Helping Dad with long term debt / CCA without default (Barclaycard)

BigAndyOx

Hello

Trying to help my Dad wrap up some remaining debt and want to check that my plan of action is sensible.

I'll get this out of the way - yes I'm aware that I shouldn't be responsible for his situation, but luckily it influenced me to be switched on with my own finances.

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History

2019: Made aware of his debts in when he asked to borrow £3000. As a condition of lending the money, I asked for details for all his credit cards. £19000 across 4 CC's and a store card. Created a 'debt-reduction' plan for him, advising him which order to pay them off and to speak with each lender to negotiate interest freezes etc. The £3000 was to repay friends, not to clear any of the CC debts. (Gave him a stern talking to about ever putting himself in that situation again)

Covid: Grandad passed away (no substantial inheritance) / Received money from government. Advised him that he should use some, but not all of the funds on reducing some debt. 

2023: Dad has a heart attack. Luckily nothing too serious, but I knew about the debt - so I was worried. Expecting it to be higher than £19000. He had managed to get it down to £10,308 after our discussions in 2019. I was impressed so I cleared off 2 of his 3 remaining cards. (£2008). Leaving him with £8259 on a single CC. Managed to negotiate an interest freeze with Barclays and attempted a partial settlement of 25% which was rejected.

Barclays requested a statement of affairs (SOA) form to be completed - but as they asked for household figures, my Dad has never filled it in to this day, even after being told that he doesn't have to include my Mams figures (not married) and that I need the form to continue negotiating with Barclays. As he hasn't provided the SOA form, he hasn't been put on a repayment plan - even though they've tried to get him onto the DMP.

2024: Dad reaches pension age - isn't getting the full amount as he hadn't made the max number of NI contributions. I get the ball rolling to address that.

2025: Paid off 12 years of NI contributions for him (£7248), so that his pension will increase by £73.83/week. This is to be repaid until I break even after 2 years - then he gets to enjoy the uplift (hopefully anyway!).

As I sorted the HMRC/DWP stuff out - I start looking into dealing with the Barclaycard, which is now at £6551. He made £2620 in payments between 2024 and 2025, but the interest was £1942. 

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Options
a) Pay off the remaining balance and have him repay me with 0% interest
b) Sit down and fill in the SOA form with him
c) Attempt to negotiate a different partial settlement
d) CCA request / SAR - to see if the debt is unenforceable

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Plan
Speaking to Barclays in 2023, I asked when the account was opened was told December 2000. They also said he hasn't missed any payments. The account isn't in default (I don't think) and the card is stopped.

As the account is so old, my research is suggesting that I should ask them for the CCA. With it being 25 years old, they may no longer have the agreement. I'll also raise a SAR to get more insight into what he/they have done.

If the debt is unenforceable - we can then stop payments and wait the 6 years for the debt to become statute barred or offer another smaller settlement just to get closure.

I have disclosure of authority on his account so can request this on his behalf.

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Questions
a) Am I on the right track? 
b) Can you still request a CCA on an account that hasn't been sold to a debt management company? (the majority of online topics are for people who have defaulted and it has been sold on)
c) As the debt is so old, should I also potentially complain about irresponsible lending? Although I'm aware they've tried to get him onto the DMP. I don't feel like a credit account should be able to get to this age without intervention. A little compensation would obviously be a win - but it's more important that the debt is dealt with.

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I dread to think about how much he's paid on this account in interest over the years. I did request full statements from Barclays, but it was ignored so hopefully the SAR will get me that information.

Thank you for reading!
Andrew

BigAndyOx

Just to add, the partial settlement letter was sent using 'Without Prejudice'.

RAS

The big problem is that you encouraged dad to make arrangements with his creditors. If he's stopped paying for a few months/a year and you'd both waited for the defaults, he'd have defaults and the interest and charges might have been stopped.

Counterintuitive isn't it? Those Arrangement to Pay markers on his credit record will clear 6 years after the debt was paid off. Defaulted back in 2020, they'd clear next year.

You might look seriously at affordability claims. Does he have any personal pension'

BigAndyOx

Yes, it's frustrating that continuing payments and working harder to make those payments (possibly contributed to negative lifestyle choices resulting in the heart attack) - actually puts you in a worse off position than if you just let it go.

He doesn't have any personal pension, just his state pension. Originally that would've been £150/week, but me paying the extra contributions has bumped that to the max. Not sure how quickly that payment is processed though.

