Just found out Mum has HUGE debt

[Pumpkinspicewhatever]

Wondering if anyone has any advice here. I live in a rented flat- my mum moved in with me when I was a single parent of a baby to help me out but has since moved to her own place as of about 2 years ago. Occasionally post still comes that is addressed to her and she just tells me to throw it away. I get post for previous tenants from years back and so didn’t think much of it.
I came back from Xmas holiday to find 3 envelopes all addressed to my mum and decided to open them as I realised I had been getting more regular post for her in recent months . I know I prob shouldn’t have opened it but I did out of curiosity, she made it sound before like it was probably junk and I didn’t think about it.
There are 3 letters from a debt recovery firm. One is for just over £5k, one is for £20k, one is for jsut over £15k. all were originally loans/credit from a U.K. high street bank. the letters state the balance as at end of 2018 and a year later - no movement at all.
I am staggered that she can have £40k of debt and never have mentioned this. She had her house repossessed about 10 years ago and I believe large debts written off then, plus my grandad left her money specifically to pay off credit card/s. I know she is absolutely shocking with money- I think she has been all her life- but this has left me reeling and I feel like I need to speak to her about it. It must be so stressful. She’s a teacher and I’m not sure how these debts will ever get repaid but I’m concerned a debt recovery firm is chasing her for them. It’s not clear how old the debts are either- just she’s had them outstanding for at least one year.
Anyone have any advice? How do I approach this?

My mother in law was refused credit because someone known to her had used her address when applying for credit.
It took ages to resolve and was unpleasant
Your mother did live at this address with you in the past & she should have changed her address
If she is teaching she is risking the bailiffs etc ringing her employer/school to chase this debt. She needs to get advice & sort this
I’m sorry mother or not I certainly wouldn’t be lying by saying I didn’t know her.
Just return it not at this address and speak to her

If she's had a house repossessed before, been bailed out by your grandad already and is in massive debt again she does indeed have financial issues.

Does she live somewhere expensive that is unaffordable on a teacher's salary or could she have an illness like manic depression where she overspends massively? Or does she just have unrealistic ideas about what her lifestyle should look like? Does she have any assets that could be sold to pay towards her debts?

She needs professional help, do not give her any money and if you think she might ask your grandad again or any other relatives to help her out, warn them against giving her money too. If you or any other relative wants to help her, the best thing to do is help with budgeting and sorting the debt, without giving her any money.

If she doesn't own property then it sounds like bankruptcy will be appropriate but no-one can say for sure without a full assessment of her finances. If she does go bankrupt then at least she will be effectively banned from credit for 6 year, which is an excellent opportunity to learn to live on a budget should she wish to do so, which may not be the case.

Send it all back return to sender. Keep your tenancy agreements handy and proof of id. I watched a lot of that bailiff program. FWIW when I moved to my current home over ten years ago had same prob and even now 13 years later still get letters.

High street type debts will get to the CCJ stage at most. A CCJ doesn't give bailiffs the power to enter your home. They need to apply for another type of order and they are rarely granted for this type of debt. They are usually issued for things like unpaid rent, unpaid wages etc where a person has suffered serious consequences of the debt/bill not being paid. They don't consider a debt collection agency buying a debt cheap from the bank the type of debt that needs enforcement.

What the debt collection agency will do is call numerous times a day

Write letters

Come to the door IF it's cost effective but they cannot enter

Apply for a CCJ

Enforce a CCJ (apply for a arrestment of wages, force bankruptcy)

What I can tell you for sure is that no one is going to be able to enter your home and take your stuff. I work as a credit controller which is another term for a debt collector/accounts person so obviously have to look into all the laws and legalities periodically

For the final time, debt is in a person’s name and has nothing to do with the address. 🙄 Property is not blacklisted and you can live in a house with thirty others who are all bankrupt and it will have no bearing on your ability to obtain credit, provided you are not financially linked to them (which means you have shared credit such as a mortgage together).

www.equifax.co.uk/resources/loans_and_credit/credit-blacklists.html

I suspect that if she declares bankruptcy and is then evicted from her accommodation for any reason she wont get another property - so would turn up on your doorstep.

She probably does have other debts.

First thing to do is to tell her you know and try to find out where the money is going. Then try to get any cards cut up and returned with a warning that she is in debt and must not be given more credit. Get her the sort of basic bank account that does not allow overdrafts. This will be a massive shock to the system but needs to happen. Then off to a debt counselling service - the CAB can suggest somewhere if they are not able to help.

Send any other post back with not at this address, you do not have to provide more details, just say it's none of your business.

I dont know what a baliff can and cant do but I'd rather not be arguing the toss on my doorstep.

Credit is not linked to addresses.
It is not your debt unless you are named on anything.
Send back any letters return to sender.
Checkmyfile is more comprehensive than both Expedia and Equifax.

what often happens is this (am landlord & had this with ex tenant): someone has debt - say for car loan or mobile phone - the debtor doesn't pay - bill gets passed to debt agency, debt still isn't paid,sold on to another agency they don't get paid. etc etc etc ad infinitum, at each step more debt letters & will threaten, they than sell debt onto another agency who … so you send letter back not known but as its sent onto another agency & so it goes on, SO send letter back not know but also ring them & tell them, Point is your mother used your address at some stage for getting loans - probably to pay off other debts I would make a bet! you need to seriously talk to your mother she obviously knew about these debts & was using you & your address to avoid dealing with them. The law on opening mail is not as cut & dried as some people think - as long as you are not going to do something to that person disadvantage. One reason for opening we found was the blessed tenant owed money to the council & they went to court & if someone has committed a speeding or illegal parking or something (we had one from a court) I rang & explained that they should check their own records to prove tenant wasn't living at that address anymore .

