Coronation Street Nick faces Sam’s £6,000 debt but does he really have to pay?
Would Nick really have to pay Sam’s £6,000 debt in Coronation Street? UK identity theft rules explain who is liable for fraudulent credit.
Coronation Street is about to leave Nick facing a financial nightmare when Sam admits he has run up more than £6,000 of debt using his dad’s identity.
Sam finally breaks down and reveals that he has been trading cryptocurrency using Nick’s name. Even more seriously, he admits taking out a credit card in Nick’s name and building up thousands of pounds of debt.
Nick, Toyah and Leanne are stunned by the confession, while Nick later acknowledges that finding £6,000 to clear the debt would be extremely difficult.
But if somebody secretly took out a credit card in your name in real life, would you actually have to repay it?
The answer is not automatically. The Financial Ombudsman Service deals with complaints involving identity theft and unauthorised borrowing. Its guidance says that where a consumer did not consent to a loan taken out in their name, they generally cannot be held liable for the outstanding debt.
The crucial issue would therefore be whether Nick actually authorised the credit. From the storyline information released by Coronation Street, Sam has taken out the card using Nick’s identity rather than Nick knowingly applying for the credit himself.
In a real case, the lender would investigate what happened and consider evidence about whether the person whose name appears on the account actually made or authorised the application.
The UK Financial Ombudsman says identity theft cases can involve a fraudster using another person’s identity to obtain a loan or other credit. Where the consumer did not consent, the starting position is that they should not simply be left responsible for somebody else’s borrowing.
That does not mean Nick’s situation would be instantly resolved in real life. Identity theft can involve contacting the lender, establishing that the borrowing was unauthorised and dealing with any consequences for the victim’s financial records.
For Coronation Street, however, the distinction is important. Sam may have created a debt of more than £6,000 using Nick’s name, but that does not necessarily mean real UK financial rules would simply require Nick to find the money and pay the entire balance himself.
The storyline also takes another turn when Idris overhears Nick discussing his struggle to deal with the money problem, potentially bringing somebody else into the fallout from Sam’s confession.
Coronation Street streams on ITVX and airs on ITV1. Images: ITV.
