Can I negotiate my late fathers debt

Katehen

My father passed away in July. he left a house which as it was wasn't worth anything so we have decided to get it done up to sell so we at least get something out of it....he left no money for a funeral or anything so we found ourselves borrowing for that. He had debts of around £30k, most of which have now been passed on to Philips and Cohen. Has anyone had any dealings with these and do they accept a lower payment to clear the debts....we were going to get in touch once the house was sold and the money had come through. As it stand if my dad was still alive they wouldn't have got anything from him at all as he couldn't afford to pay them off.

-taff

He left the house, which would have been used to pay the debt. It's unlikely they'll negotiate with you, why would they accept less if the house is worth enough to pay the debts?
You have put your own money into doing the house up but I fear you wont see any of that back unless it sells for more than you put in, plus the 30k owed.

TonyMMM

If you are the executor of his will, then you are legally required to pay any debts your father may have left behind from his estate (if it has sufficient assets) before distributing any balance to beneficiaries.

You can try and offer a reduced amount for the debts, but assuming that the house is going to realise more than the £30k debts (after the cost of the funeral has been allowed for), they may see no reason to agree.

Keep_pedalling

The first call on your father’s estate are the funeral costs followed by the dept. The house has got to be worth more than those 2 items and his creditors are going to know exactly what his estate was worth once you have obtained probate, so although you can ask are are not going to agree when the estate has sufficient to pay in full.

Had your father still been alive they could still got there money you making him bankrupt and forcing the sale of his house.

I would also not put any of you money into doing the house up, sell it as it is and let the buyer do that, you rarely get back more than than to put in

Malthusian

If his house is genuinely not worth enough to cover the funeral bill and the debts, you should have walked away and told his creditors that his estate is insolvent and nobody is administering it.

If you have started doing the house up it is possible that you have intermeddled and are now stuck with the job. However safeguarding the estate's property (e.g. locking doors) and arranging the funeral are not intermeddling.

As others have said there is no reason the creditors would accept less than their due. If there's enough money to pay them, you need to pay them in full before you can make any payments to beneficiaries (not counting funeral expenses). If there isn't enough money, they need to be paid pro-rata according to the size of the debt, after the funeral expenses have been paid.

2e0arr

DO NOT CONTACT PHILLIPS and COHEN

see you tube about 6 good videos before doing anything

Debt Collection Agencies - Background 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboVGXKe8dw

If the debts are unsecured hmmm.

Phillips and cohen may have bought the debts.A single £30000 debt they may have not paid more than say £1000 if that and smaller debts a lot smaller.
You have no reason to give info about your dads debts and assets to them at all.
they will paint themselves as helping you after your loss so they can assess how much money there is in the estate


BTW It will cost them a lot of money to evict you from the house too LOL.

Keep_pedalling

2e0arr wrote: »

DO NOT CONTACT PHILLIPS and COHEN

see you tube about 6 good videos before doing anything

Debt Collection Agencies - Background 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZboVGXKe8dw

If the debts are unsecured hmmm.

Phillips and cohen may have bought the debts.A single £30000 debt they may have not paid more than say £1000 if that and smaller debts a lot smaller.
You have no reason to give info about your dads debts and assets to them at all.
they will paint themselves as helping you after your loss so they can assess how much money there is in the estate


BTW It will cost them a lot of money to evict you from the house too LOL.

Sorry, but as executor you have a duty to settle the debts owed by the estate, so you have no option but to deal with the creditors. It does not matter if the debt was unsecured, if there is sufficient money in the estate it has to be paid back.

If an executor ignores the debt and distribute the estate they will become liable to pay it themselves.

If the estate is not solvent then the OP should simply inform the creditors that the estate is insolvent and that it is not being administered, but I find it hard to believe there are many properties that have insufficient equity in them to meet a dept of this size.

Edit. I should add that Phillips & Cohen are a reputable company who specialise in handling the debts of deceased clients for creditors, they will not have bought the debt for peanuts and they are not going to treat executors unfairly.

2e0arr

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Sorry, but as executor you have a duty to settle the debts owed by the estate, so you have no option but to deal with the creditors. It does not matter if the debt was unsecured, if there is sufficient money in the estate it has to be paid back.

If an executor ignores the debt and distribute the estate they will become liable to pay it themselves.

If the estate is not solvent then the OP should simply inform the creditors that the estate is insolvent and that it is not being administered, but I find it hard to believe there are many properties that have insufficient equity in them to meet a dept of this size.

Edit. I should add that Phillips & Cohen are a reputable company who specialise in handling the debts of deceased clients for creditors, they will not have bought the debt for peanuts and they are not going to treat executors unfairly.

Edit, i disagree abt P&C. is the poster the executor maybe i missed that? there is no rush. I would want to see proof of debt from anyone especially for unsecured debt. good advice on the videos. make P&C work.

Keep_pedalling

2e0arr wrote: »

Edit, i disagree abt P&C. is the poster the executor maybe i missed that? there is no rush. I would want to see proof of debt from anyone especially for unsecured debt. good advice on the videos. make P&C work.

Well I assume the OP or one of her siblings is otherwise they should not be doing any work on the house. 6 months have already passed since her fathers death so they should not be ignoring this.

I agree they should request proof of the dept, but P&C are a reputable professional company not a bunch of sharks so they will have it.

2e0arr

Keep_pedalling wrote: »

Well I assume the OP or one of her siblings is otherwise they should not be doing any work on the house. 6 months have already passed since her fathers death so they should not be ignoring this.

I agree they should request proof of the dept, but P&C are a reputable professional company not a bunch of sharks so they will have it.

you are assuming too much
watch the videos

Linton

Keep Pedalling is correct and is providing sound advice. Phillips & Cohen are administrators used by people like utilities to manage their debt collection. They do not purchase those debts.