Elderly neighbour credit card debt

enthusiasticsaver

I  would be wary about pushing this too fast and certainly I would not advise offering payments on behalf of your neighbour.  Helping her with prove it letters when she is  back home and maybe if she asks for help with budgeting and so far might be a good option.  It sounds like the debts are unaffordable though so you could help her write asking them to write them off on the grounds they are unaffordable.  They are unsecured so they should not affect her home. 

LzzyIsGod

It is a kind thing to want to help your neighbour and I will happily defer the financial advice to those far more knowledgable and experienced than me.

However a few additional thoughts did cross my mind reading the thread - probably not appropriate to answer on here but to consider privately .....

1. Sadly sometimes falls can lead to prolonged hospital stays for various reasons - potentially noone will know necessarily how long she may be there and indeed if returning home is a reality or what the neighbour wishes. It might be that the situation changes depending on this.

2. As you aren't a relative/nok/have legal POA I'd be concerned about any company happy to talk to you on the phone without her being present - surely GDPR would kick in?  This is in addition to the previous advice not to call.

3. Does the neighbour have the capacity to understand the debt and the situation (assuming it isnt a scam)? Capacity can fluctuate particularly in unfamiliar environments so even if she normally does in her own home, this may be different in a hospital environment and might not be the best place to discuss this. Also sometimes falls can affect us mentally longer term and it could be difficult to know how she is now and if she did understand before whether she still does now. She may potentially have been assigned some social work support in hospital if she has no family support (im ever the Optimist!)

I know these thoughts seem very pessimistic and I am in no way wishing to do the lady any disservice or be disrespectful but sadly experience has taught me that a simple thing like a fall can often be a catalyst to many other health issues and you may find the bigger picture changes in time.

Golactico

LzzyIsGod said:

It is a kind thing to want to help your neighbour and I will happily defer the financial advice to those far more knowledgable and experienced than me.

However a few additional thoughts did cross my mind reading the thread - probably not appropriate to answer on here but to consider privately .....

1. Sadly sometimes falls can lead to prolonged hospital stays for various reasons - potentially noone will know necessarily how long she may be there and indeed if returning home is a reality or what the neighbour wishes. It might be that the situation changes depending on this.

2. As you aren't a relative/nok/have legal POA I'd be concerned about any company happy to talk to you on the phone without her being present - surely GDPR would kick in?  This is in addition to the previous advice not to call.

3. Does the neighbour have the capacity to understand the debt and the situation (assuming it isnt a scam)? Capacity can fluctuate particularly in unfamiliar environments so even if she normally does in her own home, this may be different in a hospital environment and might not be the best place to discuss this. Also sometimes falls can affect us mentally longer term and it could be difficult to know how she is now and if she did understand before whether she still does now. She may potentially have been assigned some social work support in hospital if she has no family support (im ever the Optimist!)

I know these thoughts seem very pessimistic and I am in no way wishing to do the lady any disservice or be disrespectful but sadly experience has taught me that a simple thing like a fall can often be a catalyst to many other health issues and you may find the bigger picture changes in time.

I appreciate you taking the time to raise these issues. Everything you say is relevant. Unfortunately, this lady's future is very unclear for several reasons. The debt letter is just another unwelcome issue to address. Social Services have become involved and it's slightly depressing that I, as just a friendly neighbour, had a call from them being the only person that the lady felt able to give her consent to be approached, despite her having family that are alive and capable, but just not sufficiently interested in her welfare.

EssexHebridean

We never know what has gone on in the background to mean that family have taken a decision not to get involved with a person. It may indeed be that they simply aren't interested, but there could also be a lot more to it than that - best not to condemn without knowledge. 

It sounds like you need to give some consideration to quite how involved you are prepared to get, here, as well. Being a helpful neighbour is one thing, being in a position for example to dedicate a good many hours each week to helping a neighbour is another. No brownie-points or judgement on either aspect, just something to think about though.

sourcrates

Honestly, all this different advice you are getting, its great, but the debt is really a massive non issue, nothing will come of it, even if the letters are ignored.

The very worse case scenario, is a CCJ by default, but these are seldom backed up by enforcement in the case of consumer credit debt, the judgement just sits on your credit file for 6 years, and nothing comes of it, as further enforcement costs money, money they probably won`t get back.

A lady of this vintage should not be bothered or worried about such things, these companies thrive on a perceived threat or fear of further action, its all just mind games, in reality there is very little they can do to get any money out of this lady.

Companies like Cabot work on a numbers basis, they buy these debts for peanuts, send out collection letters, and see what response they get, those who don`t respond stay on the contact list, the computer spews out a letter every 3 months or so, or they get random phone calls, less than 12% of defaulted debts ever go to court.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this ranks about a 2 in importance.

Golactico

sourcrates said:

Honestly, all this different advice you are getting, its great, but the debt is really a massive non issue, nothing will come of it, even if the letters are ignored.

The very worse case scenario, is a CCJ by default, but these are seldom backed up by enforcement in the case of consumer credit debt, the judgement just sits on your credit file for 6 years, and nothing comes of it, as further enforcement costs money, money they probably won`t get back.

A lady of this vintage should not be bothered or worried about such things, these companies thrive on a perceived threat or fear of further action, its all just mind games, in reality there is very little they can do to get any money out of this lady.

Companies like Cabot work on a numbers basis, they buy these debts for peanuts, send out collection letters, and see what response they get, those who don`t respond stay on the contact list, the computer spews out a letter every 3 months or so, or they get random phone calls, less than 12% of defaulted debts ever go to court.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this ranks about a 2 in importance.

Thank you! I'm extremely grateful to everyone who's chipped in, but your advice is clear, unequivocal, and seems to come from a strong position of knowledge/experience.

I now have a clear strategy: When appropriate, try to gauge from the lady whether she believes that this debt is indeed hers. In the likely event that she believes that it isn't, I will offer her reassurance that she needs not worry and suggest that she passes all related correspondence to me, so that she isn't tempted to stew on it, or worse, decides to give them a call.