Dealing with debt that isn't ours - Any advice?

[PlanB]

Re: Dealing with debt that isn't ours - Any advice?

Ah, now I see. I hadn't read back through your thread before replying last night

I think you should send it back unopened to NCCBC marked "Gone Away". Keep a photocopy of the envelope front and back. If you've got time to spare see if the post office will give you Proof of Posting for the file.

I say this because if a Default Judgment is given (I expect it will be if a Defence isn't filed) then you've got something to prove the summons wasn't received by the Defendant if the Claimant decides to enforce the CCJ with a CO on the house (only possible if the debt is over £1k). A Restriction may be meaningless until the house is sold, but it does limit your mother's options if she wanted to remortgage or even take out a secured loan at some point in the future.

If your father has been absent for years he won't be on the electoral roll. Before a creditor issues a summons they're supposed to check that the person actually lives at the address for service. Again this will help your mother if things get ugly one day.

Plan B x

[PlanB]

Re: Dealing with debt that isn't ours - Any advice?

My father has left the country & Europe . . . . We aren't completely certain of his status or whereabouts. . .

My mother is a pensioner with low income, so I am having to ensure that the mortgage & bills are paid (I'm not earning a huge amount either). We may be able to claim his share of the house, but I worry that this could be difficult & expensive. I feel like we could be bullied into paying his debts or forced to lose the house because he left without sorting anything out. I don't want to do nothing.

Have you sought any free legal advice on this situation?

One thing which has occurred to me is if your father still owns a share of the house then he can leave that share to a third party (i.e. not your mother) in his Will. I think it may be necessary to get legal advice in case the beneficiary decides they want the house sold.

I'm not intending to be morbid, but I do think you should explore your legal options to be on the safe side.

Plan B x

[Repeater]

Re: Dealing with debt that isn't ours - Any advice?

Ah, now I see. I hadn't read back through your thread before replying last night

I think you should send it back unopened to NCCBC marked "Gone Away". Keep a photocopy of the envelope front and back. If you've got time to spare see if the post office will give you Proof of Posting for the file.

I say this because if a Default Judgment is given (I expect it will be if a Defence isn't filed) then you've got something to prove the summons wasn't received by the Defendant if the Claimant decides to enforce the CCJ with a CO on the house (only possible if the debt is over £1k). A Restriction may be meaningless until the house is sold, but it does limit your mother's options if she wanted to remortgage or even take out a secured loan at some point in the future.

If your father has been absent for years he won't be on the electoral roll. Before a creditor issues a summons they're supposed to check that the person actually lives at the address for service. Again this will help your mother if things get ugly one day.

Plan B x

Thanks for your reply. I did mean to post a reply/thanks sooner, but I haven't been feeling very well recently (and the stress from all this definitely doesn't help...). We did follow your advice, and there were a couple of envelopes with Lowell's address on the back (I assume that they're the ones doing this as no one else has sent anything recently), then this week another letter from Northampton.

It's very flimsy so I can see some of what's inside (along the lines of pay the claimant approx £2300 or £50 per month by 13th June, then a warning about other enforcement proceedings). I guess this means they've got their judgement and other things are likely to follow?

I'm assuming the same advice applies (i.e. send it back)? Is there any point in trying to find anything else about the debt/judgement or trying to contact anyone, or is that likely a waste of effort? I appreciate that the debt isn't ours but it still affects us, and it's frustrating not being able to do anything.

I'm not sure if I should be worrying about bailiffs etc at this point. Is anyone able to advise on likely next steps/timescales? I appreciate from what I've tried to read up on this that they might not have much right to do much (since he doesn't live here), but that doesn't seem to stop them making threats and accusations and trying to get in anyway based on all the horror stories I've read (maybe not a balanced view but it seems like the net's full of them!). There's no way I could provide receipts for everything I own, and I could do without the stress of people trying to take my things for something I haven't done.

A charge on the house might not be the end of the world if they're not trying to force a sale, though I might need to learn a little more.

Have you sought any free legal advice on this situation?

One thing which has occurred to me is if your father still owns a share of the house then he can leave that share to a third party (i.e. not your mother) in his Will. I think it may be necessary to get legal advice in case the beneficiary decides they want the house sold.

I'm not intending to be morbid, but I do think you should explore your legal options to be on the safe side.

Plan B x

Thanks for your thoughts. We have taken a little advice on this. I don't think he can leave it to someone else at the moment, though I appreciate that there are risks either way. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be an obvious solution, and no one's really been able to advise us that we'd be better off doing anything, so it doesn't seem that much clearer

As always thanks for reading. I'm grateful for any helpful words or practical advice from anyone.

[MrsD]

Re: Dealing with debt that isn't ours - Any advice?

Have you returned everything else and got proof of posting?

[Repeater]

Re: Dealing with debt that isn't ours - Any advice?

We've returned everything we've ever received for my father, though only have proof for the court letter. I don't think we have a record of all the other letters we've received, unfortunately. We made a list of all the calls we were getting initially (as they were the biggest nuisance at the time), though the CAB just advised us to send them back so I don't think we have much else.