Self employed and still working at 67.

Does the fact that Barclays froze interest temporarily limit our options going forward?

RAS

Is this work he really enjoys and is beneficial rather than a strain? What is the health impact?

I'd suggest that you discuss things with him carefully. Folk who retire are encouraged to make plans in advance, rather than cold turkey. Would dad be able to repay your investment in the pension if he completely stopped working?

ManyWays

Does the fact that Barclays froze interest temporarily limit our options going forward?
no

As the account is so old, my research is suggesting that I should ask them for the CCA. With it being 25 years old, they may no longer have the agreement. 
I agree

I'll also raise a SAR to get more insight into what he/they have done.
Why bother, it will be a ton of paperwork, I would just ask for the CCA. If they produce it, offer an affordable amount per month in payment eg £5 and help him complete the income & expenditure form

You may feel he has been poorly treated, but just take the simple options moving forward. 

MEM62

BigAndyOx said:

As I sorted the HMRC/DWP stuff out - I start looking into dealing with the Barclaycard, which is now at £6551. He made £2620 in payments between 2024 and 2025, but the interest was £1942. 

I am curious as to why you did not get him to default on all his debts before putting the repayment plan in place.  Had you done so interest charges would have stopped and he would clear his debt that much faster.     

RAS

Being self employed can make defaults more difficult if they affect the ability to access credit for goods and supplies?

BigAndyOx

RAS said:

Is this work he really enjoys and is beneficial rather than a strain? What is the health impact?

I'd suggest that you discuss things with him carefully. Folk who retire are encouraged to make plans in advance, rather than cold turkey. Would dad be able to repay your investment in the pension if he completely stopped working?

He's a mechanic and always has been. Used to race stock cars with my Grandad. Fixing cars is essentially his purpose in life. Being in the garage definitely has an impact physically, but also a good impact mentally. Financially, he would probably be better off stacking shelves, or like you suggest, just retiring, but he would be bored out of his mind.
My Mam said he was a PITA from boredom after his heart surgery. It's a shame part time isn't an option, because he'd still be liable for rent on his garage.

He would definitely be able to afford to repay from the pension alone if he was to retire and give up the business overheads. To be honest, if he's managing to not miss payments, he could probably keep working and pay me back too. Trying to get him to sit down and have a serious discussion around repayments etc.

If I pay off the credit card on top of the national insurance contributions, that brings it to £13,799.
So I'm hoping that the CCA route might result in a cheaper outcome for us both. As he would only have to pay back the NI contributions. Plus is means he gets to enjoy the uplift in his pension earlier.

Paying the CC off early would save ~£3789 in interest. (£6551 @ 28.10% paying ~£220/month), but if no CCA can be produced, then it could save more. I also have to factor in that the funds wouldn't be producing any interest for me, but I'm ok with that.

If he has to pay me back NI (£7248) + CC (£6551), it would take him 3.8 years to repay at £295.32/month.
If it's just the NI (£7248), it will only be 2 years at £295.35/month.

£295.35 being the increase in his state pension per month after I paid the additional NI years.

BigAndyOx

MEM62 said:

BigAndyOx said:

As I sorted the HMRC/DWP stuff out - I start looking into dealing with the Barclaycard, which is now at £6551. He made £2620 in payments between 2024 and 2025, but the interest was £1942. 

I am curious as to why you did not get him to default on all his debts before putting the repayment plan in place.  Had you done so interest charges would have stopped and he would clear his debt that much faster.     

There is no repayment plan in place. He never provided a SOA form.

It is easy to suggest defaulting on debts, but considering he's never missed a payment, can you imagine the response to "stop paying or just pay a token payment?". As I said above, it's frustrating that a lot of alternative options open up to people who simply can't afford to repay.

It's a topic where a lot of the learning happens afterwards.

BigAndyOx

RAS said:

Being self employed can make defaults more difficult if they affect the ability to access credit for goods and supplies?

He doesn't have any credit accounts with his suppliers these days. I'm unsure on how many days he has to pay the invoices, but I can't imagine it'll be beyond 30 days.

I've made him aware of the impact it will have on his credit score if we were to get a partial settlement. He doesn't intend to get any more credit and if things like phone contracts needed to be switched for whatever reason and needed better credit, I'd put them on my account instead.