Late Sister's Debts

CS66

Hi. New to forums but contacting out of desperation 😣. My sister died in October 2017 and we are still sorting through the mess. We (myself and my 2nd solicitor, the 1st solicitor couldn't deal with the complications) uncovered debt collectors letters from credit card and overdraft arrears. I did the usual thing and put notices in the Gazettes. It has taken until May 2019 to contact the DCs ie Arrow Global and Capquest. The bill at present stands at around 18,000 after they put their fees on, the original debt was around 7,000. Firstly as they never chased us up do we have any rights not to pay them it was only our good nature did we contact them. Besides if we'd never found these letters then the estate would have completed and they would have to have written the debt off??? I assume???
Secondly can I claim on the PPI if she had any (NOT the misselling). I have asked for timelines of chaser letters and calls and original agreements with banks too. Any help please to give me hope and to be able to pass some of her estate down to her only son. 😔

[Deleted User]

It probably would have been better if you hadn't got involved with this if it's an insolvent estate as you may become personally liable for the debts as well as for all the solicitors fees if you aren't very careful.
However, I realise that it's too late now for that advice to be of much use, but I would proceed with a great deal of caution. If your nephew is an adult and you aren't the executor he should be sorting this out for himself, but if he's a child you may find that there's nothing left to place in a trust fund for him once the debts are settled. (Assuming for a moment that there are enough assets in the estate to cover the debts. If not the solicitor should have told you to walk away).
I realise that this isn't what you want to hear, but I just wanted to advise you to proceed carefully for your own sake.

nom_de_plume

I suppose the first, obvious question is; what did the solicitor say on the debt issue?



It sounds to me as if you were aware there were debts from the outset so I'm not convinced the Gazette notice will help. I suspect the best course of action, if delays were caused by the owners of the debts, would be to see what the debts would have been at the time of death and see if they can be rolled back to the sums owed at that date.



Why has it taken so long to get in touch with the Debt Collectors?



Regarding any PPI, if it covered death then I can't see why you could not make a claim.

Sea_Shell

Does the estate have assets too or just debt?

getmore4less

What complications?

Debts stay for normal statute barring, gazette notice just an indemnity for administror(s) against unknown debts that would not have. Even found with due diligence.
Any debts uncovered later still need to be processed and if the estate has been completed, the creditor can chase the beneficiaries.

CS66

There are assets but it would mean selling a flat which her ex-husband owns half of. He won't relinquish it.

CS66

I'm the executor. She left half share in a flat part owned by her ex husband to her son. Also some money in a bank account held in France of which her ex husband is a signatory and bluntly refuses to hand over. Her fianc! has come away with a lot which we can't touch. The son stands to lose the most which I think is unreasonable.

Keep_pedalling

CS66 wrote: »

There are assets but it would mean selling a flat which her ex-husband owns half of. He won't relinquish it.

He really won’t have a choice unless he has the means to buy out the half he does not own. If he won’t cooperate a forced sale will be the only option.

Worth checking if any of these debts are statute bared.

https://www.infolaw.co.uk/partners/what-is-statute-barred-debt/

CS66

The solicitor has told me they have offered a 10%discount that's when I've taken over. Yes we were aware after trawling through the huge amount of paperwork she had.My sister amassed alot of private medical bills which were complicated in themselves to sort through!!. I will see what debts were two years ago but I want to pursue the PPI option as my first step.

CS66

There are assets

Keep_pedalling

CS66 wrote: »

The solicitor has told me they have offered a 10%discount that's when I've taken over. Yes we were aware after trawling through the huge amount of paperwork she had.My sister amassed alot of private medical bills which were complicated in themselves to sort through!!. I will see what debts were two years ago but I want to pursue the PPI option as my first step.

Your first step should be to establish the validity of the debts. Creditors can offset PPI refunds against the debt, so although it may well be worthwhile doing so against an enforceable debt you would be wasting you time doing so on one that is statute barred, as you don’t have to pay the debt and you would get nothing from a PPI claim.