Charging Orders From Late Husband
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Hi,
I hope someone can help me.
5 years ago my husband passed away after an unexpected and short illness.
I am now considering selling our home to move into another property and have found out that there are some charges against the property.
The first charge is from Progressive Finance and is in the amount of £27,000 !! On going through my husbands paperwork i found out that this was a loan taken from Welcome Finance many years ago in the original amount of £10,000. On the paperwork there are two signatures - one is my husbands the other one is in my married name (we were not married at this point).
We were joint owners of the property although it is no in my sole name since his death.
The other charges are from 2 debts in his personal name where a CCJ was issued and subsequently moved on to a charging order. These happened after his death.
Can anyone advise what i can do. The first one swallows up a considerable amount of money from the equity and doesn't seem fair. I didn't agree to it or sign anything at the time.
Also, when he took the loan out he was working full time and had a full illness cover on it, presume it was PPI. He never claimed on it.
I dont particularly want to contact welcome finance as they have never written to me before or since his death. We have literally had no contact from them. Ever. He had not made a payment towards this since at least 2006/ 2007. I'm worrid if i contact the mto dispute it it will open a can of worms and i can't afford to pay back £27,000 either in full or on a monthly basis !!
I'm really confused on what to do
S
I hope someone can help me.
5 years ago my husband passed away after an unexpected and short illness.
I am now considering selling our home to move into another property and have found out that there are some charges against the property.
The first charge is from Progressive Finance and is in the amount of £27,000 !! On going through my husbands paperwork i found out that this was a loan taken from Welcome Finance many years ago in the original amount of £10,000. On the paperwork there are two signatures - one is my husbands the other one is in my married name (we were not married at this point).
We were joint owners of the property although it is no in my sole name since his death.
The other charges are from 2 debts in his personal name where a CCJ was issued and subsequently moved on to a charging order. These happened after his death.
Can anyone advise what i can do. The first one swallows up a considerable amount of money from the equity and doesn't seem fair. I didn't agree to it or sign anything at the time.
Also, when he took the loan out he was working full time and had a full illness cover on it, presume it was PPI. He never claimed on it.
I dont particularly want to contact welcome finance as they have never written to me before or since his death. We have literally had no contact from them. Ever. He had not made a payment towards this since at least 2006/ 2007. I'm worrid if i contact the mto dispute it it will open a can of worms and i can't afford to pay back £27,000 either in full or on a monthly basis !!
I'm really confused on what to do
S
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Comments
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When a person dies the outstanding loans/debts are repaid out of their estate. You cannot avoid dealing with a charge against the property so at some point you are going to have to deal with the finance company. Contact a charity like Stepchange for advice.0
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Even if i never signed the joint loan agreement?0
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Yes. .0
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At the end of the day, contacting Welcome and the other chargor cannot be avoided if the OP wants to sell the property.
Obviously this problem as well as the CCJ related charge might be able to be "deferred" if the OP stays put.
On the bright side, if the OP is the executor of her late husband's Estate, she can look at checking for and claim back any PPI - plenty of information on MSE on how to do this.0 -
"Obviously this problem as well as the CCJ related charge might be able to be "deferred" if the OP stays put."
Do you mean if i dont move? Ever? I would rather get it sorted out so i dont have to constantly worry about it.
Surely if i approach welcome now and say a) you've got an agreement that was not signed by me agreeing to a charge on my property and b) even if that doesn't get it removed the debt should be wiped out because my husband (were not married at the time) took out critical illness cover on it and didn't claim despite the fact he was ill. Does this still count even if he wasn't paying hte monthly amount?
He took the loan out and never made a payment. They never wrote to him about it or anything...strange wouldn't you say??
I'm worried if i contact them they will force me to sell and i wont have enough for the dep on my new place as it will all be taken by them in which case it would infact be best to stay where i am and not broach the subject !0 -
This is a nightmare for you, unfortunately. Since your signature was forged, you can't be held responsible for the debt, nevertheless there is a charge on the property that will have to be settled if you sell it. I really think you need proper professional advice from a chartered accountant or a solicitor, tbh.I used to think that good grammar is important, but now I know that good wine is importanter.0
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iolanthe07 wrote: »This is a nightmare for you, unfortunately. Since your signature was forged, you can't be held responsible for the debt, nevertheless there is a charge on the property that will have to be settled if you sell it. I really think you need proper professional advice from a chartered accountant or a solicitor, tbh.
Agreed. Proper legal advice needed. The OP may not be responsible for the debt, but late husband was - and this issue should be, or have been settled on the winding up of his estate. At the end of the day, Welcome lent the money, secured an against an asset and have not been repaid - it is black and white for them.
Have to be very careful indeed here - need to be 100% separate in duties as executor of late husband's estate and in any personal claims personally against the estate.
Alas the legal fees can build up quickly, but a the very least the OP should have some initial consultations so she can fully understand the lay of the land.0 -
iolanthe07 wrote: »This is a nightmare for you, unfortunately. Since your signature was forged, you can't be held responsible for the debt, nevertheless there is a charge on the property that will have to be settled if you sell it. I really think you need proper professional advice from a chartered accountant or a solicitor, tbh.
Why an accountant ?0 -
Charging orders - have a read of this thread
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1839539
CCJ's - As I understand it, any debts in your husband's sole name either died with him or were paid out of his estate, if any.
The companies concerned cannot obtain a CCJ on someone who has passed away, since there is no longer anyone of that name to pursue, so therefore the CCJ's should have been refused as well as their associated charging orders.
You need to seek legal advice about this.
Also, check to see if there is any possibility of a claim on any insurance held by your husband in respect of the various debts.0 -
another vote for solicitors advice here. it sounds as though the welcome charge was always secured against the property? in which case they probably won't let it go easily.
I'd be tempted to at least contact all lenders to see if there was PPI involved before the deadline.
in my opinion it's best to tackle it and get on top of everything now so you know where you stand, than letting it linger on for years.0
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