Hire purchase agreement and mobile phone bills for deceased family member

neiler987

Keeping this short a close family member of mine died a few weeks ago.
He had a hire puchase agreement out for a laptop and had a mobile phone bill but im in a bit of a limbo about what rights our family has about the goods and paying/not paying for them and the rights the companies have.

When we let the companies know that he died do we need proof like documentation or some sort of a letter to say that he past away ? Is it just a simple case of them repossessing the goods ?

I know they've should have known earlier about his death but it being very sudden and close to christmas took a lot of out of us so this wasnt really thought about.

Not sure if I'm in the right place but any advice would be appreciated thanks

Micky Dolenz

Moved from AH.

joanofarc

Sorry for your loss op, but as far as i'm aware the debt actually ceases when the person passes away. When my own dad died he had some stuff bought with loans and once we said he had died so did the loans. I think in one case we had to send a copy of the death cert. hth.

Micky Dolenz

sorry for your loss.

It may be best to contact the HP companies involved on Monday and explain your circumstances. They will give you the policy details and conditions.

Zen65

neiler987 wrote: »

When we let the companies know that he died do we need proof like documentation or some sort of a letter to say that he past away ?

My condolences on your loss. I am not legally trained, but I have acted as executor for a deceased family member in the last 6 years.

I believe that it is sufficient to notify the company in writing about the death. This should be done by the person who is acting as executor or administrator. You can follow up with a copy of the Death Certificate if they request it, but a copy of the newspaper death notice should normally suffice. While the company may wish to repossess their equipment they will technically require the permission of the administrator to do that. The administrator is entitled to buy out the contract if it represents the best deal for the estate (for example if the remaining repayments are worth less than the re-sale value of the laptop). The phone contract normally ceases on death, so the bills won't need further payment.

For some advice look at the citizens information web site. It's quite good for dealing with these sorts of issues.

It may be worth your while going to a solicitor to help manage the estate. You should be sure to clarify legal fees up front if you do so.

Be at peace,

Z

drunkmonkey

neiler987 wrote: »

had a mobile phone bill

Sorry for your loss Neiler,

For the mobile phone you'll have to send them a copy of the death cert. Had to ask a few people for it before to get accounts cancelled, horrible stuff.

matchthis

So sorry to hear op

Had something similar happen to me after last summer. Got in contact with O2 over the phone and explained how things were. They didn't need anything extra which made things a lot easier.

There are "talk to" forums in the link below, maybe one of them is the provider and you could ask in a thread

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=241

3DataModem

Went through all this with dad.

Make sure you get plenty of original copies of the death cert. Lots of places will ask for it (insurance, mortgage, loans, ESB, etc).

The debt doesn't die with someone alas unless specified in T&Cs. However lots of places will negotiate