No choice but to remortgage

kiora

Hi I am new to this board so hoping for some advice, to cut a long story short I became a widow 10 months ago and since my late hubby did not believe in insurance of any kind, ie..life I have tried to struggle on as best I can, he cancelled both our endowments,(cashed them in) without my knowledge I now have to repay the mortgage myself. I have ove £13k in debts that I am struggling to pay so have applied to remortgage, I was on a DMp but they increased my payments from £150 to £563 so could not afford, whilst I wont be applying for credit for next xxx years not too bothered about credit file my only concern is getting rid of these debts, is it a good idea to remortgage just now or should I go back on a DMP and struggle. I have 2 teenage children still at school so dont want to let them suffer.

I dont know if this is wrong board but thanks in advance for any advice given.

Kiora

UK007BullDog

I am sorry to hear about your loss.

Why cant you go and work to earn a better wage if the kids are now bigger?

You should be worried about your credit file as with a dodgy one you will not be able to remortgage. Also the fact that you are on benefits will not help matters as lending has become very tight. Have you shifted your credit card debt to 0% deals or very low interest rates type cards?

The endowments were put in place to ensure the mortgage would be paid off at the time the mortgage ends. What have you done with the money when you cashed them in?

Are you sure that the endowments had no life cover element in them?

If you cannot meet the costs of the mortgage then you might have to sell and rent instead. Maybe a lodger in a spare room?

I suggest you spend some time reading posts here and the debt wannabe board and speak to the CAB people and also as a last resort find a whole of market broker.

kiora

Hi Bulldog

Sorry maybe my post wasnt clear, I am not living on benefits I do work 40 hour a week but only get about £1000 per month gross, I do get working tax credit but not alot, I have been accepted for a remortgage and not a sub prime lender, the reason I am not bothered about my credit file is that once my debt has been paid off I wont be applying for new credit, also alot of the debt ws my husband and debt doesnt die with a person.

You seem to have made alot of assumptions in your post, I never indicated that I was on benefits, I have never been on benefits before claiming tax credits, also as I indicated in my original post my husband cashed in th endowments not myself so if there is no endowment any longer I am fully aware that I need to pay mortgage also I cn afford the mortgage my only reason for remortgaging is to pay off my debts, so Bulldog

Dont Assume as it will make an !!! out of u and me

silvercar

This must be a difficult time for you.

I think bulldog's points were reasonable based on the information in your original post. You have expanded this, so information can be more accurate.

The endowments would have given useful life cover in the circumstances, but if they have gone then that's it. For your children's protection it may be worth considering taking some life cover for yourself now.

If your husband's debts were solely in his name, then you can't be made liable for them. At his death any debts he had would be met by his assets, but if there was a net amount owing that wouldn't be your responsiblity, so don't be fooled by debt companies into taking on debt that wasn't yours.

There is clearly some background to this if your husband had cashed in the endowments and still left debts. You will need to dig out old paperwork to try and sort it all out.

You need advice on balancing your income and expenditure and what to do with debts. The problem with adding debts to the mortgage is that they become secure debts and your home would be at risk if you can't make the payments.

kiora

Thanks Silvercar

My husband assets covered the cost of a funeral and headstone , I have paid off other debts with what was left, I have now taken out life assurance for sake of kids, I was advised by IFA to remortgage as only option, also as he did not have a will everything went into probate also as executer of estate debt companies can claim what is owed to them, he had 3 credit cards with a combined total of £10k and an overdraft of £3k, it has not been an easy 10 months and on top of that I have sufferd bouts of depression although my work has been very understanding.

geewhiz

kiora wrote: »

he cancelled both our endowments,(cashed them in) without my knowledge I now have to repay the mortgage myself.
Kiora

Did he forge your signature to do this as both lives assured must sign to make it legal ?

If you've been to see the IFA he will have more facts than us and be in a btter position to advise you.

Good luck with it anyway !

shelene

Hi sorry to hear of your difficulties, its a shame that the companies on DMp have increased expected payments. i eventually went with an IVA but my debts were around £25k, but before i entered this i remaortagaged for an extra £50k to pay off unsecured debts, now they are secured on my house and my mortgage payment is rather high! I personally should have waited and put them all in the IVA! but just consider all your options before re mortgaging x

good luck

Conrad

I think your core question is should you remo or carry on with DMP. Thats diffciult to answer with a lot more detail but as a general rule I would tend to think a remo is better as a DMP seems to me to be sticking plaster and not good plaster at that. A client remo'd recently then cleared the DMP debts by paying about 30% of the total credit balances.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

*Section removed for checking on accuracy*

Why have your DMP payments risen so much? Ask for them to be reviewed again as they are more than 50% of your GROSS income, let alone your NET income (take home pay).

Were the Endowment Policies in joint names or just your husbands? If they were in joint names, then you would have needed both signatures to cash them in. If you didn't sign, then you have a case against the Insurers for not checking that you gave your permission.

Did he have any previous employers who he may have had Company Pensions with. There may be some money due from them.

When I recently helped a client to claim on a Life Policy when her husband died, the company found 2 old Personal Pensions that he'd taken out before they even met and stopped paying into! It's now giving her a small additional income she wasn't expecting.

Good luck.

jonesMUFCforever

Ian how can that be?
You take out a credit card at any time it is your debt - nobody else's, the same applies to personal loans.

Ian_Griffiths_Halifax

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

Ian how can that be?
You take out a credit card at any time it is your debt - nobody else's, the same applies to personal loans.

Actually, as you questioned it, I have just briefly Googled the subject and all the links came up with statements such as 'only if they were taken out in joint names'.

This is not as I understood it but my understanding is based what I have been told by Solicitors etc in the past.

If there are changes to the law that have protected people since I was told, then I'm not aware.

I'll be checking further into this and speaking to Solicitors on Monday.