DP debt I didn’t know about

[abitconfusednow]

DP has left a letter on the side (so not trying to hide it particularly) stating that he is in approx £12k of debt with a bank that I didn’t even know he banked with. (Not his usual current account provider). It appears to be an overdraft that he hadn’t paid back, that is now ‘owned’ by someone else (some sort of debt recovery agency)

he’s at work so I’m not able to ask him yet but am a little concerned - also not sure how he will react. Even if he’s ‘ok’ what does this mean going forward?! That we wouldn’t be able to move or anything (remortgage)

He's left it for you to see.
He can ring them and sort out a repayment plan.

So it's a debt recovery letter?

Yes, it will affect your potential re-mortgaging of your property should you ever choose to re-mortgage.

Are your finances shared? I'd be concerned what he'd spent that on to be honest?

The only joint finance we have is the mortgage. Everything else is managed separately.

I knew he found it harder to manage finances since he went self employed a couple of years ago but not to this extent. I didn’t even know he had an account with this bank! Which is odd we’ve been together 8 years.

plus for it to be in recovery it must be an older debt? And the self employed struggles ebb and flow and are more recent (eg might use overdraft on quiet month but that is sorted by the following busier month for example)

Depending on how long ago he last paid or acknowledged the debt, it could be statute based. Check this information

www.stepchange.org/debt-info/can-i-write-off-debt/statute-barred-debt.aspx