No Proof Of Income Was This Legal???????

rach94

In 2004 my ex-partner walked into Halifax off the street to open a bank account... He gave all the relavant details and explained that he was a professional boxer and only got paid when he fought (about £1000) and this was about 6 times a year. He was asked if he would like to apply for an overdraft and a credit card to which he said yes. A week later a credit card arrived with a £3500 limit on it and his current account details which had an overdraft of £100 on it. At know point did he show any proof of income, not that he has any, they took on his word that he was a boxer which is true but he only gets about £6000 a year which alot goes on renewing his license, brain scans, medicals, gym fees, equiptment and so on also his manager takes a 25% cut from it. Also I know they couldnt have credit checked him as he had already had one bank account closed down and he also has CCJ's. Well he max out the credit card which now stands at about £5000 and overdrew the bank account. Obviously he cant pay it back as he doesnt earn nearly anything at all now as he has been injured, he's classed as homeless and has this debt spiralling, my question is should they have given him this? and is here anyway he can get them to share the responsiblty for the spending on this card? The written credit agreement he got through the post had the condition of Proof Of Income on it can he use this as loop hole as he never had to show any.

The_Boss

You're not trying to blame others for his indiscipline, are you?

No loopholes. The only one at fault is the person who has overspent.

kathy46

mmmmm careful about this.........they could call it fraud which would be a lot nastier than debt.

Astaroth

You would need to look at the exact wordings but generally speaking it is up to the bank to decide what credit type checks they want to do - the only truely obligatory ones are about identity and other anti-money laundering ones.

As to the credit agreement saying they want proof of income - I would imagine that this is something that they can waive at their discretion as it only places an obligation on one side - was he your ex-partner at the time? Are you sure he may not of embelished his earnings etc?

rach94

No its not fraud he told them what he earnt, he was partner at the time I and I knew what money he was getting, the contract they sent says he has an income of £2000 a month, which I know he did not say, not trying to excuse him and he does want to pay it, just cant at the moment hes going to see them in the week as he heard he had got a job today, just thought he might be able to get a reduction as they gave him something they knew he couldn't afford.

Astaroth

The problem would be that if the original contract stated that he had a £2k/month income then he should not have signed it as correct but advised them that it was wrong and waited for an amended contract to come out.

By signing something that was wrong (the defence of ignorance/ didnt read it rarely stands up) will automatically damage any arguement that there was wrong doing on the behalf of the bank.

To be honest he simply needs to contact them, advise them of the situation and try to get a lower payment plan agreed - the likes of the citizens advice beaurau or national debt line will be able to assist in how to best do this but basically he needs to be honest about his exact income and unavoidable liabilites and based on this give an honest amount that he can afford to repay. It never hurts to ask for the interest to be frozen or reduced but to be honest is rarely that successful.