Morally Correct ?

dazchief

I have read, and correct me if i am wrong, that there are people who have amassed thousands of pounds worth of debt which is being written off, because the credit agreement which was constructed was incorrectly written, or misplaced.

Now, I know we are all looking to save a few bob or two, but, if someone has a debt, that they have created and benefitted from, then it is there debt. No one elses. They should stand up and pay their debt, instead hiding behind incorrect procedures. Because if the individual isnt honest and accept responsibility for their debt, then we all pay for it one way or another, and I for one, do not want to subsidise someones poor financial control and excesses.

So, pay up and shut up is my message for those people who will hide behind procedures to escape their own debt.

_Andy_

As much as I agree with you, this has been discussed at length before several times and usually ends up in an argument as both sides are equally as passionate.

somusat

Why should customers be bound by both laws AND morals, when Banks will only bind themselves by laws?

Banks, CRAs, Debt Collectors, take every advantage they can get, be it legal, moral, immoral, or legally gray.

Why should customers not do the same?

I've worked in business to business environments where every invoice must be accompanied by proof of delivery, even if the receiver knows they have the goods they won't pay if it cannot be proven they were delivered.

And yet if an average Joe does the same, they are "immoral".


I have a feeling this is just going to degenerate into pointless flaming so I will leave the thread alone now. And before you accuse me, I have not done this, I cannot get credit anyway :P

freeoffers

I believe in paying your debts but morals are a personal thing whereas the law is more or less set in stone. It is hard to say what I would do if i had the chance to have my debt wrtten off but i feel we must each act in accordance to our own morals and not place our morals alongside banks and other institutions.
At the end of the day though if a business cannot frame an agreement properly they may not be in business long

iolanthe07

I would be full of shame if, through some technicality, I walked away from a debt I knew I owed. I don't know how people who do this can sleep at night.

Rafter

Everyone has a different moral compass I guess.

Our banks own behaviour (misselling, charging excessive fees, paying enormous bonus') has encouraged people to think that there is no consequence from not repaying debt.

Banks at the end of the day are simply retailers. They buy money from savers and sell it to borrowers in the form of mortgages or loans.

If borrowers don't pay for their loans then savers won't get as high a return or borrowers will have to pay more for their loans. Just as we all pay 2% too much for our groceries at tesco to cover shoplifting.

Another analogy is illegal music and DVD downloads.

If someone genuinely can't afford to pay their debts, we live in a country where you don't have to and where there are legal options to reduce or cancel your debt and that is totally right. More fool the banks and lenders for offering more debt than they should have.

Where someone won't pay or hopes to find a loophole my moral compass kicks in and says this is wrong. There is difference between exploiting a companies marketing and introductory offers, the main benefit of this site, and borrowing large sums of money hoping you will never have to pay them back.

Hopefully a test case will draw a line in the sand under this and the fact that a customer has been paying a loan back for years and has obviously received the cash in the first place will indicate that a valid loan does exist. Even if the lender has to waive interest if the original agreement can't be found or it the i's aren't dotted and t's crossed, the rest of us won't be paying more to borrow or earning less on our savings.

R.