EEEEKKKKK......... Mother-in-Law in Debt....HELP

tealady

Hi. If the car is not on the road don't forget to claim the cat tax back.
Re TV I have a £30 package of phone, TV and broadband and thats OK for me. Or how about checking what channels she watches and either ringing Virgin to change the package or get a freeview box.
If she is no longer driving has she got her free bus pass?
TV licence. I think if you are over a certain age its free (75 springs to mind but a quick search should find it)
Tell her there are a lot of people on here rooting for her.
Good Luck

donny-gal

Had a re-think, and think you should play the sympathy card with the Bank. Make an appointment to see the manager, take MIL along, else they will not discuss anything with you, if she cries all to the good, what have they done to an ill elderly old lady! If you get nowhere you can see go via the claim back charges hardship route anyway, but you may get some of the other things reduced too.

Maybe some will be sceptical, but I have found that often worked for me.
DG

MrsTinks

the Financial Services Authority’s official definition:

“A complainant is considered to be in financial difficulty when his or her income is insufficient to cover reasonable living expenses and meet financial commitments as they become due.”

This means when you can’t afford commitments such as utility bills, rent and council tax, or if you’re struggling to repay debts such as your mortgage or credit card.
That definition is quite general. But if it sounds like it applies, to find out if you fit one of the FSA’s specific examples, it’s important to go through its official hardship guidance below. Yet sometimes it’s not exactly in plain English, so we’ve added a ‘translation’ to each.

Are items repeatedly being returned unpaid due to lack of available funds?

Translation: Do your payments regularly bounce?
Are you failing to make loan repayments or other commitments?

Translation: When you can’t afford mortgage, loan or credit card repayments.
Is there a discontinuation of regular credits?

Translation: Do you no longer have money coming in, or regular income, such as when you lose your job? (See the full Redundacy Guide for hints and tips if you have lost your job).
Is there a notification of some form of insolvency or court proceedings?

Translation: Are you going bankrupt or getting an IVA (see the IVA guide)?
Are there regular requests for increased borrowing or repeated rescheduling of debts?

Translation: Are you living off credit, struggling to repay it and regularly needing to increase credit limits? Or do you have a special debt payment plan in place with lenders as you can’t afford repayments at the usual rate?
Do you make frequent credit card cash withdrawals at non-promotional rates?

Translation: Self explanatory. However, if you’re taking cash out on a credit card, the interest rate is hideous and it usually indicates a problem.
Do you repeatedly exceed your credit card or overdraft limit without agreement?

Translation: Self explanatory. It then goes on to say that “where a complainant has incurred over £500 in unauthorised overdraft charges in the previous 12 months, that is to be treated as indicative of financial difficulty”.
This is interesting. It effectively means if you get over £500 of bank charges each year then, almost by definition, you’re in financial hardship. Many with large claims will be in this boat.
In addition, if you’re on benefits, it’s highly questionable whether banks should be effectively reducing your benefit income by charging you. It is not illegal for banks to take charges from your benefit income, though it can be illegal to deduct some other charges from benefit income.

If this applies, either alongside or separately from the other points above, tell your bank you are living on benefits and ask that it considers your complaint now.

From Martins article on Bank Charges Hardship.

The problem is that from what detail there is in the SOA she CAN afford to live - she's just not managing her money... Calling "This morning" etc is a prime example if you ask me... Not cancelling old DDs is another (btw you might want to look into if she can get some of THAT money back too...)

MrsTinks

fletch3163 wrote: »

Is there a rule on hardship because I think it's pitiful what they've done to her? She's nearly 70, widowed 2 years and had 2 heart attacks last year. She's banked with this shower for most of her life and this is how the repay her............ by robbing her!!!

Whilst I agree that the bank charges are unfair (I definitely don't think going over your OD qualifies as reason to charge £36) then in fairness I think that claiming that they are robbing her is harsh - they are doing what the terms and conditions state they will do. Yes the charges are too high, but you can't lay all the blame on their front door. If your MIL is incapable of handling her finances then her son or even you can get the power to control her money (doubt she'd like that...) if she is just naive then this will be a good lesson for her! And one that IS possible to resolve. She's known about this for a long time but she's refused to face up to it till now - that is NOT the banks fault.

If she doesn't use the car - SELL IT leaving it sat on the drive doesn't make any sense - it will only depreciate further being sat there.

You can try the crying at the bank manager but don't hold out any hope - they see more and more of this every day sadly

Horace

You can ask Virgin to bar calls to 0900 numbers - they did it with me when I started being charged for 0900 numbers that I had never called, it would appear that the landlord's agent would let himself in whilst I was out just to use my phone:mad: So no 0900 numbers for me:j

Virgin do a basic package for tv, broadband, telephone for £34 a month which is what I have (broadband has increased in price to £18 a month in the package). You get free weekend calls with that.

Tell the DVLC that the car is SORN, claim the tax off it and sell it, pointless having a car that she doesnt use.

Speak to Age Concern as well as they should be able to offer lots of assistance.

LilacPixie

call virgin and say you are leaving as too expensive and they usuall drop the price.

HockeyDuo8083

Did not want to read and run but can only offer a big hug to you and your family.
I have seen it myself when a husband or wife passes away the other struggles to cope and may often get carried away with financial matters.
Look it this way at least now you know what is going on and you can sort it out before things really get bad i.e. House Repossession.
Brilliant idea to go down the Internet Banking route and getting a basic bank account. At least that way her pension is safe and you will be able to sort everything out.

Good luck and keep posting! x

fletch3163

Well it's like a see-saw for me, all this. Have now discovered MIL has been "supporting" just about every waif and stray that passes her way (courtesy of my brother-in-law). He's a bit of a lost cause these days (whole nuther thread). Turns out she let undesirables borrow money from her, and hundreds and hundreds of pounds are lost forever.

MrsTine, I do believe she has been unfairly treated by her bank. What self respecting person sells a policy with LPI (which she has no clue about) to a pensioner, then sells her an account costing £25pm, then sells her extortionate home insurance, then sells her a £2k loan at 18%, all on an old age pension and a small widow's pension. I'm sure they have her best interests at heart and are trying to help, but surely it is also their job to assess how they loan money. This is part of the reason the financial world is in turmoil. It is my MIL responsibility to not over extend herself, of course it is, but they were most unhelpful.

Going forward, she's hopefully today opened a basic bank account, we've cancelled some DD, I'm going to be on both her accounts (new and old) and I've written with a mandate to her mortgage lender. Hopefully at the very least I've stopped the rot. The big step is paying it all back.

jayss

Just want to send some support.
Well done for taking this on.

As there are items not on the soa like groceries I'd hope you could claim charges on hardship grounds.

Hope you're putting in a complaint about the bank selling all these things to a vulnerable person without giving them a true picture. Did the loan, insurance etc get sold in branch or over the phone? If by phone might be worth changing the contact number on her account to an unused mobile, so she dosent get caught again...

Good luck :grouphug:

iolanthe07

I notice that on the SOA there is a zero for contents insurance. Honestly, I think that this is a false economy. I was burgled earlier in the year,and so glad to have a decent payout to replace the stuff that was stolen (including a brand new laptop). The premium for this was under £100 a year. She could easily save this sort of amount by cutting down on the Virgin package.