Old lady with HUGE credit card bills and struggling

[Nosha123]

Hey all

Hope you are fine and dandy today!

Wondered if you had any advice for a friend of mine.... Her 83yr old gran has £25k on credit cards PLUS quite large maintenance costs on her flat.

On just her state pension she is struggling to make payments to both... and so her bank account is EMPTY and she writes chqs which then bounce.

Now I know that there is a debt agency who help by speaking with the creditors to arrange a more manageable payment scheme... but would this still apply to an 83yr old?

Who should my friend contact on her grans behalf to get some help and a more realistic repayment plan... I would imagine the creditors would be worried about not getting their money back as she is so old so may not co-operate as they would with a 40-something yr old in full time employment!

All advice appreciated

[Nosha123]

Yes Ummm... the grandson cant seem to live on Dole money alone and cant be bothered to find work.. so she feeds him etc. She is probably a soft tough - and he is taking advantage.

The mother (Grans daughter) knows her mother is struggling financially and knows her son is living there at her cost but wont offer the gran any money towards his upkeep. Which to me seems really harsh if she knows that gran cant cope with all her own bills. Other family members do help out. and the £3000 reclaim from the insurance policy went to pay off credit card bills. her bank account is empty and she now has no money to feed herself till next pension day

[droopdrawers]

I don't think "friends" should be taking on this problem! Having dealt with my Mother and Step Dads finances I know the old lady should appoint an Power of Attorney to help her sort it out legally. I am sure the friends mean well but do be warmed family no matter how distant will be after every last penny when the old ladies hops this twig
It does sound like the Grandson has a lot to ander for too.
I feel sorry for the poor old thing.

[scraggy55]

Contact the National Debt Helpline immediately!!! Government run thing or Age Concern, they may be able to help.

[Nosha123]

I thought I would give you all an update... my friend is with her gran now and has gone through all the credit card bills to add up the 'damage'.

Total owed is £61,000
These cards were obtained over the last 3 to 5 years so were given to her when she was 78yrs +. She has no income other than SP and Pension Credit and has been struggling to buy food as she is paying £899 per month in MINIMUM payments alone. All cards are interest.. so no 0%'s. various lenders inc Virgin, John Lewis, Nationwide etc 7 or 8 cards in total.

Friend is now on phone to National Debtline as the first port of call.. so thank you to all those who contributed to the thread.. An old lady is going to sleep a bit better tonight I think!

[ummmm]

£899...do you even get that as a pensioner?

[factor-fiction]

Thanks for the update.
£61000 over 3-5 years! I know quite a bit of this will be interest I find it hard to imagine where the money went- in my experience people in their late 70s don't tend to spend these sort of sums

[TonyV]

61K over 3-5 years - I would suspect someone else has helped her to spend that ammount - disgusting

[Nosha123]

I dont think she knows what its gone on but she does tend to hand money out to family if they ask for it complaining they are broke.. and she buys people things like a bed if they need a new one...
Probably not much point trawling through it all - just needs to get written off for her then cut cards up!
Her income is £1140 per month and after the cards she is left with just £240 to live on for a whole month.. no wonder she is running out all the time!
How on earth anyone can even take or accept money off an old lady is beyond me! But i suspect the bulk of it was spent on relatives!! She certainly hasnt spent it on herself or her flat!
Trouble is this wasnt the first time she got into a mess - last time she remortgaged on her flat to pay it off.. then the credit card offers land on her mat and she apparently opened new accounts up!

[Nosha123]

I'll let you know how she gets on with National Debt Line..... I mean.. even if they can freeze the interest so at least any payments are clearing the actual debt... By my rough calcs I reckon with interest it would take her 17 years to clear it all at £900 per month!

Poor woman!!! and yes foolish for being sucked in and mugged off by family.. but i bet she isnt the only one its happened to!

banks have a responsibility here too - to not lend that kind of sum to a pensioner!

[TonyV]

Nosha - did not mean to imply anything by my comments - just find it disgusting that younger members of family are apparently taking money from her - obviously we don't know all the details. Hopefully her Grand Daughter can sort something out with free (gov't aided) debt advice. Then she can live comfortably, and hopefully on her her own i.e. without the grandson living there - he needs to be told to move on and stand on his own two feet. There must be a reason why his own mother will not fund him

[Nosha123]

TonyV.. no offence taken!!
And I think some family probably HAVE been taking money - but unless she confronts them or tells them to stop they will keep doing it - she doesnt seem to mind them!!!!

Update for you though - National Debt Line say to write to all creditors with a detailed budget of what she CAN afford to pay - and apparently they have to agree to it.
Debt cant be written off for her as she still has equity in flat so likely they will want to try to place charges on the flat in the event that when she dies they can get their money back...
I guess thats only fair... or else everyone would be doing it and all the honest people end up paying more to pay for those who dont...
What a mess eh!

[its_me]

I faced the same but im a whole lot younger and hey ive made sort of the same mistake writing cheques. Yes it does apply and all i can say is open a bisic account for everything to go into i.e benefits etc and then prioritise the debt like rent maintenence n food then whats left the agency will dispatch it as they see fit.