Has my partner ruined our future?

jojo2201

Hi, wondered if someone can help, my boyfriend took out a loan a few years ago with welcome finance, it was for £3000 with a stupid interest rate of about 40%, I was unaware that he stopped paying it about a year and a half ago, I knew he was receiving calls which he just wasn’t answering because he didn’t know the number and I suspected it was to do with debt. I found a text from his mum last week saying she’d had debt collectors at the door for him. I’m now extremely worried, I’ve never been in that kind of debt and it’s pretty scary, I also found out last year that he’d put my name down on the loan application form as a contact, we’re also thinking of getting a house together, will this affect my credit rating? He’s now promised to sort it out but can’t get through to the number they called from, I’m worried they might take legal action and that this will ruin our future, I just can’t see a way out just now.

I know a lot of this subject has been covered in other threads but a lot of the answers refer to law in England and we’re in Scotland.

immoral_angeluk

Do you have any joint loans or bank accounts? By joint I mean you signed the contract and are named on the account..

jojo2201

No but if we want to rent a house we'll have to sign a lease and if we want to buy I'm worried his past will mean we'll be refused a mortgage which will go against my credit rating.

GeorgeUK

His credit rating will impact yours if you get a joint account/loan/mortgage.

You should write to the Debt Collector, requesting a copy of the customer credit agreement (CCA), notice of assignment and statement of account.

Template: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=11636295#post11636295
Details: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=578486

The CCA74 covers both Scotland and England.

There will be a bit of damage on his account as he has not made payments towards the loan and this will last approx 6 years. Does he have any savings that he may be able to offer a reduced settlement for? If he does, make sure they write confirming it is a "Full and final" settlement before sending payment.

He should write to the DCA rather than phone them. They will constantly hastle him on the phone if they get the number. Also, NEVER sign anything you send to a DCA.

jojo2201

George - thanks for the info, unfortunately he's no savings at the moment so will have to pay in installments and he doesn't even know who the debt collectors are at the moment but when he finds out I'll make sure he only corresponds in writing.

chal

Dithering_Dad wrote: »

Not me though, I think he sounds like a right catch and that you should keep hold of this one. He's for life!

I'm hoping that's sarcasm!

jojo2201

Guys, I was looking for debt help not for you to criticise my relationship, I'm sure everyone with debt on here is an absolute angel and got into debt through no fault of their own!

GeorgeUK

lol - if you knew Dithering Dad...

:rolleyes:

Poosmate

Ahhh Dithering Dad, reverse psychology, I like it.

Please, Jojo, please don't get yourself financially tagged with this guy. I am one of the "others" Dithering is referring to and I openly admit it.

I took one of these characters into my life once, I loved him, I allowed him into my home, we had a joint account (stupidly with a 5k overdraft facility), we were having a baby together. Then the letters started coming about going over the overdraft limit. I didn't know, I was going to work and he was collecting the post and hiding it from me. I found out and made him cut up the card in front of me and he promised to get it sorted. My pregnancy was not good at this point. I paid money into the account to cover the charges and interest and pay off some of the debt to bail him out that month. I went to the bank to find what money I'd put in he'd taken out. He'd requested another card! I begged the bank not to allow him to take the money out but they ignored my pleas. As I was trying desperately to close the door on his spending he got more and more abusive, threatening to kill me and my unborn daughter. Well he sort of managed that, my baby died. Whilst off sick on compassionate leave, in fact 3 days after returning from the hospital I recieved a letter. It was a PPI agreement on a loan I'd taken out - I hadn't taken out any loan! He had taken out the loan in my name! He'd sent my payslips and utility bills and got a loan of £6.4k! He tried to explain that the loan was in his name but I knew it wasn't. I was grieving and scared of him but I had a funeral to sort out. I hardly cared anymore at this point and it wouldn't have mattered if lived or died. Our finances and my finances were the least of my worries. Time passed and I grew stronger. I was still scared of him and I was still battling with the bank who were now threatening to put an attachment of earnings on my salary even though I went to the bank every week and paid money in and never took any out. I cried in the bank in front of all their other customers several times and they looked on as the (w)bankers refused to help me. I also summoned the strength to call the loan company and ask them about the PPI. Of course I already knew about it and then told them that I hadn't taken out a loan with them. I wrote to them supplying a sample of my signature as requested. I finally plucked up the courage to kick my abusive boyfriend out and 6 months later I received a letter from the loan company absolving me from responsibility for the debt. Of course I told them everything I knew about my ex boyfriend hoping that they would catch up with him.

He got me into so much trouble with debt, I've never really managed to recover and I've stumbled into more debt trying to get out of the debt he got me into. Thank heavens for money advice websites like this, I now realise the errors of my ways. I now know what to do and what not to do and am finally clawing myself out of debt.

Please, please be very careful who you get financially linked with. I don't think I will ever trust anyone with my finances again, which is kind of sad in a way, but I'm not going to risk losing my house again and am not prepared to go through all that emotional turmoil because of someone else, I have enough of that of my own thank you very much!

If you love him and want to try to sort his mess out then I wish you all the very best of luck. If he has lost your trust in him then it's up to him to prove his love and trust to you by being completely open and honest with you and even then it should take a long time for you to be able to trust him again.

Hope this helps.

Poo

GeorgeUK

Sorry Jojo - nobody here would deliberately try to upset you. I'm pretty sure DD was just trying to stress some points that you may not have looked too closely at.

As you are currently concerned about the debt it may also be worthwhile tackling why these other things only came to light after the event. That would make it easier to move forward, rather than finding out something else along the way. Lots of these little bumps in the road can take it's toll. Seeing them ahead of time will alow you to plan a way to get around them without causing the relationship any damage.

We'll help out with suggestions wherever possible but you will need to make sure that the your bf isn't going to make debt a habit and can control his spending. Might be worthwhile showing him the board so he can get an idea of how to stop any bad habits.

Another part of these boards is support; and again we'll support you when you need it or just lend and ear when you need to vent. I think that's also where DD was coming from. Instead of all the doom and gloom, make it a little lighter and tackle small pieces at a time rather than everything at once.

Hope i've not misread or offended anyone with these comments.

janken

You have made a start with getting him to try and contact the lender. Is this a reputable lender?? 40% seems excessive. At this rate the loan would double every 2 years. What does he owe now? You may need to take legal advice. The first job is to contact the lender and try and negotiate a resolution.

I do wish you all the best

Ken