MUM ripped off - Hitachi loan to finance British Gas boiler HELP

Shazbea

My mum has just passed away, we are currently doing probate as my mum never left a will.
We have found a loan agreement that she made with hitachi finance to fund her boiler installed by British Gas.
The boiler cost, labour, materials came to a total of £3367.70. We know this to be inflated as we got an estimate for the same work at £1800 to see how much she had been ripped off.
Added to this, hitachi finance added a whopping £1795.30 to the above balance totalling £5163.
She has been paying £86.05 a month and is 2 years into paying up to when she passed.
Obviously we have found this out now only adding to our grief that they could rip an old lady off with a brand you trust being British Gas.
Do we have any rights to get this written off, or can they just take the boiler back.
I don't want these rip off merchants to have any more of my mums money.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

BrassicWoman

You are going to struggle unless she was of unsound mind and the BG would have known that. You may not agree with her choices but they were hers to make.

Settle from the estate as soon as possible and you will at least save the interest.

If there is no money in the estate (remeber and include assets like cars and houses) then they cannot expect you to pay on her behalf.

They won't take the boiler back!

molerat

Some bad choices but not ripped off. BG are expensive, they charge anyone the same price. Loan APR is 19.9%, standard finance rate. Again high but the same that they would charge anyone.

The outstanding loan will have to be paid from the estate, I assume there is equity in the property. If there is money in the estate and it is not paid then the executors will be personally liable. As above, get it paid off soonest to avoid interest.

Nearlyold

There are no automatic rights to have a debt written off when someone dies. Debts have to be settled from the estate provided there are sufficient funds, there is a prescribed order for settling the estate something along the lines of Funeral Expenses, Taxes then Debts then distribution to the beneficiaries. Whoever is responsible for administering the estate is legally required to wind up the estate correctly settling all debts where possible. Will there be enough in the estate which includes the house if she owned it to settle everything?

Your mother presumably accepted the quote she was given, the interest rate on the loan is around 21% APR so it's high but not extraordinarily so. There will be a rebate of interest for early settlement of course.

Realise it's not what you wanted to hear of course, you can try talking to Hitachi or British Gas but don't expect them to just roll over and write off the debt.

Keep_pedalling

You need to contact the finance company to let them know of you mother's death ASAP, hopefully they will then at least stop any further interest payments racking up. When dealing with an estate there is a strict order that needs to be applied as far as distributing the assets are concerned.

Top of the list is funeral expenses, then secured dept (usually mortgages) then unsecured dept (which is where this loan fits) with the remainder going to the beneficiaries. If there is sufficient money in the estate you have no choice in this matter.

It does not sound like you mum had much in the way of liquid assets otherwise she would not have needed the loan, did she own her house?

Shazbea

Hi yes she did have her own house but grandson is staying there abd we wanted to keep it that way as that was one of her wishes

missbiggles1

Shazbea wrote: »

Hi yes she did have her own house but grandson is staying there abd we wanted to keep it that way as that was one of her wishes

Then you can use the rent he's paying to make the repayments if they accept that.

BrassicWoman

Shazbea wrote: »

Hi yes she did have her own house but grandson is staying there abd we wanted to keep it that way as that was one of her wishes

that's a nice wish but it sounds like there isn't enough cash to make it happen.

Keep_pedalling

Shazbea wrote: »

Hi yes she did have her own house but grandson is staying there abd we wanted to keep it that way as that was one of her wishes

If by that you mean she wanted him to own the house outright then the fact that she left no will is going to make that a little complicated. Assuming that the house is the only major asset, then the only way can happen is if all the other benificiaries agree to give up their inheritance, if for instance one of your siblings does not agree then it can't happen and the house would need to be sold, so that that person could receive their share.

Shazbea

All beneficiaries agree to let the grandson stay in house

tomtontom

Shazbea wrote: »

All beneficiaries agree to let the grandson stay in house

Then could all the beneficiaries get together and repay the debt? Presumably there is an agreement as to when the grandson will move out and what will happen to the property then?