Responsible for expat brother's CC debts?

Nick132

We recently agreed with my 69 year old brother-in-law to provide a forwarding address for him. He moved to the Philippines about 18 months ago - no residency status but spends 95% of his time there. A credit card statement arrived for him last week with 2 worrying features: 1) it was just addressed to him at our address - not c/o; 2) he has an unpaid balance of £11k and only made the minimum payment. As far as we know he has no assets or savings - just 2 good occupational pensions. Question is, could we be held responsible for his debts?

Dobbibill

In short - No.

His debt, his responsibility.

Torry_Quine

If debts are in his name only and no one else then you cant be held responsible.

chattychappy

Agree - no. Not having "c/o" on the address is immaterial.

Perhaps your brother's in financial difficulty, perhaps he's not.

That said, I lived in SE Asia for a while (next door in Vietnam) and there was a "certain kind" of expat who falls in love with the place and doesn't know when to leave. Sometimes their "expat" job finishes, sometimes their business fails etc and they don't know when to return. They've got used to a certain lifestyle, enjoy the food and perhaps the company of nice girlfriends - all of which costs cash to maintain. It can be difficult to return to a country where the weather's cold, the beer's expensive and one can't afford servants nor travel in taxis. It can become very tempting not to pay your UK debts (or continue to run them up) whilst extending the dream. Saw it so many times.

Whilst you can't normally be held responsible for his debts, it can still be hassle if he defaults or runs up new debts. I would check your credit reports in case of any linkage that shouldn't be there. If you do have any hassle from this situation, I wouldn't hesitate telling your brother that you are unwilling to receive his post anymore. CC companies are quite able to deal with a cardholder telling them they now live abroad. They might stop further spend, but they can send statements overseas.

I say "normally". I think the only exception would be if you jointly planned to defraud the CC companies - perhaps by using an additional card on his account knowing that he was overseas and would not be paying off the debt whilst allowing your address to be used in this way. I say this for completeness as it doesn't seem to apply here.