Thank you for taking time to read, feel like im hitting a brick wall and need advice on what to do next..
So, around two years ago, May 2009, a very good friend of mine (who is married with a young child) confided in me that she was in alot of debt (started an affair a few years back and took out a credit card to pay for travel etc). Things were tough and i felt sorry for her. I offered to take out a credit card with zero % interest in which she could transfer her money onto and use the year interest free to pay off as much as she could. Nothing was ever put down in writing, more a verbal agreement. As we were such good friends at the time, l had no reason to belive that things would turn sour!
It was agreed that after the year interest free period was up, she would take out either a loan or credit card in her own name in which to transfer the money back. As i said, nothing was ever put down in writing. She was the one who applied for the credit card over the internet, with all my details etc. Card is fully in my name and was sent to me. Basically for the first few months, she used the card online to buy shopping etc and used the cash she would have used for these things to pay off her existing credit card debt (think it was aprox £1200). I knew this was how she was working it out, but in my opinion it went over the top and soon the card was maxed out to £2,400. I was still being sent the statements at the end of the month (i dont think she realised that).
She did start off with good intentions, a decent amount of money was being paid off to 'my' credit card each month and i was happy with this. However, a year down the line, our friendship suffered a few knock backs and we stopped talking. As the interest free period on the card was now up, i assumed it would be only a matter of time before she switched it into her own name. Another couple of months passed and the payments got less and less (and now had the added interest on it). I spoke with her a few times, over text at first to say about switching. I got a few replies but then she changed her number. We were still at the time friends on facebook so we started exchanging private messages. She said her and husband were in process of looking for new house and were planning to take out extra money on their mortgage to clear off debt (including credit card). I was happy with this, i knew it would take a few more months but it looked like things were going the right way.
However, around christmas 2010, i contacted her again asking what was the lastest. Things seem to have came to a standstill, (debt at around £1300). She said they had found a house, there was just a few issues that they were hoping to have sorted asap. Once this was done, the mortgage would be put in place and the money freed up to clear the debt. As you can imagine, this never happened.
I started to to voice my concerns, sayin that i wasent happy about all this now. It was starting to affect me (I had applied for a home improvement loan to install a new heating system in my home over christmas but was refused due to debt). I said i wanted the money out of my name. Surely if she and husband can be approved for a mortgage, they can take out a loan/credit card in own name?! I initially recieved no reply to my message but then got a really nasty one back sayin that she was no longer accepting any threats from me as to repayments. She had spoken with citizens advice who had told her that as the money is in my name its my problem (which i do accept!). Basically it would be paid back on her terms, not mine. She said she was going through more financial difficulty and so payments would be made, but at the minimum. I was told not to contact her again, she would be back intouch with me when she was a little clearer about things. This was back in Jan 2011.
So as it stands now, the debt is around £1200. She seems to be paying around £40 a month, £25 of that is interest so very little is being paid off the debt each month which is what is annoying me the most! Now i understand that people have financial strains, but i know for a fact she could pay well more than that each month! They havent moved house, still in same place as when all this started. Husband on good job, as is she.
Now i know i should be greatful that the money is being paid, even if it is very little every month. I just cant understand why she cant just transfer the money back into her own name? I would like to think that if the shoe was on the other foot, i would be making it a top priority to clear off any money owed to a friend!
So, basically im left wondering what to do next? Ive sent a few more private mails over face book in last few months but no reply. I sent another last night but she has now deleted or blocked me on fb so i can no longer go down that path. I have no email or phone number. I have one number still on my phone which i think is her home number, but couldnt be sure. I may also have her husbands number, but again as it was from years ago, i dont know if it is still his.
Right now, id be willing to take all this to a small claims court. Im not asking for compensation, i just want the debt out of my name. But obviously, im worried that i could get into major trouble because of the fact that i 'alllowed' someone else to take out a credit card in my name and then use it. I spoke with citizens advice aswell a few months back, but she was a little unsure if going ahead would be the right thing cos of the fact that i didnt just hand her over the money, but it was done through a credit card. She wanted to speak with a lawyer but never did get back to me.
So has anyone got any advice/recomendations/help! for me?! I have learned a very tough lesson from all of this and i have been very silly, i was only trying to help a good friend out. Never once did i expect it to all turn out this way!