Brother owes debt, will they come for me???

sazzyy

Hi there. I hope this is the right category to post in!

Just looking for some advice.. My brother, who lives in the same house as me, my mum and sister, has got about £1800 worthy of debt from a phone bill he stopped paying and for and an overdraft he got (with no intention of paying back).

He left his job in April last year and then that was when he stopped paying. He has got a job now that pays small amount of money.

There are constantly letters coming through the door for him about the debt he owes, and he just ignores them. My myself and my mum have tried our very best to help him but it is difficult to help a bone idle, disrespectful boy. I managed to get him set up with stepchange so he can pay off his debts. But the first payment was due and he did not pay it, of course.

He applies online for loans and credit cards. It I think he gets rejected. But I know there are company’s that give to people with even trhe worse credit ratings.

I just want to know what will happen, will this affect me or anyone that lives in our house? Will bailiffs come and take our things? Me, my mum and my sister all have cars, the tv, laptop, cameras, anything of actual value belongs to one of us three. I wish they would just come and take him away.

Thank you, I hope to hear back from someone who can help I constantly feel on edge whenever I am home

Exodi

Hi Sazzyy,

Thanks for posting, it is a difficult situation and it sound like it's caused real tension amongst your family. If I'm right in understanding, you set him up with a StepChange DMP and he didn't pay it? I know you've all tried with him before but it's crucial he is sat down and understand the scale of the problems he's causing, not just financially. You also say he's making small payments but there is letters coming through the door? That may suggest he's stopped paying all together.

Regarding whether they can 'take your things', and I'll be completely honest here, yes it's a (small) possibility. If the creditor wanted to pursue the debt further, they could obtain a CCJ against your brother, transfer it up to the High Court for enforcement as a Writ of Control and then High Court Enforcement Agents (HCEO's) can attend the property and take control of goods for auction - this is completely legal and should the enforcement be successful, all court fees and associated costs will be added to the debt (this will skyrocket the amount owed).

The issue you have with this is a) HCEO's are not obligated to provide notice of when they plan on visiting a property b) it's not the HCEO's responsibility to prove the debtor owns any goods in the property, it's the debtor's responsibility to prove he doesn't (very hard to do unless you've got a receipt/bill of sale for every single asset in the house - V5s are not proof of ownership so this will put your cars at risk) and so they will likely take control of every TV, laptop, piece of jewellery, car and anything of value in the house c) items that go to auction fetch a fraction of what they're worth so people usually settle the full balance or arrange a payment plan with the HCEO to avoid this.

The real backwards logic here being that you're now in a payment plan for wayyyyyy more than the original debt when you could have just arranged a payment plan to begin with. Sadly people make this mistake day in and day out, debt does NOT go away and it usually takes something serious like parents potentially losing all their possessions before people wake up and deal with it.

Of course, the creditor/DCA could also just lose interest and accept token payments.

This is actually the basis of the popular TV program 'Can't Pay, We'll Take It Away' on Channel 5 though it would probably make matters worse if you watched it.

sazzyy

Thanks for your reply.

Yes he has caused a real tension in our family.
No he doesn’t pay small amounts, sorry I worded that wrong, his job pays him a small amount. He does an apprenticeship. So earns £600, £200 goes towards housekeeping, £100 goes towards court fines for an offence mid last year, so that leaves him 300, £140 of it was meant to go towards stepchange. Which he didn’t pay. We have constantly told him to call them!! Because they are happy to help!! But he isn’t interested.

Tried to sit him down countless amount of times. But he just doesn’t care.

If bailiffs do come is there any way I can tell them to just take him away it’s nothing to do with us.

Thanks so much for your help

Exodi

sazzyy wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

Yes he has caused a real tension in our family.
No he doesn’t pay small amounts, sorry I worded that wrong, his job pays him a small amount. He does an apprenticeship. So earns £600, £200 goes towards housekeeping, £100 goes towards court fines for an offence mid last year, so that leaves him 300, £140 of it was meant to go towards stepchange. Which he didn’t pay. We have constantly told him to call them!! Because they are happy to help!! But he isn’t interested.

Tried to sit him down countless amount of times. But he just doesn’t care.

If bailiffs do come is there any way I can tell them to just take him away it’s nothing to do with us.

Thanks so much for your help

You certainly can't ask bailiffs to 'take him away', they aren't police officers nor has he committed any crime, they would probably laugh at the suggestion so I would remove that from your mind as a possibility.

As I see it, there is three options to explore here;

1) His debts are paid by yourselves to avoid them accruing anymore interest and fees. Your mention of him browsing other loans may suggest he has other debts you're unaware of so you'll need to have an open conversation about that before 'wiping the slate clean' so this doesn't happen again a few weeks after. 'Bailouts' aren't terribly effective because they merely teach a person that they don't teach people the consequences of their actions but would be the least confrontational option - especially if he/yourselves plan on doing nothing until bailiffs come to take all of your possessions.

2) You formulate your plan B and find receipts for any expensive items you have in the house and any expensive item you don't have a receipt for you should store somewhere else. Cars should be parked on neighbours properties as HCEO's can't control vehicles that aren't parked on your property or public roads. Not really practical, especially as this may last for months but again, it requires no input from your brother.

3) You throw him out the house. This seems harsh but he shows no respect for anyone else so why I don't see the problem with the family being equally selfish. You would need to empty his room (I'd go as far as taking the bed out) as if HCEO's attend you'd need reasonably prove he doesn't live there.

Or

You try get him to wake up, such a shame you're all having to pick up the pieces. I hope everything works out OK.