Pensioner in debt and denial - how do we help?

jackiep_2

We need some tactics to try and help my Father in law, who is 84 years of age and living on not much more than basic state pension but who also has (and is continuing to) run up debts of around the 16k mark now.

A couple of years back he got to the position of not answering the phone as credit card companies were chasing him about non-payment, and eventually admitted there was a 'bit of a problem'. We tried to sort him out when the debt stood at around 14k, got him to the point of admitting that some help was needed etc. We managed to get some figures out of him and helped him to a) get some more pension via pension credit and b) get him some council tax help (a limited amount).

I also did the 'cost-cutting' exercise, and found cheaper energy providers, also recommended switching to a water meter etc to get bills down. We didn't touch the credit card/store card problem (where the 16k is owed), as my brother-in-law (who has been in debt himself before) said he would tackle this area.

However here we are 2 years down the line, f-i-l refuses to discuss the problem again, he is refusing to answer the phone (means that credit card companies are ringing him again about not paying), he hasn't changed energy companies, nor had a water meter fitted and as you can see the credit card total owed has now increased (as far as we can tell).

The one good thing about this (at the moment) is that he owns his own home, which although not in a good state of repair, is probably worth in excess of 200k, as it is a 4 bedroom detached in a good location. What we would like to do is to get him to sell his house, buy somewhere smaller and easier to maintain and pay off his debts, so that he can actually enjoy his retirement years, rather than spend them dodging creditors! However the reality is that he needs to admit there is a problem and accept some help!

Has anyone been in this position with a loved one, can you offer any advice? We know what to do (in terms of how to tackle the problem), what we need is a way to get him to admit he needs to do something about this! He is a very independent person and in this particular case it is a bad thing, unfortunately.

Many thanks for your help

A frustrated daughter-in-law!

silvercar

Maybe he doesn't want to give up his home? I would look at the option of equity release, this would give him some money to sort out current problems and some extra income. The downside is the interest is rolled up and repaid from the proceeds of the sale of the house when he has passed on.