Strange error & now my mum owes thousands- help!

comeandgo

Will she qualify for any pension credits now her income is reduced?  

user1977

gettingtheresometime said:

I can't advise on the repayment situation but I'll just add this thought - if you were the person who owned the other bond, wouldn't you have queried as to why you hadn't received any income?

I expect it's such a query which has caused them to try retrieving the money.

Baskethandle

gettingtheresometime said:

I can't advise on the repayment situation but I'll just add this thought - if you were the person who owned the other bond, wouldn't you have queried as to why you hadn't received any income?

Yes I wondered this too, apparently they only quired it 20 years later 🤷‍♀️

elsien

Working on the presumption that she has capacity unless evidenced otherwise you really need to talk to your mother about this. Although you are trying to protect her because of her health, you’re not being fully honest with her and the company shouldn’t be discussing any of this with you without her informed consent.
Any action you take or agreements you make she will have to be on board with because it’s her money. She is going to have to find out at some point. 

You don’t need to give her all the details right now if she doesn’t want them but enough for her to understand you are looking into it on her behalf and that there may be either a complaint or some sort of repayment agreement. Or both. 
And any repayment agreement will need to be affordable for her which will mean her agreeing to share her financial position and discussing with you what she wants to prioritise.  You have to talk to her before you start doing anything with bank statements or anything else.

And setting up a power of attorney now for if needed in the future would also be a useful decision. Although having a power of attorney still wouldn’t mean not telling mum, unless she really didn’t want to know. 

ETA you can also tell them they need to delay action because she is not in a position to deal with this at the moment due to her ongoing health conditions. 
This may help.
Vulnerability & Creditor Treatment. Free Advice. StepChange

user1977

Baskethandle said:

gettingtheresometime said:

I can't advise on the repayment situation but I'll just add this thought - if you were the person who owned the other bond, wouldn't you have queried as to why you hadn't received any income?

Yes I wondered this too, apparently they only quired it 20 years later 🤷‍♀️

Not realising that they're £60k short isn't really any stranger than your mum not realising that she's had £60k too much.

Baskethandle

user1977 said:

Baskethandle said:

gettingtheresometime said:

I can't advise on the repayment situation but I'll just add this thought - if you were the person who owned the other bond, wouldn't you have queried as to why you hadn't received any income?

Yes I wondered this too, apparently they only quired it 20 years later 🤷‍♀️

Not realising that they're £60k short isn't really any stranger than your mum not realising that she's had £60k too much.

I was referring to the person who was suppose to recieve it! 

user1977

Baskethandle said:

user1977 said:

Baskethandle said:

gettingtheresometime said:

I can't advise on the repayment situation but I'll just add this thought - if you were the person who owned the other bond, wouldn't you have queried as to why you hadn't received any income?

Yes I wondered this too, apparently they only quired it 20 years later 🤷‍♀️

Not realising that they're £60k short isn't really any stranger than your mum not realising that she's had £60k too much.

I was referring to the person who was suppose to recieve it! 

So was I. They could have had similar reasons to your mother for not realising what they were (or were not) meant to be getting.

Pollycat

comeandgo said:

Will she qualify for any pension credits now her income is reduced?  

+ 1 to this ^^^^.

You can use the benefits calculators here:

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

kazwookie

I would also take a very deep dive with your mother in to where her money is going.  Such as standing orders / direct debits / gas / council tax etc. Go back at least 2 to 3 years of bank statements.

Is she getting the 25% council tax reduction

Is she on the cheapest energy

What about water bills?

Any odd standing orders etc set up she no longer needed

Is she paying for sky and such like, does she use these services.

Manxman_in_exile

eddddy said:

I guess that the company will be regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority - so you can probably make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), and they would investigate and make a decision for free.

You (or your Mother) have to go through the process of making a complaint to the company first. But it might be worth phoning the FOS helpline first, to see what they say.

Go here and scroll down, to find their helpline number: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/how-to-complain

I think the FOS route might be a good idea.  But I think you (or rather your mother) will have had to exhaust the finance company's complaints procedure first.  Ring the FOS helpline and ask for their advice as suggested above.  My understanding is that when you (sorry - your mother!) has raised a complaint with the FOS, the finance company are meant to suspend trying to enforce the debt.  Others will know better than I do.  I believe there is currently a very long backlog (up to two years?) at the FOS so that would help.

I would seek legal advice.  But I wouldn't necessarily want them to take any action or write letters at this point.  I would simply want advice on whether your mother is liable to repay this money or not.  She probably does have to repay it, but there is a slim chance that she may have a defence of what is known as estoppel (or change of position) if she received the money in good faith, couldn't necessarily be aware that she wasn't entitled to it, and had spent it.  You would need to provide details of what happened 20 years ago (and since then) to whomever you were asking advice from, so your mother has to be involved.

Estoppel defences are rarely viable ( have a look at some of the overpayment threads on the employment board) but I'd explore it in your mother's case.  If a solicitor says she has no hope of succeeding* you (she) will have to reach some repayment agreement with the finance company.

But if they have to suspend recovery action if your mum complains to the FOS, then go down the FOS route and buy a couple more years of delay.

*It's worth finding out.  If the company in question didn't realise they'd been overpaying for 20 years, it's at least arguable to ask why should your mother have known she was being overpaid?