Paying off brothers debt

Tomskibabes

Hi my brother has run up £30,000 debt on credit cards and loans he suffers with really bad anxiety and depression and this has led to him losing his job so I am Trying to help him as he is not in the right state of mind ...I am in the position to pay the debt off but was wondering how best to do this will the credit companies agree a settlement lower than the debt? Or would there be a better way of doing it...

[Deleted User]

The first thing to do is to contact the lenders and ask them to help. They can do things such as freeze interest or reduce payments.

If things do not improve, you could make an offer to settle further down the line.

If his credit file is important to him, then continuing to make contractual payments should be his priority.

K80_Black

On a more personal note - only pay off what you can afford to as a GIFT to your brother, if you are sure you're happy to, and won't go hating him for it down the line if he winds up in this state again. Mental health problems don't just disappear overnight, the last thing he needs is tension is his family too.

Carrot007

If they have defualted a while ago they may be open to offers. Otherwise they may accept 99% is you are lucky.


It's all a matgter of time with these things.


Yes is properly explained that he cannot pay it back and you made an offer they could accept. It depends on the compnay but unless it defaulted a while ago expect it to be high

agrinnall

I would suggest that you don't do anything other than perhaps help to pay the minimum amount due until you are sure that your brother has changed his behaviour so that this won't happen again. If you pay off £30K and he goes straight out and runs up another £30K of debts your generosity will have been for nothing.

DCFC79

agrinnall wrote: »

I would suggest that you don't do anything other than perhaps help to pay the minimum amount due until you are sure that your brother has changed his behaviour so that this won't happen again. If you pay off £30K and he goes straight out and runs up another £30K of debts your generosity will have been for nothing.

I was thinking the same.
Would just be a waste of the OP helping.

Mojisola

Tomskibabes wrote: »

Hi my brother has run up £30,000 debt on credit cards and loans

Has he taken advice from one of the free debt charities?

fatbelly

Don't rush to throw money at this.

How linked is the debt problem to his mental health? Is there a health professional who might give evidence to that effect?

Your starting point should probably be a mental health evidence form, and asking for write-offs.

Have a look at this factsheet

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/debt-and-mental-health/mental-health.aspx

Tomskibabes

He has spoken to step change

bigisi

Tomskibabes wrote: »

He has spoken to step change

After all the advice and comments you've had on the thread so far, that's all you've got to say? Not even an explanation of what happened when he spoke to them?

Charming.

If you actually want help, I suggest you engage more with the guys trying to help you, it's a bit of a kick in the teeth to just post one sentence replies which don't actually explain anything.

fatbelly

Bigisi - I think it was a response to 'Has he taken advice from one of the free debt charities?'. Answer - He has spoken to step change

I would be interested to know what stepchange said. My guess is either a debt management plan or IVA as those are the products that make the money.

But I'd be happy to be proved wrong.