You had better make some calls immediately or you will find bailiffs knocking your door down, and those people do not fuck around
hmm
You make bailiffs sound way more threatening than they actually are

I had bailiffs trying to force their way into my dying MIL's house chasing a debt run up by a family member who definitely didn't live at that address (never had, just had same surname). They were absolute bastards, wouldn't listen to me or FIL or the fact that MIL was in the living room, being nursed at home while dying.
Hideous experience I will never forget. Had to threaten to call the police to get them out of the house.

If a person applies to the high court then they can get a warrant that the bailiffs can force entry and the police will assist (you would get post obviously from the high court if that is the case). This is not a simple process and even so the police are not going to force anything if you prove you are not your mother. The story mentioned above sounds like a warrant for arrest not a simple debt but probaly a court fine (completely different rules).

I do agree with returning all post, I would also agree with ringing the companies and explaining that the person they are looking for is no longer living there ( I wouldn't declare the relationship) but please do not worry about some of the scaremongering, it is just scarmongering.

So a question: if they were sent to that address were the loans definitely got at that address? As maybe they were got before (like a while ago) and they’ve tracked her down to that address? How does it work? Trying to figure out how this could’ve happened and how long ago

Do you rent privately? Your landlord will be unimpressed if/when they get wind of that size of debt being chased at their property.

Presumably the landlord was aware your Mum was staying with you and won't believe you knew nothing about the debt. Don't risk being given notice.

Also, hard lesson though it is, you now know you can't trust your Mum. She moved in to help you at a vulnerable time, registered these loans at your address then moved and lied to you, telling you any post was unimportant and to throw it away.

Return it all to sender, opened in error, 'no longer at this address'. The bank she took the loan out with will have asked for proof of address at the time so you can't pretend she never lived there. Check your credit report, I wouldn't trust she hasn't taken out credit in your name too.

Then tell her you know. Personally I would demand she contacts the agency with her new address herself and finally deals with the situation.

So a question: if they were sent to that address were the loans definitely got at that address?

No they could be much older, they could even be statue barred (unenforcable) and they are chancing their luck. It could be that it is the last address they can track your mother to, could even be that they haven't tried to update an address for a long time for her. Frequently post is sent out automatically and nothing active is being done.

Sorry but I think you were quite wrong to open your mother's mail.

She clearly didn't want you to know about this but you have invaded her privacy.

If you want to help her then get some details of debt advisors or an appointment with citizen's advice.

Actually, the bailiffs do have the right to claim household goods, jewellery, items of value etc if the debt pursuers push up the claim to a higher court. (Seen it on the telly ). I think in this case if it is clear your mum no longer lives at the address then you should be ok, but you must tell your mum that SHE must sort this out and make sure you and your address are no longer connected to her . If she refuses and more post appears then return it marked no longer at this address. Do not pass it on to her as she will ignore it.

Btw if your mum is a teacher then the teaching unions can be very helpful in supporting debt counselling and negotiating between parties involved.

Some of you have been watching far too much Can't Pay We'll Take It Away.

Seriously OP I get letters all the time for a man who lived in our house before us. I returned about 50 to sender and they kept coming, so I opened them. He has 40k worth of debt and is paying a fiver a month. He's obviously never going to pay off the debt but he's 'showing willing' so they won't chase him for the money.

Tell her she needs to call them and change her address on their system, and get a payment plan in place.
High street banks will always do it as they'd rather get something back than nothing and nobody wants to send bailiffs to someone else's house.

The landlord wont get wind of the debt. I rent a house and tenants didnt pay council tax for two years. I only found out after they did a runner and I found the letter. That debt wasnt tied to my house either. I rightly have business in my tenants lives beyond compling to our tenancy terms.

no business I mean

did she move out two years ago.and that is also the date of the last debt?
but i might be worried op that this is just she moved therefore stopped the debt to your house and might now have a new one in her own new house?those dates seems to coincide.
someoen with that much of a problem doesnt just stop!unless she has help since leaving you she will be in so much more trouble then you even think now.

If you post mail “not known at this address return to sender”, put a pen line through her/your details and write the company’s name and their address on it in place of yours and put a stamp on it.

My local postie said they just bin stuff that says not known etc. if no postage has been paid. So the companies will never receive your message if you don’t put a stamp on it.

Can teachers go bankrupt or have an iva and still keep their job, anyone know?

My local postie said they just bin stuff that says not known etc. if no postage has been paid.

That seems pretty illegal. I'd complain the the post office about that. I get lots of post that says Return to Sender on it at work and NONE if it has ever had a stamp put on it for returning purposes.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/loans/debt-help-plan/

I hate to say it, but check YOUR credit record to make sure she’s not taken out anything in your name. We had a family member take out credit in DH’s name, and didn’t find out until they slipped up, got greedy and started applying for catalogue accounts in his name. First we knew of it was when two credit agreements showed up at ours. Checked the credit records and found some other stuff. It took forever to sort out.

I’m so sorry OP, you must be really worried about your Mum

@kpo I know, I thought that was bad too. However I wondered if anything to do with office mail being franked and other stuff perhaps being delivered via a different payment method or carrier. I believe the post office are duty bound to deliver mail from other places too or something similar. All very confusing and I don’t get it but if you want to be sure something reaches someone I’m just passing in what my post office - well, sorting office, said.

Our office mail comes back with a blue crayon line across the front when undeliverable. I’ve never in my life received anything like that at home. Maybe as I always addressed things correctly. Perhaps I should send something deliberately to the wrong address with my details as sender in the back and see if it’s ever returned!!

Lol at crown court