Irresponsable Lending

Tootsie_Roll

regularsaver1 wrote:

If enough people kick up a stink then banks will have to stop overdrafts and loans right?

Exactly - it's a ridiculous, tired and worn out argument that we have responded to on here many times before.

To the OP - claim your charges back, pay off the remaning balance, hope your wife learns from her mistakes and move on with your life. Trying to push the blame on the bank is bonkers.

Emmzi

lynzpower wrote:

See heres the thing I dont get.

If the debt ( in this case the overdraft) had been passed to a DCA and the DCA suggest/pressure/cajole/whatever the debtee into taking out a loan to pay it off, I understood this isnt legal.

but if a bank does it - its OK?

Have I got that right?

Lynz,

I don't think it's 'ok' in either case; but I also think
- people have a duty to educate themselves
- people in difficult situations can bend the facts a bit when it suits them.

Even the OP wasn't in the room with the bank officer at loan time - it would be convenient if pressure tactics were used, but I believe in high street banks this happens in a minority of cases (call me naive, all the bankers i worked with over my 12 years in the industry were moral, ethical, responsible..)

Also, the burden of proof would lie wirth his wife to demonstrate pressure tactics. I think this is near impossible to do without a paper trail or a raft of borrowers in similar sitiations saying the same thing about the same lending officer.

Sometimes persuing your rage against an uncertain foe is not the best use of energy.

lynzpower

I appreciate all that Emmzi

But was just tying to get a legal perspective on it.

For example I know for a fact in my own experience of asking banks to extend my overdraft, I dont think they ever asked me what I was going to do to take responsibility for spiralling debts. Once my bank manager phoned me on a friday saying your account will bounce over the weekend, so I wondered do you want me to extend your OD to another 100 quid, obviously I said yes, I was in what I thought was dire financial difficulty.

ive had my overdrafts & credit cards merged into an oh-so-helpful loan when the bank KNEW I was unemployed and with no income. Yes I accepted it - I can now look back to that & say I was vulerable, but this is the benefit of MSE hgindsight. At the time I thought they were chucking me a lifeline, but i now recognise they were giving me concrete boots.

Id just like to know why its unacceptable & worthy of a complaint to the FSA if a dca recommends/pressures/ suggests consolidation which isnt affordable as its "getting into more debt" but its A-ok for the banks- and when they do it there is no recourse?

Emmzi

Hmm. as far as I know there's never been a test case - but the legislation applies equally to banks.

Emmzi

you might also find this interesting.. CAB lobbying to make irresponsible lending more explicit in the law..

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/campaigns/social_policy/parliamentary_briefings/pb_consumerandebt/consumer_credit_bill

Nitronick

Hiya There!

Just thought I'd update a bit on this thread.

I started the complaint and Lloyds TSB finaly got back to my wife and I. Basicly they are trying to say that they acted within there guidlines, no surprise there. HOWEVER...

They have aqmitted that my wife may have been mis-informed with regards to being able to cancell PPI on the first loan and that when the second loan was issued they should have offered consolidation of the first loan and not suggested that the remaining amount be paid back into the loan account.

They also offered a £75.00 ex-gratia payment for my wife and I to accept final closure of the complaint and even requested that we sign a letter stating happy with out come of complaint.

Cant wait till the New Year to tell them NO.

Will get back latter and let you know the outcome! Oh and have given them till 5th January to refund charges before I start court procedures.

Till then Merry Chrimbo and a Happy New Year to you all.