Does your credit clear after you turn 18 years old?

[patdluver524]

Just a question because my sister Sarah has really gotten herself into debt.. and she's only 15! So I just need to know if her credit will clear after she turns 18, because she thinks it will and I don't.

[raysparx1]

How can she get into a lot of debt at her age,? please explain.

[NORMANTHEDOG]

she will have a bad credit rating till whenever she clears the debt,if she does not pay it,it could stay on her file for life.depending on how her creditors have gone about her debts.

[dot.hawkes]

she cannot have credit unless she is 18 anyway, if she has obtained any it is wrong on the part of the lender / finance house.

[tpreece01]

As she legally cannot take any debt until she is 18, the lender is at fault here.
Speak to your local Citezens Advice about it and I'm sure any lenders will be forced to write off the debt without it having any affect on your sisters credit rating when she is 18.

[raysparx1]

Thats what I am wondering dot, does not make any sense to me, i would like to know how she got any credit.

[dot.hawkes]

maybe it's on the internet or one of those contract mobile phones

[Whickerman]

either way the contract is invalid as she is under the legal age of financial responsibility

[stevie21]

It's possible to be under 18 and get a current account with an Electron card. Although not desperately easy, it is possible for this type of account to go overdrawn.
She's not legally liable for debt so although the bank/lender might make angry noises they can't enforce the debt.
"Morally" or whatever you want to call it, it might be that she's spent it & should pay it though.

In this situation I don't know what would happen if the same debt persisted until she was 18 : whether it's then legally enforceable or whether only debts incurred from 18 onwards are. Anyone?

[kempie]

As previously mentioned, the age of contractual capacity for individuals is 18. Minors are permitted to enter into contracts for limited purposes, and the test is one that focuses on the nature of the transaction, and whether the minor is of an age such that they capable of understanding it.

Contracts entered into by children that are for 'necessaries' are binding on children, as are those for apprenticeship, employment, education and service where they are rightly said to be for the benefit of the child. Contracts for necessaries are for the supply of food, medicines, accommodation, clothing, amongst other things but generally excludes conveniences, and products and services for comfort or pleasure. Commercial or 'trading' contracts are also excluded. These latter contracts are voidable at the option of the minor, and whether the minor may avoid the contract depends on the nature of the contract.

Contracts for debts and the sale of goods that are not for necessaries require positive ratification in order to be enforceable. The ratification must take the form of an acknowledgement that the debt is binding after attaining the age of 18.

In England and Wales, under the Minors' Contracts Act 1987 restitution is possible where "a person ( �the plaintiff�) has... entered into a contract with another ( �the defendant�), and the contract is unenforceable against the defendant (or he repudiates it) because he was a minor when the contract was made, the court may, if it is just and equitable to do so, require the defendant to transfer to the plaintiff any property acquired by the defendant under the contract, or any property representing it."

[dot.hawkes]

but does under 18 also apply for a minor still in compulsory education?