Please help me advise my dad I'm so worried...

lelole

My dad has really had problems with debt for a long time. He has a house but is mortgaged up to the hilt with it and has a secured loan on it (20% from Freedom finance- gulp). His house has a repossession order on it too.

For a few years he has been waiting for a piece of land he has inherited to gain planning permission and be sold. This has been dragging on for ages and is the main reason I think he has carried on juggling his money.

The problem is that he is a taxi driver and he has (stupidly I know - hadn't really been aware of what was going on) not paid his Inladn revenue requirements. He owes them £13000 from 2005 and he has been paying them a nominal amount (again witing for this money to come through). They have lost patience and have said that if he doesn't pay it by the end of the month they will make him bankrupt.

He really doesn't want to go bankrupt - not least cause they'll lose their home. He is trying to get a remortgage underway so that he can raise part of the inland revenue money to show willing. But I'm not sure with his credit history whether he wil get it. I can't help him financially but I am really worried about him, he is working himself into the ground and getting very stressed and has already been to hospital with chest pains.

Any advice from people more knowledgable than me would be much appreicated! By the way my dad does not know I have posted this as he is too proud, so the actual details are a bit sketchy as I don;t know numbers etc.

Thanks everyone.
Leah

fermi

Hopefully he will be able to sort things out via the mortgage, but if this seems unlikely then:

Have a read of www.taxaid.org.uk where they is plenty of info on dealing with debts to HMRC and how they go about recoveries.

But be aware that HMRC will very often follow through with threats of bankruptcy, even if they stand to get nothing back. This has happened to several people here.

The organisations in my signature may be able to help as well.

If it should come to bankruptcy eventually then there is the Bankruptcy & Living With It board here.
Losing your home is not a forgone conclusion in bankruptcy, especially if there is little or no equity. But lets hope it doesn't come to that.

lelole

Thanks for that! I have passed that info .on to dad

I am even more worried now tho -my dad thinks his problems are all solved. He was sent one of those "need a loan?" type letters the other day from a company called Wentworth direct finance. He applied with minimal requirements - they didn't even ask about other debts. They sent him a letter today, saying he has been accepted, now if he could send the £49 fee.

My instincts say this is a watchdog type thing - he sends cheque, never hears anything from them again... Has anyone ever heard of them?

Thanks
Leah

RAS

Hi

Put there name in the search and you will find a number of threads, here is an old one

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=51583&highlight=Wentworth+direct+finance

lavidaloca

Just found this for you to read http://www.grumbletext.co.uk/vt.php?t=1348&subj=complaints+Wentworth+Finance+complaint

4littleone

DO NOT use wentworth finance, they ask for a £49 fee, then all they do is pass your details onto loan providers, most of whom will ask for a further fee.
Wentworth finance are a loan broker not a loan provider, your dad hasn't been accepted for a loan, all it means is that they will pass his details onto other not particularly good companies.

The £49 is supposed to be refundable if you don't find a loan, however the number they give you to call if you need to is a premium rate number that is not manned, it just keeps you on hold clocking up the £'s.

Pobby

£13,000 tax for a taxi driver in one year.Are you sure that is correct?

lelole

Wow thanks for your replies - guess my instincts were right! I will tell him - and hope he listens...

Pobby: It is def £13000 and Im not sure exactly how that is made up. My dad has been in a serious financial hole for a few years now - wouldn't surprise me if it's more than one year. I know he was saying that the amount he was paying them monthly wasn't even covering the charges - maybe they have built up too? I have only found out about this in the last couple of days - and my dad is very embarassed about it all so I don;t have all of the information.

Leah

lelole

By the way one of the other options dad is considering is these companies who buy your house but let you stay paying rent - are they a con - or worth doing (will search for it on site - but not sure of the proper term!)

Thanks
Leah

catw75

Hi Leah, hope this helps.

If your father's home is mortgaged to the hilt, there is very little or even no equity in it, meaning that the secured lenders would automatically be paid first from a sale and no money would be left for anyone else. It does not sound as though he would be able to raise any more secured loans as there would be no equity to lend the money against.

However, if he is made bankrupt the lack of equity in his home means that he has a better chance of keeping his home. Please ask him to seek (free if possible) legal advice on this.

I would avoid these companies who want to buy your house like the plague, you do not get a secure tenancy, just a 6 month one like any private landlord would give you. After that they are free to put up the rent or simply evict after the due legal process without having to give a reason except for wanting the property back.

They only pay you about 70 - 80% of the value of the property, presumably for the privilege of letting them be your landlord.


If you later go bankrupt you could be penalised for selling your house at an undervalue when you could have used the extra money for debt repayment. Although I don't think someone would actually be blamed if they had innocently fallen victim to one of these firms.

If you later need to claim housing benefit you cannot claim it in the property that you once owned unless you can show that your home would have inevitably been lost had you not sold it. If you later need to claim housing benefit even if living at a different property you may also be asked what happened to the extra capital that you could have realised from the sale of your home, and possibly treated as still having the money for means testing purposes, meaning possibly less benefit.


In short, yes, they are a con.

Sugarhunny1

Yes they are, From what i have heard on here they offer you approx 70% -80% value and then rent it to you for 6 months (they get you to sign paperwork agreeing to this) then kick you out after you time is up.

HTH

Sugar xxx