secured loan

[souza]

Hi
This is my first post...so here goes.
My late husband and son 'persuaded' me to co sign for a loan of £30,000 (£40,000) with fees against our home in Dec 2007. I eventually did this as the company knew my husband was 63 and had cancer, and i felt sure he would be refused the loan. Unfortunately this was not the case. The loan dissapeared in weeks , as their business folded. I have had to find the monthly repayments of £520 since the first payment in Feb 2008. When i contacted the company to inform them that my husband only had weeks left to live, and needed to know what percentage of the loan would remain after his death, i was informed he did not have ppi as he was too old! and i was liable .
I had to use his illness benefit to help pay the loan while he was alive, and have had to rely on my widow allowance since. I feel so guilty that he could not have proper heating and basic human comforts during his last weeks, as the loan needed paying to stop our home being reposessed. My widow benefit ends on March 7th . I contacted the company last week asking for advice and offering a lump sum (that is for the mortgage shortfall). They will take it but it will not lessen the monthly payments. I was also told i had ppi but it ends in Dec 2012, which is 5years before the loan ends.I am not trying to not pay, but need a breathing space(this is not the only debt i was left with, none of them mine). My son is unable to help and if it were not for the grandchildren, i would have nothing to do with him. My monthly wage £911. Any ideas anyone?

[Latch Key Kid]

Re: secured loan

Hi
This is my first post...so here goes.
My late husband and son 'persuaded' me to co sign for a loan of £30,000 (£40,000) with fees against our home in Dec 2007. I eventually did this as the company knew my husband was 63 and had cancer, and i felt sure he would be refused the loan. Unfortunately this was not the case. The loan dissapeared in weeks , as their business folded. I have had to find the monthly repayments of £520 since the first payment in Feb 2008. When i contacted the company to inform them that my husband only had weeks left to live, and needed to know what percentage of the loan would remain after his death, i was informed he did not have ppi as he was too old! and i was liable .
I had to use his illness benefit to help pay the loan while he was alive, and have had to rely on my widow allowance since. I feel so guilty that he could not have proper heating and basic human comforts during his last weeks, as the loan needed paying to stop our home being reposessed. My widow benefit ends on March 7th . I contacted the company last week asking for advice and offering a lump sum (that is for the mortgage shortfall). They will take it but it will not lessen the monthly payments. I was also told i had ppi but it ends in Dec 2012, which is 5years before the loan ends.I am not trying to not pay, but need a breathing space(this is not the only debt i was left with, none of them mine). My son is unable to help and if it were not for the grandchildren, i would have nothing to do with him. My monthly wage £911. Any ideas anyone?

Hi souza

Not a good time for you

Just paying the £520 for the securd loan when you are down to a monthly wage of £911 does not bode well as I am sure you are more than aware.

Good that you are asking for help before things get worse

However in my opinion, if possible, much more information is needed on your overall circumstances before anyone can realistically give you any sensible guidence.

Also can you give some clarification on what you mean by offering a lump sum for the mortgage shortfall?

Best wishes

[souza]

Re: secured loan

Hi latch Key Kid
Your reply is much appreciated. The lump sum is £20,000, this is intended for my mortgage shortfall, when the mortgage finishes in June, but hoped it would buy me some time by lessening the £33,000 outstanding on the loan. I will have actually repaid £60,000 back when the loan ends in 2017.
Sadly my husband had also taken out 3 bank loans without my knowledge , this was another £30,000, fortunately 2 banks wiped the debt, but natwest are still pursuing it.
Also he had increased our joint account overdraft to £5,000 and still i had no idea, until my card was refused. I had a long battle as all direct debits were stopped, however my bank manager saw i was genuinely in shock and set me up with my own account . Butthey wanted the overdraft paid on the joint account, and they informed me that i had an unused credit card, that they could activate for me to clear the debt.I agreed, but now 4 years later i still owe as much despite paying each month. I understand i am also paying ppi, so that is another issue i will have to deal with. I know my house is going to have to be sold to deal with this, my trouble is prioritising and where to start.
Thank you again .
Souza

[Celestine]

Re: secured loan

Do you need to borrow money (mortgage?) or secure any further credit over the next few years?

I assume when you mention 'mortgage shortfall' you are referring to a negative equity situation.

I don't often suggest this but bankruptcy could be a simpler situation for you because trying to pay off all these debts will cripple you.

need to know more though, so don't jump to that option, see what others say too.

Best of luck to you xxx

[SpringerSpaniel]

Re: secured loan

You may be able to pursue a legal case for 'Undue Influence' when you were pressured into taking out the mortgage, this makes your consent to the lending invalid so you are not liable any more.

