Is it safe to pay a friends debt with my Card ?

JMcC

I have offered to help a friend who is having severe difficulty with debt. I am happy to do this and am prepared to not actually get the money back.

I can pay by cash, cheque, credit card, or whatever. I would prefer to pay by credit card to give me some time to get the money together. Total is quite a considerable sum and spread across several companies.

If I pay by credit card, I only want to pay a specific one off sum. I am concerned that my credit card details will be retained and may be used again at some point in the future should my friend default again.

Is this a valid concern, or can I safely pay and not risk further sums being taken ?

simonleblank

I would offer your friend cash

JMcC

Thanks Simon.

Can do that, more likely I will pay the debts by cheque just to make sure. I would prefer to pay by credit card, if I could be reasonably sure this wouldn't make me potentially liable for any future payment.

jonesMUFCforever

JMcC wrote: »

Thanks Simon.

Can do that, more likely I will pay the debts by cheque just to make sure. I would prefer to pay by credit card, if I could be reasonably sure this wouldn't make me potentially liable for any future payment.

Not sure what you mean by your last comment.
If you mean that by paying your friends debts off and he incurs more on the same account that they can help themselves to your card then the legal answer is no but debt collection companies will try.
For this reason I would avoid giving them your card details and go with the cheque option.

I would also avoid giving him cash in case temptation proves too strong and it is spent on something else.

JMcC

Thanks ejones.

Yes, I do mean that. Worry is that at any point in the future, the fact I authorised specific payment now could mean further attempts to take more down the line, despite this being a one off payment only.

I think I will pay the debts by cheque. That seems the simplest and safest solution.

King_Weasel

JMcC, you sound a good friend to have.

Just thought my message was particularly apposite:

belfastgirl23

You can apply for a credit card that will allow a balance transfer into your current account and you can then write a cheque on this if you have time. No way would I give any credit card details to any of this crowd personally.

But then there's no way I'd be paying off anyone's debts either...

PBA

If you pay for something on cc you're authorising that specific transaction. Sure the company might try and put something through on the card at a later date, but you just call the bank reporting the transaction as fraud and you get the money back.

If you're worried about this happening, you can just pay on card now then phone the cc company and say you've lost the card. Card gets cancelled, you get a new one with a new number, and nobody can get any money from the old card number even if they try.

journ

First you are a true friend i would pay this by cheque but are you sure this will not happen again

napoleon

Can you clear some of my debts too please? Cheers :beer:

JMcC

Thanks to everyine for your comments. Just to complete the story and so you all have the true version. Here is a summary.

The friend is a normally reliable, disciplined person who, as the direct result of a relationship breakdown (and the stress that puts on your finances) has slipped into trouble. It is not to the extent that you tend to hear about, but is for a few thousand pounds (looks like about £3K so far). This is a huge worry to him, but in the scheme of things, is not really that bad. The problem is not down to gambling, or any other such vice.

So I just completed step 1, which is to pay the highest priority debts (the £3K). Cheques now are in the post. These particular problem debts are now gone and were really the ones causing the big issue. Next step is to keep my friends head above the water while he consolidates and makes the life changes needed to ensure he can move forward. So for the next few months, I have agreed to provide some subsidy as needed (once he has a budget fully worked out and can predict any shortfall). Ultimately he is downsizing property and when this is done, he will have less outgoings and so will be sorted. This then is a temporary plan, which I can help with for several months if need be.

The bottom line here really is that I can do something to help right now. The downward spiral was just starting. I think I've been able to nip in the bud and help him get past this stage. He should be ok now.

I think anyone would, if they could, help like this in similar circumstances.

Thanks again for all your comments and advice. That really has helped me.