Money and depression

charlie1394

I am enquiring on behalf of someone else who I believe may have been provided with a loan at a time when they should not have.

The basic circumstances are that they over sixty years old, on a low to medium wage, the husband of 45 years was seriously ill and not working, he was in fact slowly dying.

This caused the person who took the loan to become depressed and take 6 months off work.

The husband then passed away causing further depression despite this they returned to work. Shortly after this the loan for a substantial amount, well in excess of £10,000 was applied for this was to cover various things such as credit cards (again applied for during the period of depression, a recognised form of comfort). All this was hidden away from the rest of the family.

My question is can a bank or credit company grant a loan to someone who at the time was ill with depression and had been declared so by their GP?

Surely their illness and vulnerability to self comfort should be taken in to consideration especially when this is such a large amount of money for someone in their sixties. The person concerned had tried to hide the depression/illness from their family for two years so are highly unlikely to declare it to a stranger at the bank.

Depression is a serious and devastating illness and clouds a persons judgement and thought process.

Please could you help.

dmg24

Yes, of course they can. Depression does not make someone lack mental capacity to the extent that they cannot enter into contractual agreements.

ILW

If banks would not loan to anyone with depression, half the mortgages in the country would not exist.

dmg24

ILW wrote: »

If banks would not loan to anyone with depression, half the mortgages in the country would not exist.

Very true, plus the courts would be inundated with disability discrimination cases!

vaporate

dmg24 wrote: »

Very true, plus the courts would be inundated with disability discrimination cases!

try manic depression

whichwhydoIturn

I have depression and i have to admit i am on the road to recovery.at my peak i would get this rush that resulted in me buying what i really didnt need or could afford .i kinda think that i was looking for something when my illness was getting worse.now i great support and paying my debts, single handed as my husband left.i always was aware of what i was spending/doing though .

dmg24

vaporate wrote: »

try manic depression

Even with bipolar it would be very difficult to prove a lack of mental capacity. You would be looking at someone who is in a manic phase (so completely different to someone with depression), and to prove a lack of capacity, it would be likely that the individual had been subject to a sectioning. A long way from classic depression!

ILW

vaporate wrote: »

try manic depression

I appreciate that it is a serious condition. The real problem is that if a loan was deemed mis sold or unenforceable to to the borrower having depression, the the banks would have to put a clause in their loan applications along the lines of "have you ever been diagnosed or treated for any mental health condition" and if the answer is yes then automatically decline the application, whether it be for loan, credit card or mortgage. This would in effect exclude I believe approx a third of the population from ever owning a house etc.

GotNo£

I think I'm getting depressed. Money troubles and more freezing and wet weather on the way. Is there ever light at the end of the tunnel?

CHR15

You could argue a significant portion of new posters in the Loans forum have clouded judgement.

You can see repeatedly, posts from people desperate to "get that loan" at any cost with absolutely no appreciation of the repayment terms or even any mechanism to ever meet a single repayment.

I've posted on one today, £4k CC debt, O/D, Unemployed but is desperately looking for a £5k loan.

lisa2ny

dear all, i have to admit that money and depression do go hand in hand.Being in debts,no money and poor credit score has left me depressed for the last 2 years.I have managed to reduce my debts a bit,but nothing can make it better if at the end of every month you are left with absolutely nothing to save and zero balance in your a/c.Sometimes i feel like giving up everything and bury my head in the sand,but i know that is not the answer.I cannot get any loan from any bank.I wish if someone could have told me never to take credits cards,stores cards and loans,unless it's necessary.I have learnt my lesson.last year my depression got worse,i was in hospital twice,my sister also passed away and i was at the edge of killing myself.unfortunately for all of us out there in debts and no source of income-we are all depressed,but there is no one else to blame except ourselves(me,myself and i).May God Help us all to get thru this.