Argos card

Karensteps

Im not sure if this is in the right section, so I apologise if it isn't!

My problem is, I got a letter through from Cabot Financial, I called up, bladdy blah, they say Argos has passed on my unpaid debt to them at around £300.

Whats the problem? Ive never had an argos card! Turns out my mum took one out in my name whilst I lived with her(She is a total retard with money, piles of debt, is now bankrupt, couldn't get credit so took one in my name - Thanks mum! Your life lessons really teach me well)

Anyhow, she says that she only spent around £97 on it, so obviously it's totted up with her not paying, interest etc. Now I have told her I am not paying it, but they keep hassling me, phoning etc, whats the best way to deal with this, and no I am not shopping her in for fraud, she appears to be sorry,and im sure she had the intention of paying it back but she is lowsy with money.

Should I tell them to send Giro payment slips to her address? Frankly I want no more contact with them, the only debt I have is a Tax credit thing (that was there mistake and wouldnt give me transcript of the call grrr) and thats half paid already.

So any advice (that dosen't involve the police!) is much appreciated

CLAPTON

If its your debt then your need to pay it off

if its not your debt then its fraud and you need to report it as such.

bringmeshoes

i think clapton is right, if you do not want to report your mum for fraudulentley taking this out in your name then the debt will stay in your name and you will be liable for paying it and they wil not send giro slips to your mum for her to pay it. There is also the issue that this is going to show on your credit file

headoutthesand

If you tell the debt collection agency it wasn't yours, you may find that they will contact the police and report will be sent to the PF.
Unfortunatly the decision to prosecute is with the fiscal and you have no say. You can only say that you do not want her prosecuted for it bu TBH they would still go ahead anyway. In Scotland no-one can 'press charges' and you can't 'drop the charges'. If the police are made aware of a situation then they are obliged to report it to the fiscal. The PF then prosecute in the public intrest......

On the other hand, if you accept the debt, it'll be on your credit file for 6 years from the settlement date.

It's tricky.

Karensteps

I just called her, and she is so bloody childish. Im only 20 and Im trying to be reasonable with her and she is like "WELL I CAN ONLY AFFORD £10 a WEEK" and I said, Thats not acceptable, that will take far too long to pay, and if she stopped spending her money on absaloute crap, then she could afford it. Not to mention that she is still ruining my life even after I have left.

Im tempted just to call them up and give them the whole amount over the phone that way she owes ME, and i dont get hassle from the company.
I love my mum, but she is narrow minded and self centered, sees past no-one but herself. My partner is all for reporting her but I cant do that to her, though she deserves it.

So we wouldnt be able to apply for a mortgage since this thing would be on my file for 6years?

bringmeshoes

there is no definte answer to whether you would be able to get a mortgage but this will certainly affect your credit score while it is on your file.
if you dont report this as fraud can you be 100% sure that your mum wont ever do this again?
does she understand the implications of this for you? maybe you should not be so reasonable with her if she is not so forthcoming with attempting to pay this back

headoutthesand

Did she apply online?

I'm kinda guessing that she doesn't look 20?

If she applied in store, surely the assistant should have twigged. There is a difference between 1987 and 1967 (assuming she was 20 when she had you)

My sister is 40 and i am 26. There is no way she could pass as me......but don't tell her i said that.

If you really don't want to go down the 'fraud' route, paying it off would be the best bet. If your mum paid it back at £10 a month then it would take till June 2010 to pay off but would then stay on your credit file till June 2016....:eek:

Karensteps

Im just going to pay it off, I can afford too at the moment, but if she dosen't pay it off to me then thats it, Im just going to cut her out my life, her whole attitude to debt is, "if a letter comes, about repayments, throw it in the bin"
Thanks for the advice folks.

newmum1

If youre thinking off paying it off why not do that but dont tell your mum that way she thinks she still owes them the money and may decide to pay it off more quickly. that way you settle the debt but your mum thinks the onus is on her. Or on the other hand you refuse point blank to pay and say that somebody has used your details in order to take this out and leave it up to them to investigate. As a poster has already stated how did your mum do it in your name?? the D.O.B surely would have been a dead giveaway??

Karensteps

She filled in forms and sent them off as far as I know. No way it could of been done In-store.
Letting her think the company still needs paid will make her pay me less, she honestly dosen't care that she spent that money, and thinks that £20 a month is robbery.
In her eyes she should only have to repay £100 of it, because the rest is Interest. Total idiot.
I told her last night that she better give me £20 a week, and she said "oh does it really matter how long it takes" Of course it does! But not to someone like her who thinks everyone owes her! So because I said she had to give me £20 a week, she is now refusing to babysit for me on Saturday (Xmas party) and is goign to post it through my door every thursday. No real loss on my part.

neverdespairgirl

I'm so sorry to hear this, it must be horrible to be defrauded by your own mother!

The problem is, what if she does it again? You need to be very careful, here. Perhaps you need to tell her that if it does happen again, the police will get involved.