Raising children is hard enough without worrying about what they might sign up for the moment they turn 18. Once your son or daughter is old enough to apply for credit in their own name, a new set of worries tends to arrive. Surveys over the years have consistently found that a large majority of UK parents are concerned about their children running up debts they cannot handle.
Most parents know the transition to adult financial life is not going to be smooth. Slip-ups are part of learning. The useful thing you can do is make sure your child understands how borrowing works before they start doing it, rather than after the first letter from a lender arrives.
Easy credit, expensive credit
Lenders have tightened up on mortgages and larger personal loans since the 2008 financial crisis, and affordability checks are stricter than they used to be. Even so, store cards, credit cards and Buy Now Pay Later products are still fairly easy for a young adult to obtain, and the interest rates on some of them are very high. Credit card APRs commonly sit well above 20%, and store cards can be higher still.
The real trap is the minimum payment. Pay only the minimum each month and the balance barely moves, while interest keeps piling up. A modest shopping spree at 18 can quietly follow someone into their late twenties if they are not careful.
Buy Now Pay Later services such as Klarna and Clearpay deserve a mention of their own. They feel harmless because there is usually no interest if you pay on time, but missed payments can lead to debt collection and, increasingly, an impact on credit files. The UK government has introduced draft legislation to bring BNPL under Financial Conduct Authority regulation, though full implementation is still pending. Parents should assume their teenagers are already using these services whether they have discussed it or not.
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Typically, the person who took out the loan or credit is responsible for repaying it. If your adult child takes out a credit card, a loan, a phone contract or an overdraft in their own name, they are the one the lender will chase. You are not legally liable simply because you are their parent.
The exceptions are where you have put your own name to the agreement. That includes:
- Acting as a guarantor on a loan or tenancy.
- Taking out a joint loan or joint account.
- Adding your child as an additional cardholder on your own credit card, in which case the debt is still yours.
- Co-signing any form of credit agreement.
Debts your child ran up as a minor generally cannot be enforced against them at all, because under 18s cannot usually enter binding credit contracts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland works differently: young people can enter legally binding contracts from the age of 16, although there are protections against unfair agreements made by those aged 16 or 17.
One area that catches families out is deceased estates. If a parent dies with debts, those debts are paid from the estate before anything passes to the children. Children do not inherit a parent's debts personally, and the reverse is also true: you do not inherit your adult child's debts if something happens to them.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
When your child is struggling
No parent wants to watch their son or daughter end up with county court judgments, a damaged credit file or, in serious cases, bankruptcy or a debt relief order. The instinct is to step in and pay it off. Sometimes that is the right call. Often it is not, because it removes the lesson and leaves the underlying habits in place.
Before handing over money, it is worth pointing your child towards free, confidential debt advice. Organisations such as Citizens Advice, StepChange, National Debtline and the government-backed MoneyHelper service can all help someone work out what they owe, negotiate with creditors and set up a realistic repayment plan. None of them charge. Commercial debt management companies often do.
If the debts are serious, formal options such as an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, a Debt Relief Order or bankruptcy may be on the table. These have long-term consequences for credit files and, in some professions, for employment, so proper advice matters before signing anything.
Consolidation loans get mentioned a lot, and they can reduce the total interest bill, but only if the person stops using the cards they have cleared. Otherwise you end up with the consolidation loan and a fresh set of card balances, which is a worse position than the one you started in.
Teaching the basics early
Children pick up attitudes to money long before they can open a bank account. Pocket money, saving up for something specific rather than buying it on impulse, and earning a bit through chores or a Saturday job all help build the idea that money is finite. Most high street banks offer children's accounts from around age 7 and full current accounts from 11, which gives teenagers somewhere to practise before the stakes get higher.
Financial education is now part of the national curriculum in state-maintained secondary schools in England, covered within maths and citizenship, and similar provision exists in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In practice, how much a child actually learns varies a lot from school to school. Parents who assume it is being handled elsewhere may be disappointed.
Some practical things worth covering at home:
- The difference between a debit card and a credit card, and why that matters.
- How interest works, including how minimum payments drag out a balance.
- What a credit file is, who keeps one (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion), and why future landlords, mortgage lenders and sometimes employers look at it.
- Why payday loans and very high-cost short-term credit are best avoided.
- How student loans actually work, since repayment is based on income rather than behaving like an ordinary debt.
There are also practical exercises that tend to stick better than a lecture. Setting a monthly budget together, tracking a week of spending, comparing the price of the same item across different shops, or talking through a news story about interest rates or housing costs can all make the ideas concrete. Letting a teenager manage a clothing or food budget for a set period is another way to show how quickly money disappears.
Teenagers do not always want to hear any of this from a parent. That is fine. Planting the ideas early, so they are familiar rather than new when the first credit offer lands, is usually enough. If problems arise later, calm advice and a push towards proper help will do more good than simply paying off the balance.
Thank you for any information
We have tried to raise a grievance but they won't meet with us or answer any of the points raised as he has now been out of their employment for over 3 months.
They are asking for repayment to be made as soon as possible.
My son is a full time student with no income, are we liable for this debt?
All the responsibility of our daughter is mine, I am studding and some times I just need a break but he don't understood that.
He is nor working, and he have enough time to see her but he don't. Now I am really tired of that and I would like to know how can I push him to be more responsible with our daughter.
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