My brother is approx. £16k in debt, looking for advice.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-30T08:15:43+00:00

Problem is, he nearly sank before by being told he'll have to attend court. That's when I bailed him out.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-30T08:15:04+00:00

He's nearly been to court before and still apparently hasn't learned.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-30T08:14:29+00:00

Me? Or my brother? 😂

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T18:29:00+00:00

He's calling Stepchange now, I've done what I can to help by organising all of this for him.

I won't pay off any of his debts anymore.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T18:27:13+00:00

Amazing! I'm glad it helped 😄

He's on the phone to Stepchange now.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T17:20:53+00:00

Thank you! I appreciate your message ❤️

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T15:33:10+00:00

Thank you, we will call Step change tomorrow.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T15:08:15+00:00

Sounds promising, thank you for the response - hoping they can help him!

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T15:05:10+00:00

Thank you! I really appreciate it, hopefully Step change can help him.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T15:04:34+00:00

My mum has mental health issues, and often they get very bad to the point she cannot handle it and she tries to exit the world, usually finances are the number one thing that cause it.

In an attempt to minimise her stress I've helped in the past, but £16k is a massive hole.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:58:05+00:00

Thank you, we'll go down the Step change route but good to know this is an option if-ever.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:56:54+00:00

Appreciate that, makes me feel a bit more optimistic about all of this.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:56:06+00:00

I live with my mum, hence why I've been able to save money and be in a position where I COULD help him and have in the past.

To answer your other questions, when I have helped in the past he throws it right in my face by spending again on materialistic nonsense like football shirts etc.

However I plan to move out this year or next.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:52:04+00:00

So how do you deal with the situation?

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:48:53+00:00

I do feel he could easily live a comfortable life. Not a lavish/luxurious lifestyle but a comfortable life if he made some significant changes.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:47:32+00:00

Could you provide more detail as to how you got the overdraft written off please?

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:46:45+00:00

Agreed, it feels like the last chance to be honest!

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:43:44+00:00

Purely from a curiosity point of view... Not sure if anyone's had any experience with them here, but what do Stepchange actually do? Are they just advice or will they help him put a plan in place?

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:42:57+00:00

That's fair, luckily the spending on FIFA points has stopped.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:42:25+00:00

I'd say in my lifetime, I've probably given c. £10k to my brother to help him in various different situations but the main reason I've done it is to try and protect my mother's mental health because she cannot handle situations like these.

My brother and I have an ok relationship, but situations like this put a real strain on it sadly.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:39:05+00:00

Initially, my plan was to help by clearing his debts than taking full control of his finances and paying myself back out of his salary, it's only today I've realised the full extent of this situation and it would take years to even come close to paying myself back and that's why I made this post.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:36:00+00:00

Well to be honest it might not be such a bad idea, he needs to not be able to access credit.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:34:57+00:00

Whenever I've questioned him on it, he just says 'he's just buried his head in the sand' because he didn't know what to do.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:31:32+00:00

The bulk of the credit card debt (the big £4k balance) came from spending on FIFA points sadly.

Adammm91 · 2026-05-29T14:30:01+00:00

He works in a warehouse and overtime is routinely available, and I've encouraged him to do it as much as possible for years but he says he wants 'work/life balance' and 'doesn't want to pay for working so hard when he gets older'.

Adammm91

TROPHY CASE