Help required for someone on the breadline

Dove22

DH and I are helping his mum try to sort out her finances but have got a bit stuck on how to advise her on one particular situation and hope someone on the forum can offer some advice. The situation briefly is as follows:

Mum (70) and disabled son (30) on benefits. Relationship with Dad (60) has broken down and he now spends 90% of his time outside the UK. He doesn't work. Mum is now responsible for all finances and has set up her own bank account. However, they still have a joint account with a £3k overdraft which is currently costing her £25 a month in interest. Dad got some inheritance money when his mum died, and we think he has enough to pay it off, but he won't entertain the idea, not even half of the debt (they are equally responsible for the debt). However, he is still withdrawing money from the account. The bank have said they can't close the account without the debt being paid off and a loan would be at a similar rate, neither of which she can really afford. I suspect he is still claiming benefits (although I can't be sure).

Clearly we would like them to come to some amicable arrangement, but it would be helpful to know if anyone has gone through something similar and if there are any options for how to deal with the situation. They have no assets to speak of and have rented all their lives, so no home equity. As far as we know (new information comes to light every few weeks) there are no other debts.

hustle90

To start with, tell the bank to cancel the cards for the account, to prevent the father from taking any more money from the account. He may ring the bank and get a new card sent out, but I imagine the account is registered at your mothers address, therefore the card will go there, so he cannot get it.

That would be one of the first steps.

play2day

The bank can freeze the account if there is a dispute on it. Your Mum needs to go to the bank and explain the problem. Unfortunately she cannot close the bank as it will require your Dads signiture too but at least she can prevent him from drawing any more money from it.

Horace

If you suspect he is claiming benefits to which he isnt entitled - an anonymous call to the Benefits Agency should do the trick. Although I have heard that if you dob someone in you get £100 but don't know if thats true.

Good luck with the account.