There is a series of cases on this, the first of them is Barclays Bank v O'Brien if you want to do some research.

Here is a link to an article from a barrister who takes Direct Access work ( you can contact him directly without having to go through a solicitor)

http://www.windsorchambers.com/assets/article.pdf

You should get professional legal advice if you possibly can.

[berniel]

Re: secured loan

Hi
Terribly sorry to hear about your problems. I would recommend that you seek professional debt advise, National Debt line or the CAB are free services and can be very helpful.
Just trying to understand your post.
Am I right in assuming that you had an interest only mortgage with an endowment policy which matures in June and the value leaves you with a mortgage shortfall of 20k
Am I further right in assuming that you have a second secured charge for 33k on the property?
If this is true is there any equity left on your home?
Please tell me if I have got it wrong.
Bernie

[souza]

Re: secured loan

Thank you everyone who has taken the time to reply.
My mortgage does finish in June, but i will have a £42,000 shortfall, and the £33,000 loan to repay. I have considered a re mortgage but because of my age , have approx 8 years before i retire, so the repayments will be as much if not more than the loan repayments, plus i will not be able to borrow more than £40,000.
I am interested in the'undue influence' route and will investigate .
I have seen C. A .Bureau, they suggested writing to my creditors... been there done that.
Thank everyone.
Souza

[berniel]

Re: secured loan

HI

Have you discussed / disregarded any of the schemes that buy the hous and, iether allow you to live there rent free or even pay you a return dependig on your equity.

I know you never get the full market value of your house, but.....

Can i ask who your second chaarge loan is with, also you signed a joint agreement was this just you and your husband as you were joint names on the first mortgage?

When you say you wrote to your creditors , did you get no help at all, how recently was this, were they made aware of their responsibilities towards people in trouble under the new guidlines?

Bernie

Bernie

[souza]

Re: secured loan

Hi Bernie
I have looked into house buying schemes, you get 83% of the value which equates to losing £8,000 , and i would have to pay them £515 per month to continue to live here.
The loan secured to the house is with Central Trust, my signature was needed as it was a loan against the house.
Apparently , i am responsible for the debts because there was no will, and his share of the house is 'his estate' , this was the advice in March 2011, the month he died.
Thank you for replying, writing it down is making it clearer, i am in the process of asking Central Trust for a ppi repayment... watch this space.
Sue

[jane1108]

Re: secured loan

So sorry you are going through such a tough time. Inheriting debts is not good, particularly when you are trying to deal with the loss of your husband

For what its worth these are my suggestions :

If you go for a buy back, then rent although you loose 8000 it will save a lot of interest payments in the future. It also means when you retire and your income drops you may possibly entitled to housing benefit against the rent.

The other possible option which has kept us above water is taking in a lodger? You can let a room in your house tax free up to £4250 per annum. This may be an option depending on where you live? We struck lucky and have managed quite easily by free advertising to get interns foreign students who are working in local companies and are very little trouble they work all day and weekends usually go off around the country site seeing.

[seduraed]

Re: secured loan

just check with the loan company some ppi contracts had death benefits attached tothem . you may be able to get more following this route

[jane1108]

Re: secured loan

I thought most did have death benefit but in her post above was told husband didnt have ppi was slightly confused by that and poi claim unless was only sold in her name? Just hope a soltiin is found.

[Shadowcat]

Re: secured loan

Hi Souza,

So sorry to hear about your circumstances, I hope we can help here or at least make you feel better by you sharing your problems.

You say you signed for the loan whilst your husband was ill. Two things come immediately to mind; firstly, did you receive any independant financial advice relating to this loan before you signed? Secondly, as somebody has already pointed out, there appears to have been a potential Duty of Care breach in granting this loan. I suggest you contact MIND initially and explain this situation, see if they can point you in the right direction. The fact that you have contacted them should be documented. Contacting MIND for guidance on your situation may also be enough to hold off court appearance if this company gets silly.

You also need to know all the facts about the loan - do you have all the paperwork or does your husband's son have it?

Finally, you've been through enough, stay calm and focus on looking after yourself now.

[Sparkie1723]

Re: secured loan

I have only just come across this thread and my first input appertains to this re the Bank

"But they wanted the overdraft paid on the joint account, and they informed me that i had an unused credit card, that they could activate for me to clear the debt.I agreed, but now 4 years later i still owe as much despite paying each month".

This is an absolute NO NO contravenes both OFT and FSA guidelines on debt collection will find more on this for you but that is absolutely unbelievable they would coax you into doing this, I would call that "entrapment" and that is a criminal offence in my unqualified opinion.

Could you tell us the name of the Loan company??

Sparkie