all
DI xx

theoldtrout

So sorry to hear about the loss of your husband. I hope you have lots of support from family and friends.
I would definately pay the debts in the following order:
£4368 loan
£3000 boiler loan - YOU MUST CHECK WITH BRITISH GAS AS TO HOW IT COST 3K FOR A NEW BOILER!!! THE AVERAGE BOILER IS ONLY MAX 1K.
SOUNDS LIKE HE'S BEEN HAD BY A SALESMAN!!!
£1000 - Husbands loan
£2320 car loan -your probably paying around 15% interest on that. however, there is usually a large settlement figure so you need to check first.
This will leave you with MBN, Nat WEst & Tesco. If you carry on paying the quoted payments you will owe £800 on MBNA and £319 on Nat WEst by next June just when the interests payments start up again.
In the meantime, pay every surplus pound you have on Tesco's card because even if you pay £100 per month you will still owe £1800 by next June and will start paying interest about £60 per month on this amount.
Sorry, can't advise you on Child Credit as I am not familiar with this.
You really need to speak to them and explain your circumstances. However, I would not tell any of these people that you have any money as everyone may insist on immediate payment.
Wish you all the best

theoldtrout

Just read Lydia.42's reply.

In principal it's a good idea, however, in your later years it's not good to have alot of 'savings' as this can affect other benefits that you may be entitled to. Be careful about savings.
Hugs from theoldtrout x x

soapboxfury

Firstly. which loans are yours and which are your husbands? are any of them joint liability and who is the executor of your husbands estate?

Seaxwyn

HI Di

I'm sorry to hear about your husband.

I would phone the Tax Credits people and tell them. Presumably they would have to recalculate your entitlement anyway now that you are a widow. It could be that they can take those payments off your future credits, rather than making you actually pay them back. That's what has happened in my case - I owe them, but rather than pay them back, I just receive less than I'm entitled to, if you see what I mean.

It's very shocking that a 76 year old should be bullied into taking a loan. I don't know about the legal situation but I would say you have a very strong moral case to demand they write it off and it would be worth having a meeting with the bank manager and insisting that. I'm sure it's the last thing you feel like doing, so take a friend with you as moral support.

I hope you have good support, do you have a friend or relative you can talk over all this with who can help you with the decisions and phone calls?

Take care of yourself.