18 year gets old bank loan

SingleSue

My son is nearly 15 and is being taught that you never borrow what you can't pay back, or more to the point, if you want something you save for it and don't bother with the loans.

If my son at 18 came to me and told me he had taken out a loan for 5k and has not been able to pay it back (or had no intention of doing so) , he would first have to scrape me off the ceiling, calm down my hoarse throat from shouting with honey and would then get the lecture of his life.

He would then be dragged down to the local job centre and forced to apply for as many jobs as possible so that he would then take responsibilty for his own actions (ok maybe not drag him down there physically but give him so much earache from nagging he does it to escape the house).

At 18 you are an adult...at 18 you are responsible for any borrowings... at 18 you can legally marry...at 18 you can vote....at 18 you can go to an adult prison if you carry out a crime.

Basically at 18, you are no longer a child and no longer need to hide behind the parents pettycoats and expect them to sort it all out for you.

Ok constructive part of the post..... OP, your son needs to speak to one of the debt specialists (CAB,CCCS etc) to see the way forward.

Is he working? If not, he needs to get himself into some sort of employment pretty damn quick.

If he is working, can he take on extra work so he can pay something back.

Can he speak to the bank directly to come to some sort of agreement? This would have to be him I am afraid as he is an adult now and due to data protection, the bank would not be allowed to speak to you regarding his finances (unless of course you had power of attorney due to mental instability in your son).

Really the only outcome that is possible, is that he repays the amount he has borrowed...getting the debt written off is not a possibility on the basis that he was 'only' 18 when he took the loan out.

For the record, at age 18 I was living in my own rented accomodation, had finance for a motorbike and had been working for 2 years....in other words, I was an adult.