Partner co-signed a large loan

kellolio

Hi, looking for some advice if possible. My boyfriend co-signed a massive loan for his mum about 4 or 5 years ago I think (it was before we got together), he thinks it was for around £20,000. Since then his mum has stopped working and defaulted so they have come knocking at our door for the remaining £15,000 owed. Now here is the issue - my partner had a pretty serious accident when he was 10 that left him with significant brain damage, he's very naive and doesn't understand anything that's not explained basically to him. He says all he was told by his mum was that she needed his signature to get this loan and that was it. His mum is a very sly person and I do believe that she wouldn't have explained it to him. He took it at face value and genuinely was completely shocked when I explained the ramifications of the co-sign when we got the first letter. Is there anything at all that can be done, being that he has essentially been lured into it? Or is it hopeless? Thanks.

Arleen

Let me precede with that you will need a lawyer, and professional one that will sign on the paperwork. No way to go around that.

In very short and brief overview what you are disputing is competency of your partner to make his own financial decisions back at the time, and potentially being conned by his mum (which if proven would be a crime). This is a lot more complex that it looks, especially if based on mental competency of your partner so you may want to start collecting all the medical paperwork and seek an reasonably priced lawyer in your area to take it further.

As for now I would get copy of his credit file with all major agencies, that will give you details of the loan and it's payment history so at least you know what you are dealing with.

Brock_and_Roll

Just as relevant....has your bf actually got any assets? House, car, savings? Is he employed on a good income?


I note from a previous post that the OP is/was on benefits -If the OPs partner has little or no assets and no spare income, they cannot get blood out of a stone!

kellolio

Thanks for the info Arleen, that was very helpful.

Hi Brock, no he has nothing, he's on ESA and PIP as his mental capacity isn't great and he also suffers from severe epilepsy which this is all making worse hence why I'm taking control and trying to get it sorted. He gets the highest rates of PIP though and I'm worried they'll take all of that as it's technically 'excess income'? Also would they count both of our incomes or just his? I assumed as we live together it would be both of ours. It's just so frustrating as it's not really anything to do with him.

Candyapple

I don't think you'd be able to argue getting his name of the debt due to his brain injury because as Arleen has stated, it will be a costly and lengthy process and even then, there's no guarantee that he would win his case and possibly end up facing high legal costs on top of the £15k debt.

Sounds like for £15k your partner would be better off in an IVA or debt management plan.

http://debtcamel.co.uk/should-i-include-dla-money-in-my-incomeexpenditure-sheet/

Arleen

Candyapple wrote: »

I don't think you'd be able to argue getting his name of the debt due to his brain injury because as Arleen has stated, it will be a costly and lengthy process and even then, there's no guarantee that he would win his case and possibly end up facing high legal costs on top of the £15k debt.

Without going into details because I don't dare to do so on forums (for reasons I've explained in previous post) it's not really an expensive process, but it is a lengthy, painful and very problematic one. What essentially she would have to prove that her partner falls under mental capacity act, and he was since the accident. It's not a given, and it is a painful process for everyone involved.
But if proven then it's very likely that he could get away from the obligation as this clearly was not made in his best interest.

bris

Why would the loan co even accept a Guarantor with nothing, this doesn't make sense to me.

He doesn't meet the criteria for a loan, no disrespect but to get a 20k loan you need a very good job.

Brock_and_Roll

bris wrote: »

Why would the loan co even accept a Guarantor with nothing, this doesn't make sense to me.

He doesn't meet the criteria for a loan, no disrespect but to get a 20k loan you need a very good job.

Perhaps it was the other way round - i.e. it was the mother (who was working) who got the loan for the benefit of the son?


As ever with these type of threads the background tends to be rather hazy and mysterious.

[Deleted User]

For 15k he could take out DRO, have a chat with someone at the CAB.

kellolio

No not being mysterious, this is a public forum it's not particularly safe to reveal everything when all I wanted was a basic piece of advice.

At the time of the loan he had a full time job as did his mum, she was only allowed to take the loan if my partner co-signed as he had always held down a full time labour intensive job. Then she went on sick leave for her own reasons, and then 2 years ago my partner became very unwell with his epilepsy and had no choice but to give up his job, despite not wanting to because it was unsafe for him to work. If my partner was at fault I wouldn't have asked for advice, would I?

I do realise there are ways to get help to pay the loan, but the point was why should he pay something that a) it was never explained to him what he was signing, yes I know it was naive but as I said about he has a brain injury and trusted that his own mother wouldn't do something like this to him and b) he never had a single penny of the whole loan, his mum used the money to pay off several other debts to 'manage' them all more easily with one debt as a whole.

My only question about it all was purely, being that he has a brain injury, and it is well known by the GP and such that he doesn't understand if it's not spelt out completely and in basic terms, was he in a position to be held legally accountable for something he should never have been tricked into signing in the first place? He has said to me himself, if he had been clearly told he would have to pay the money back if his mum stopped paying, he never would have been stupid enough to sign. It was never laid out for him in a way he understood. Can I prove it? I'm not sure. Hence why I was here asking people in a better position than myself for their advice.

National_Debtline

Hi kellolio


There should normally be safeguards in place to ensure any guarantors and co-signatories receive independent explanations from a potential lender of what they are signing. All well and good in theory, but of course there will always be scenarios where this doesn't work so well in practice - for example, where the other party is determined to obtain funds by any means, including deception, even if it means leaving a family member in deep bother.


I think that what would help both you and your partner here is to obtain as much paperwork as the lender is able to provide relating to this matter, so that you can at least then establish a better idea of how exactly the loan was arranged, and in particular what checks and balances were done by the lender as to your partner's capacity to agree to such a commitment.


I would suggest that you send the following letter to the lender in order to request this information, and take it from there:


https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/sampleletters/Pages/Personal-information-under-the-Data-Protection-Act-%28sole-name%29.aspx


You should at the same time ask the lender that they suspend any other recovery action while this request is dealt with. Keep us posted and/or get in touch with our service or one of the other free advice agencies as I think it would be worth your while (and his).


Dennis
@natdebtline