Creditor chasing me for my fathers debt. Please help.

valleygirl29

Hi 
my Father passed away in an accident 3 weeks ago and I’m the administrator for his finances, he had a couple of store cards I called one of them up and advised he had passed away and the lady took the serial number from the death certificate she then started asking for my details so I asked her I’m not going to be chased for this debt am I because my father had no estate, no assets, he was a disabled man making his minimum monthly payments. She advised ‘no it doesn’t work like that’ and today I’ve been sent a letter saying they’ve passed my details on to a debt collector who will be in touch shortly to ‘settle the matter’ I’ve googled these debt collectors and read some horror stories about them harassing grieving families and bragging about specialising in claiming money back from the deceased’s family members. I just don’t see how I can be responsible for a debt that isn’t in my name and I never signed for? Please, any help will be appreciated. 

mobileron

You cant be responsible dont believe what they say, debt collectors have no rights.

74jax

I'm so sorry for your loss. 
I know it's incredibly hard, but as you are administering the estate they will need your details. 
You'll get a letter most likely addressed to The Administer/Executors of Dad's Name. It will detail the debt and how it is to be settled. You just need to reply that no estate was left and so the debt will not be paid. If you don't want to do it on the phone, send a letter. 
If there is no estate, is it not easier to not administer? Was there anything left at? Did you have a funeral (apologies I know different areas at the minute have different restrictions) was the burial paid from the estate and left nothing or did you cover this? 
I'm guessing he was in rented, did he have furniture /belongings? 

MobileSaver

valleygirl29 said:

I’m the administrator for his finances, ... I just don’t see how I can be responsible for a debt that isn’t in my name

As the administrator of your father's estate you are responsible for paying any debts BUT only if there is enough money in your father's estate to pay them, you have no responsibility to pay the debts with your own money.

Is there any money left in your father's estate after the funeral bill has been paid?

There are a lot of knowledgeable people here so just ask if there is anything you are unsure about.

valleygirl29

Thank you, I’m really not sure the bank just advised as there Needed to be an administrator when we advised of his death. If there is anything in his bank account it won’t be a lot at all. We haven’t had the funeral yet, as he passed during an accident there needed to be an investigation etc and with Covid it has just slowed everything down there was no funeral plan and there is no money in the estate to pay for the funeral, we as a family are paying for that. He was in a rented house, yes and had furniture but nothing of great value just your average 1 bedroom house. The debt isn’t a substantial amount it is under £1000. However my father has a next of kin who will still be living in that house. She unfortunately can not be administrator as she is of ill health. 

Keep_pedalling

What is the name of the company dealing with the dept.  Their are some companies who specialise in handling the debts of deceased persons, but they are usually a bit more sensitive than you describe. Debts don’t die with the death of the creditor but they will be written off where there is nothing in the estate to pay them

It sounds like your fathers estate is insolvent, and the general advice is that you should never attempt to administer an insolvent estate. 

if that is truly the case then you should simply write the his creditors stating that his estate is insolvent and that no one is administering the estate and that should be the end of it. In the case of the dept recovery company I would wait until they contact you before sending that letter.

valleygirl29

They are called ‘Phillips & Cohen Associates LTD’ I’ve done some research on them and what I’ve found isn’t nice. I’ve seen on threads that they constantly harass people by phone and letter and threaten to send bailiffs round to the family members house. 

Thank you I’ll await for them to contact me.  

MobileSaver

valleygirl29 said:

If there is anything in his bank account it won’t be a lot at all. ... there is no money in the estate to pay for the funeral... The debt isn’t a substantial amount it is under £1000.

There is a strict order in which payments from the estate must be made and funeral costs are at the top of the list.

So once you have received a bill for the funeral simply ask the bank to pay whatever is left in your late father's accounts directly to the undertaker and you the family can then pay the balance.

You can then simply and honestly tell any creditors or debt collectors that the estate has no funds or assets and that should be the end of the matter. (All of this assumes that by then as administrator you will already have checked your father had no shares, other bank accounts, insurance policies, gold sovereigns hidden away under the mattress etc.)

getmore4less

They(P&C) deal with a lot of estate debts  I found them fine when dealing with a utility account that got passed automatically


You may be better not administering the estate if there is nothing going to be left.
do initial inquiries to establish the value of the estate and then drop it if nothing going to be left.


With the utilities liability will depend on how stuff was set up but occupant  should take readings in case they are not liable to set the starting point for their new account. 
The occupant of the rented house should take over all costs with that ASAP(were they on the tenancy to be allowed to remain)

RAS

As per getmore4less

If your father's estate is insolvent (debts exceed assets), do not administer the estate. Get any funeral costs paid to the funeral directors from any accounts, even if only in part. Then stop.

No one has to administer an insolvent estate.

Do not communicate with creditors any further.

Keep_pedalling

RAS said:

As per getmore4less

If your father's estate is insolvent (debts exceed assets), do not administer the estate. Get any funeral costs paid to the funeral directors from any accounts, even if only in part. Then stop.

No one has to administer an insolvent estate.

Do not communicate with creditors any further.

Not good advice to ignore creditors. The OP does need to inform them that the estate is insolvent and that no one is administering it. Once that is done no further action is required.