Amigo Loan Guarantors - Taking your sister to court

Candyapple

CumbrianWolf wrote: »

We expect we will have to pay it off unless when she does get work (now the little one has free childcare hours) she starts to do the decent and pass money our way. I don’t think she will have capacity to pay off the loan in full each month which is around £400 a month. We feel because she can’t this is why she hadn’t really been trying to each month.

Take the blinkers off. Regardless of how much the repayments are per month - if she was a decent person she would have at least tried to contribute whatever she could towards it to at least prove to you and her sister that she was taking full responsibility and that by you both helping her out in her moment of need was not in vain. That would mean forgoing the mani/pedis, the Sky TV, the nights out etc. and sorting out a payment plan with her ex or at least something. By her not even acknowledging the debt now and knowing that you and your partner have essentially inherited her debt is a real bleep move.

She is a silly woman really, abandoning her family relationship over money.

Sadly this thread is just another warning example to add to the list of threads when new users ask about becoming a guarantor to a family member who would never dream of not paying them back...

foxy-stoat

CumbrianWolf wrote: »

they will leave their 6 siblings with debt.
I can get 10k money/balance transfer at 2.7% fee with 0% for 12-18 months on my Barclaycard.
Or myself and wife could cover of similarly across both our virgin cards for 3.5-4% fee I think.

Need to check if paying amigos would be classed as a balance transfer and they can be paid by such card.

You cannot get left with debt from the parents, it will be paid from the Estate or die with them.

You need money transfer option to your bank and pay Amigo with that - not balance transfer....if they accept credit card payments with it will go down as a cash advance and attract the highest rate.

macman

The bailiffs act on instructions from the court once you receive a judgement in your favour. Do you have it in writing that she was to pay you back if she defaulted? If not she can simply claim that you agreed to be a guarantor, which you did. You have made a contract with Amigo, not with your sister.
If she has no equity in the house, no worthwhile assets (maybe a car, if not on finance?), then there is little you can do by way of seizing goods. An attachment of earnings order could be applied for, but it could take you years to recover the full sum, and if she changes jobs you'd have to apply again.
You won't be able to use the Small Claims process, as the debt is over £10K (£5K in Scotland).
In summary, a CCJ does not guarantee that you will recover anything, but it does mean that her lifestyle will be severely curtailed for the next 6 years: no credit cards, no loans, difficulty in renting a property. Perhaps you might use the threat of a CCJ to encourage her to start paying?
Forget her ex. He is not in any way liable and cannot be relied on to continue paying, if at all

CumbrianWolf

foxy-stoat wrote: »

You cannot get left with debt from the parents, it will be paid from the Estate or die with them.

You need money transfer option to your bank and pay Amigo with that - not balance transfer....if they accept credit card payments with it will go down as a cash advance and attract the highest rate.

Thanks, I thought so

CumbrianWolf

Candyapple wrote: »

Take the blinkers off. Regardless of how much the repayments are per month - if she was a decent person she would have at least tried to contribute whatever she could towards it to at least prove to you and her sister that she was taking full responsibility and that by you both helping her out in her moment of need was not in vain. That would mean forgoing the mani/pedis, the Sky TV, the nights out etc. and sorting out a payment plan with her ex or at least something. By her not even acknowledging the debt now and knowing that you and your partner have essentially inherited her debt is a real bleep move.

She is a silly woman really, abandoning her family relationship over money.

Sadly this thread is just another warning example to add to the list of threads when new users ask about becoming a guarantor to a family member who would never dream of not paying them back...

You are right, and we do know this. It has been the most hurtful part as despite and good relationship beforehand when it has come down to money there has been almost now care, remorse or responsibility back and it had cost them their relationship as sisters.

My sister in law is still immature and young and because she has hit hard times (as I say suicide attempt) she still want to live a youth that really she denies herself by falling pregnant in her late teens (that dad is nowhere to be seen). She doesn’t have a lot of friends anymore. Her sister was more of a parent to her than her own. We hoped she would or will eventually mature and come round to realising that her relationship with her sister that she has had her whole life is worth more than anything else. As I say, we hope, I think we still feel that will eventual happen though it might not be in a few months and might not be for 20 years when she grows up who knows!

CumbrianWolf

Pixie5740 wrote: »

It's unlikely your SIL would have gone to prison and that her child would have been placed into care so you should have let the Grinch face the consequences when she stole people's Christmas money because she sure as hell isn't going to be facing much in the way of consequences now.

Are you sure you have calculated the interest correctly because £2k to £4K sounds quite low for a 49.9% APR loan?

I think the upper limit for small claims court is £10k so you'd either need to reduce your claim or look at a different court.

We beg to differ that she wouldn’t have served some jail time. She would have stolen around £6,000-8,000 I think it was from probably at least a couple of dozen families. With her finances in a mess we are sure they would have investigated into her home life and the care her daughter was getting. Generally with her daughters stunted growth, house being a mess and other unfavourable conditions we feel their wood have been concerns.

As for the loan and the figures I don’t have them exact to hand. I just know that there is about 8k left if it was paid upfront (interest is charged daily) but if we paid I over the term then we would be paying back nearer 12-14k I think

Pixie5740

CumbrianWolf wrote: »

We beg to differ that she wouldn’t have served some jail time. She would have stolen around £6,000-8,000 I think it was from probably at least a couple of dozen families. With her finances in a mess we are sure they would have investigated into her home life and the care her daughter was getting. Generally with her daughters stunted growth, house being a mess and other unfavourable conditions we feel their wood have been concerns.

As for the loan and the figures I don’t have them exact to hand. I just know that there is about 8k left if it was paid upfront (interest is charged daily) but if we paid I over the term then we would be paying back nearer 12-14k I think

1) The UK has prisons not jails

2) Having seen the judicial system in action on more than one occasion you'd be surprised at what it actually takes to be given a custodial sentence.

Paul_DNAP

CumbrianWolf wrote: »

I was meaning if we paid of Amigos. Our sister in law would be in debt to us. Does that not mean we have 6 years to sort with her.

Morally, yes. But technically it's less clear, and I'd be edging towards saying no.


With the Amigo loan you as the gurantor can be considered to have taken out the loan and then gifted the capital away, but you remain responsible for ensuring that it is paid back. Unless you have a private agreement in writing secondary to the Amigo loan agreement that says she will pay you back if you had to pay Amigo then you might have difficulty in proving that she owes you any money at all.

TriggerHappy

Hi Op,

I think in this instance, you need to take it as red that morals won't be coming into it from her side.

You could go down the small claims route but as others have already stated, you'll likely just be looking at £5 per month or maybe even less. You might get something back if the bailiffs were involved but the reality is that it would likely make the whole situation more toxic.

Bottom line is that she and her partner stole from others. She/they knew it was wrong. The debt has now in effect landed on your doorstep and rather than doing everything she can, she's taking the mickey.

You're probably best looking to take a loan (rather than using a money transfer on your cards) at as low a rate as possible and then never ever ever trusting her again because even now it's likely that she'd consider you if she needed bailing out again in future.

-taff

CumbrianWolf wrote: »

I was meaning if we paid of Amigos. Our sister in law would be in debt to us. Does that not mean we have 6 years to sort with her.

No, she won't be in debt to you unless you take her to court.



As YOU are the guarantor, once you've paid Amigo in full, the debt no longer exists. You have no contract with your SIL for her to pay you. She is not legally obliged to pay you anything.