how did anyone give my wife £20k worth of credit on a card when she was unemployed

KimYeovil

Why would a lender not offer a parent with children £20K of credit? Benefits of more than £15K per year plus another £10K odd for housing. A decent borrower could more than easily repay £20K plus interest over three to five years. The danger is, as here, an indecent borrower who choses not to repay - but that is a gamble with all unsecured lending. A parent with children is a safer bet than a single person with no duty of responsibility.

And where does the 20 years of debt come from? That is the offensive choice of the borrower - it is not obligatory.

CH27

Devils-Advocate wrote: »

In my newbie and therefore rubbish opinion, perhaps no need for the first line, i.e why did she apply for credit if she knew....

I think that's an irrelevant question really, as it doesn't answer or come anywhere near to answering what the OP's question was.

Nothing wrong with coming straight out and asking a blunt/direct question about the income thing though as that DOES at least bear resemblence to the question put forth by the OP.

However, everyone has different posting styles, so meh.

It's very relevant.
It's got to be addressed or the problem could happen again & again.

oldtractor

I am a housewife. My job,as I see it is to run the home and look after my husband and adult sons. As such I am unwaged. I regulaly get mail from the bank where we have a joint account offering me credit cards and loans. Its just wrong and should be made illegal. I do not earn any money so why on earth does the bank think that I can pay the loan back?

Devils-Advocate_3

oldtractor wrote: »

I am a housewife. My job,as I see it is to run the home and look after my husband and adult sons. As such I am unwaged. I regulaly get mail from the bank where we have a joint account offering me credit cards and loans. Its just wrong and should be made illegal. I do not earn any money so why on earth does the bank think that I can pay the loan back?

Whilst I agree with you that it is wrong, surely you can just say no and that's that?

Cool with the housewife thing - I tried being a stay at home househusband whilst my wife did full time work once, and I nearly went mental! We swapped roles...

hello2007

boris_blackcat wrote: »

Whilst my wife was unemployed bringing up our children she was offered and took out credits card whcih gave her over £20k worth of credit.

I only found out when I lost my job last year.

The most she earns now on a part time basis is £7k
cards now frozen but debt will take nearly over 20 years to pay off
Were the credit cards legally allowed to give her thsi amount of credit without checking her employent or income ?

If your wife cannot afford to pay her debt then she should contact National debt line for for advice. As your wife is on a low income she can offer a token payments that can be as low as £1.00 a month until she can pay more money. If the creditor took her to court the judge would not make her pay more due to her low income.

There are other options that she can look at such as bankrupty and IVA because her debt is quite high.

Quirkylass

Hello OP,

I would highly suggest posting on the DFW board where you will get the help, advise and support you (and your wife) need from none judgemental people, ie: tenmah. There are many people over there that have been in the same situation as you, ie finding out that their partner has racked up debts without their knowledge and they are a lovely bunch of people who will go out of their way to point you in the right direction. May I also say it may be worth your wife posting on there too, just in case she has spending problems etc or if there is a reason for her spending, many people do it for comfort, because they are bored, it makes them feel good etc etc (I'm not saying she has you understand) but it may help her also as there may be an underlying problem. It will also help you both to know that you are not alone, it's quite common.

Good Luck
Weller x

KimYeovil

oldtractor wrote: »

I am a housewife. My job,as I see it is to run the home and look after my husband and adult sons. As such I am unwaged. I regulaly get mail from the bank where we have a joint account offering me credit cards and loans. Its just wrong and should be made illegal. I do not earn any money so why on earth does the bank think that I can pay the loan back?

Are you for real? The clue is emboldened.

Keep the aprons on, girls, and kiss his feet for deigning to palm you a note or two pin money.

Do you understand just how offensive your post is?

MyLastFiver

KimYeovil wrote: »

Why would a lender not offer a parent with children £20K of credit? Benefits of more than £15K per year plus another £10K odd for housing. A decent borrower could more than easily repay £20K plus interest over three to five years. The danger is, as here, an indecent borrower who choses not to repay - but that is a gamble with all unsecured lending. A parent with children is a safer bet than a single person with no duty of responsibility.

And where does the 20 years of debt come from? That is the offensive choice of the borrower - it is not obligatory.

Uh? You seem to be saying that all parents get £25k in benefits.

As for the rest of your post, I've read it three times but haven't a clue what you're on about.

fozmcfc

When it comes to the short to the point replies or the sympathetic replies, I can see things both ways. Sometimes people need a short sharp shock and sometimes they need the tea and sympathy approach.

A big thing about this place is we are asked not to be judgemental, but sometimes you don't need to be judgemental you can just see the poster is heading completely in the wrong direction.

At that point I think the DFW board can be someones worse enemy. Recently we saw an 18 years old with £10k in debt ( a lot in their mothers name ) looking to take another £7k to go to Uni. Most of the DFW's gave the tea and sympathy approach and focussed on getting the person to uni.

Clearly the person needed a rocket up their backside and pointing out, that they are already in a mess and just are going to continue on that way.

regprentice

Back to the point of the thread...

Why would someone not earning be given a credit card? well the staff in bank branches are sales people, not caseworkers. They cannot be trusted and should be treated in the same way a traffic wardens and politicians.

I stood behind a man who was being sold a card in a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland. The man refused the chance to apply for a credit card saying it would be unwise as he was unemployed, and if he was unemployed they wouldn't give him one anyway. the salespersons response.... 'There's no harm in filling the form out and giving it a go anyway.....!!'.