My nephew

AuntyRach

Hi all

As the username and the thread title suggests I am seeking assistance for my nephew.

He is early 20s and currently resides at Her Majesty's Pleasure for the next 8/9 months or so, the reason for this is not relevant to my queries but givessome context. He has debts with 3 credit card companies abd has been robbing (not literally) Peter to pay Paul; I have prior to his sentencing had my details added to his accounts so that I can speak to them and all 3 have been great and understanding. This is a whole new world for me in so many ways, and my questions are regarding the action all the companies have agreed to:

They have all agreed to suspend his accounts and not charge interest or other charges
They have all agreed that the accounts will remain in house and not be sold onto 3rd parties
They have all said that the direct debits have been cancelled, which I have confirmed, and there is no money to make payments to the accounts anyway

All have said that the missed payments will result in the account going into default and this will affect his ability to get credit in the future, my question is around what does this actually mean? I have no doubt that life will be tough when he is released in terms of employment etc and thankfully he rents off a family member so there's no issue with a roof over his head but what impact will this have? His Mum has indicated that she 'may' be able to pay off his debts so he owes her rather than the banks but this is not guaranteed.

Also is there anything more I could/should be doing to assist more?

Thanks in advance

Poor_Single_lady

Hello. :hello:
Better qualified people than me will be along to advise and help. but wanted to say quickly I think you sound amazing in your efforts trying to help him.
Hope you can get it as sorted as it can be.

And I would ask him if it is just the 3. I have more than 3. I would struggle to confess to someone even as helpful as you how many I have. But hopefully you have the whole picture and there aren't any more. Hope you get some good advice here.

Fireflyaway

If he defaults it will mean his credit file will be negatively impacted and he will find it hard to get credit. The defaults will show for 6 years. However it's more than possible to get on with life with even the worst credit score - I did!
There are charities that help ex offenders reintegrate. Work on cv's and skills etc.

datlex

OP, Have you actually rang the companies and told them where he is? i.e. in prison. They can put a note on the accounts that he won't be able to make payments for the next 8 months due to his circumstances, they may even freeze interest/ freeze the accounts. The person who live here before me went to prison, I got post asking me as occupier if I knew where they had moved to (address to occupier, post stopped from I advised them he had moved and was detained at her Majesty's pleasure)

Pixie5740

Tell his mum not to bother clearing his debts. It would be a waste of her money because he's already defaulting and there are ways of dealing with unaffordable debts such as DMP, DRO and bankruptcy that don't require family being dragged into it.

[Deleted User]

He should write to the companies and say he has no intention of paying. What at they gong to do ? Take him to court. They will write the debts off. He's in a much stronger position with regards to this debt than if he was not in prison.

fatbelly

When he gets out, he can look at his options then. These are non-priority debts so nothing to worry about. He'll have 3 defaults on his credit file tat will drop off in 6 years.

If other people pay his debts off, he'll miss out on a valuable learning experience.

Poor_Single_lady

AubtyRach you might need to hold on and see if Sourcrates can reply to your post and your specific questions. He gives very good specific to-the-point advice.

sourcrates

I agree 100% with Fatbelly in post #7#.

Tell his mum to keep her money, i`m sure she can find better ways to spend it, when he gets out, if he finds work, he can come to some arrangement with his creditors.

If he cant find work for any reason, and it probebley will be difficult with a criminal record, then a DRO may clear the debts for him.

That is if they don't write off the accounts as unrecoverable first, stranger things have happened.

As regards the defaults, all that means is the relationship between customer and creditor has broken down irrecoverably, and its likely a default will be placed on his credit file for each defaulted account.

The only impact this will have is if he applies for credit of any kind, he is likely to be refused, this will not be forever, the further back in time negative information is, the less effect it will have on him, and after 6 years, it will be expunged automatically, as if it was never there.