Hidden enormous debts - advice please?

[CJ42]

Hi, my first time on these pages, so here goes. My parents who are both in their 80's are, not surprisingly, needing more support than they used to. All the help has been practical so far, getting tradesmen in to fix things, lifts to the shops and hospital etc. My Dad has never been involved in any financial decisions, it's all been my Mum organising everything, and he always says he can't remember anything anyway. My Mum now also has memory issues (plus she tells whopping fibs and gets very angry and defensive when I ask her anything that she doesn't like, or says that she is useless and peed off with "everything"). I have been helping out more lately, when I can as I work from home and have 2 primary aged children, and yesterday my Mum gave me a big briefcase full of paperwork to sort out, to give you some idea it took me most of the day just to separate it all into 20 various heaps.

Some time ago I was checking something on her computer for her and saw several emails from a credit card company over the months saying that they were taking a payment of around £25 on a direct debit. I am assuming that this was a minimum payment, I found an online calculator at the time which suggested that the debt would be around £6K. Mum promised that she didn't have a big credit card bill as she claims she paid them all off after they were left some money in a will a few years ago. This was scary enough, however after going through the bank statements from the last year or so (several are missing, but there was enough to build up a picture) there's been a payment going out of around £132 (which had over the last 3 years gone down from £182) for a different credit card. Also no sign of the £25 card bill actually going out, so maybe there is more than just this bank account. Mum has always been irresponsible with money and never checks the prices on anything in the shops, whereas I am totally the opposite. They have also used rogue tradesmen (IMO).

They have also done an equity release on the house back in 2007 and the interest rate being applied is 6.49 and 6.59%. This was to pay off another debt, possibly a mortgage, but I don't know tbh. And to have some cash.

I also found some paperwork relating to one of those card protection schemes, you know those things where you give them all your card details and if you lose your purse they cancel all the cards for you. Well, that listed about 10 different cards. That went down to about 5 after they received a chunk of money from the will.

I am feeling a bit swamped and don't know what to tackle first. Mum has said that she will give me power of attorney, and is grateful for the help. Oh yes, their wills have been done by a very "lovely man at the bank" several years ago, Mum said at the time that the will was done FOC, but it appears that the probate and executors are indeed the bank, which is apparently not a good idea and they've been outsourced now anyway. There isn't a will in the paperwork but there is documentation from the bank about it.

So, where on earth do I start?! I have an accountant as I have my own business, should I ask him to take over? I have seen some debt advice lines which look useful, and I imagine that PPI and mis-selling are highly likely to be involved in all this dreadful decision making over many years.

Sorry for the long post, I hope somebody can help me start to make sense of it all and try to help, as I am fairly sure that all this is stressing them out too, so I need to be gentle with them. Thank you xx

I'd start with a good list.

Probably in Excel as I've got a feeling it's going to get big! Password protect it just in case.

Using what you've found, write down every possible card / account / debt / financial commitment with account info etc.

Then look at each one in turn - shortcut is probably to contact the institution themselves to get up to date paperwork sent out.

Add a column for yes / no Possible PPI claim.

Contact Experian and pay for their full credit file.

Then you can prioritise - so 1 is urgent pay off / transfer now, 2 needs action and 3 can wait.

You might need to speak to Stepchange or CAB once you know the full picture.

You need to see there credit file to see what is outstanding in their name as a starting point.

Thank you both, very good advice there. Am I able to request my parents Experian file without their knowledge, or do I need their express permission, signatures etc? I don't want to stress them out as I am not sure how aware they are of the situation. Also, I think there is a highly likely chance they could claim that the equity release was mis-sold, when I was taking the paperwork Mum said "you won't need those, will you? They're donkeys years old and were paid off years ago!"

I would revisit the will if necessary if they are of sound mind. Any new wills will invalidate the existing ones. Would be better if you could be the executor even if you engage the solicitor to administer the estate

Surely the first thing will be to get power of atttorney - which will enable you to access these many accounts and act for your parents. I would also urgently look at remaking their wills. Remember that if you’re executor, you can still hand it over to a solicitor of your choice, but if she has nominated the bank or whoever as executor, you have no say and could well be pouring money down the drain. Once those two are sorted, then you can take on unravelling the debts.

The credit file can be applied for online and although you really should have their permission if you know all their personal details cane be done without.
As somone with 2 decades of banking experience i would
1, get power of attorney paperwork started ASAP. The amount of times these situation occur then one parent has a turn which forces you down the court of protection route is surprising. COP is expensive and time consuming.

2, change the will ASAP the banks will be charging a hefty fee for being executors.

3, go onto the money saving expert website for a template for ppi misspelling and as you are looking at the credit score you can fill in one for every credit card/ loan your parentd may have had. The end date is next year for claims so best to start now. To be honest I'd hope she got protection with everything because they pay you what you paid back plus interest at 6% which is very often more than the original policy.

4, I'd also be looking at the equity release scheme they signed up for. A lot had hefty fees which have now been banned. Again the Martin Lewis money saving expert site is a fabulous resource for this with template letters etc.

Its awful when parents become needy and our roles as children change. I've had many a crying daughter in interview rooms when the reality of her parents debts has been revealed. Good luck and we'll done for stepping up and helping your parents x

Thank you for the wonderful, very helpful advice. The wills have now been changed and the POA is all signed, although I was told that it will be another 6-8 weeks before it comes through from the courts.

I had a look at the templates for the PPI, but I don't know whether they were unaware that PPI wasn't compulsory or that they could shop around for it. Mum doesn't even know what PPI is. Does it matter which mis-selling I put down?

Also, once the POA comes through, should I go to the bank and see how they can help? Any idea what they may suggest, keeping my parents in control but perhaps not allowing any huge cash withdrawals or cheques over a certain value? It's the rogue traders I need to keep an eye out for!

Thank you again for such good help, it is very much appreciated.