Help me help my neighbour - debt solutions sought.

fenceposttortoise

No reason for refusal has been given by any of the lenders.... but the house is in a poor state of repair. I must confess I have been mystified by their refusal too and wonder if she might not be asking for enough? Part of the reason we had been exploring equity release in the first place was to release funds for maintenance and repairs.
I was unaware of these outstanding debts previously, but now these have come to light I suspect she was also looking to use some of the release to pay these overdue bills.

Had a constructive chat with National Debtline earlier - thanks for the pointer - and have some useful information upon which to work ... together with much work to do!

Looks like I am going to have to dig a lot deeper into her affairs (if she wants me to) in order to establish the size of the existing issue and how tenuous her budget really is. I am away there now...

Muttipops

Hi there,
I thought that Age UK might also be of help. They are a charity who offer an equity release service,
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/products/financial-products-and-services/equity-release/.


No idea if they are any good, just googled Age Concern who it turns out have merged and formed Age Uk to help the elderly.
Their service merely points you to firms, but the advice is free until you take out a plan. They also do a benefits check to make sure the elderly person is receiving all they should.


Good luck and well done to you for helping out.

fenceposttortoise

Phew....
Reasonable afternoons work. County Court proceedings postponed, no further charges accruing, all primary debtors contacted and coerced into allowing more time. Elderly neighbour significantly relieved :cool:
Plan of action forming, together with a proper budget and assessment of further creditors. I am in for a busy couple of weeks I think.....

Thank you for the pointers above... no doubt I will be back very shortly as the whole sorry mess unfolds. :eek:

System

You sound like a lovely neighbour.

Muttipops

Wow, Batman's got nothing on you, what an afternoons' work and well done. I am so pleased your neighbour feels better.:)

Grumpelstiltskin

ramblehan wrote: »

You sound like a lovely neighbour.

Seconded


Use this to check any benefit entitlement.



http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/benefits-check?_ga=1.8382194.1946666439.1460907438

sourcrates

Just as a first move, and to buy you a little time, write to each creditor stating that the person in question is seeking help for their debt problem and to put recovery action on hold for 30 days.

This they are now oblighed to do under FCA guidelines on fair debt collection practices.

That will keep them at bay for at least a month.

Edit : I see you've done so already, good !!!

-taff

Also, see if she was or is paying PPI on anything, you can make a complaint about it.

kindofagilr

Does she claim Pension Credit? she might be entitled to it xx

another_casualty

Fence post , you are a great neighbour .
I have only one question : has she got any relatives ?
She may have a 'distant' son or daughter, who may be in the background.

Also, no offence meant, but because of her age , could she claim to be 'forgetful' /memory loss ?

Hope things improve