Complicated debt

savingforarainyday

A friend of mine has a complicated debt. This is the background.

Her uncle died last year, and her grandmother asked her to arrange the funeral. which she did and signed for it.

She could not claim the funeral payment from dss as she wasn't next of kin and she was given a form to send to her grandmother for her to sign. Grandmother was advised not to sign anything, by whom we don't know, instead of doing any thing friend sat on letters from funeral home demanding money. got a final demand a couple of months ago. I arranged for her to see citizens advice and she had a free hour with a solicitor, they wrote to dss to make new claim and to funeral services, but so far nothing has happened. interest has been increasing and she now owes £1417. She has no money at all and they live on benefits

She can't dispute the debt because she has signed for it.

The formal wording is

Unless we receive payment for the full amount by noon on 16/05/08 our cliend will be advised to issue a statutory demand in accordance with section 268(1) (a) of the insolvency act 1986.

What should her next move be. I am out of my depth with this, so any help would really be appreciated.

savingforarainyday

Sorry to bump this, but i am really hoping someone will be able to give some advice as we only have a few days to get this in some sort of order thats if it isn't too late.

Poosmate

Has your friend taken this latest letter back to the CAB? I think that would be my first port of call.

Was the solicitor at the CAB so could she see the same one? And who wrote the letters to DSS and Funeral Directors, CAB or solicitor? Also if it's a large group of Funeral Directors they may have a finance section at a head office somewhere other than the place where your friend arranged the funeral. (I know the place I dealt with do) so your latest letter may have come from there before the letter from CAB/solicitors letter got to them.

Sorry can't help any further

Poo

savingforarainyday

Thanks for response. Solicitor wasn't with CAB. I am hoping she will ring CAB tomorrow. I am trying to stop her doing the ostrich thing; head in sand.because its not going to go away.

She doesn't want to go back to solicitor because she will have to pay and she has no money,

thanks again

Poosmate

The last thing she should do is bury her head in the sand. Funeral Directors are usually very understanding purely because of the circumstances of the debt.

I had to pay for a funeral (nowhere near that much as it was for my baby) and I was allowed to pay for it over a few months. The last payment was never made by my ex (unfortunately the baby's father). It was 6 months after the last payment was due before they contacted me. I cried for a week when I discovered he couldn't even pay 1 installment for his own daughter's funeral! The Co-Op were so sympathetic and allowed me to make payments to my local Co-Op Funeral Director's outlet. I live in a different town to where the funeral was arranged as mom dealt with most of it (I just went along and cried) and baba was buried with my dad. Safe in the arms of her grandad.

I'm sure they would allow her to pay in installments also.

Are there no other relatives who could help? Could the grandmother help at all - if not signing the paperwork required then financially? Must be tearing the family apart!

Poo

savingforarainyday

I think the uncle had been ill and he died after a fall at friends house, and she thinks they all blame her for his death.

Grandmother should have claimed funeral payment from dss as she was next of kin and paid it to funeral directors, but she is in her nineties, and a helpful someone, has told her not to sign, i suspect in case she will have to pay.

I may see if i can go with her, if she gets appt with CAB, I think she only hears what she wants to hear.