Barclay card repayment after death.. some years on.

louielouie_2

Hi there

First time I have posted so apologies if I am in the wrong place. Just looking for a bit of advice..

My mum past away in Feb 2007 and have just found out that my Dad has just finished paying off a 6K barclaycard.

I am outraged as I didnt know about this and he now informs me he was paying this using her barclays staff pension!

My mum had life insurance which payed off what was owed on the mortgage (joint) but there was nothing else in the estate. He couldn't really afford this and is now in debt trying to sort this out. I am a bit annoyed that they could do this and just wondered if anyone else has had similar experiences and if there is anything I can do.

Norfolk_Jim

Do you mean that he was recieving a surviving spouses sension from Barclays? You dont mean that he never told them your mum had died and just kept collecting the pension do you?

I think its a bit late now that he's paid it back. I don't think Barclaycard will refund the money he paid because he didn't consider that your mums debt might have died with her, there being no estate to repay them from.

CLAPTON

louielouie wrote: »

Hi there

First time I have posted so apologies if I am in the wrong place. Just looking for a bit of advice..

My mum past away in Feb 2007 and have just found out that my Dad has just finished paying off a 6K barclaycard.

I am outraged as I didnt know about this and he now informs me he was paying this using her barclays staff pension!

My mum had life insurance which payed off what was owed on the mortgage (joint) but there was nothing else in the estate. He couldn't really afford this and is now in debt trying to sort this out. I am a bit annoyed that they could do this and just wondered if anyone else has had similar experiences and if there is anything I can do.

why exactly are you outraged
-because your mother spent £6,000 without telling you and you now feel you would have bought her these things if you had known
-that your father paid off 6k without telling you and that you would have paid this off had you known
-that you feel in principle that debts shouldn't be repaid
-do you feel you should have paid more attention to your parent affairs and now feel guilty
-that there's something wrong about the pension

louielouie_2

thanks Norfolk_Jim, she worked for Barclays and he is receiving surviving spouses pension all of which has gone to pay off this. In the meantime he has now got into debt.

Its the only thing I didn't sort out at the time and just very frustrated that they can do this, I am trying to check if there was credit card insurance. My Dad was a bit hopeless at the time so probably agreed to anything.

Clearly there was nothing in the estate at the time which they could see as he has had to pay off over the years.

louielouie_2

thanks for the reply Clapton,

In theory if you take on a credit you have to be able to afford to pay this off, he could not afford to take on this debt in the first place and consequently is now in debt himself.

incorrectly maybe, I assumed that debt would be paid off if the person died and there was no funds in the estate to cover this. From what I understood any repayment did not come from the other persons money.

As he has slowly been paying this off over the years it has not come from the estate, I just wondered if this was normal to handover the debt to someone who doesnt have the means to repay it.

opinions4u

So how, exactly, did the debt get transferred to Dad?

Drop the outrage and frustration snd start to deal with facts.

NAR

Ah it was your mother's credit card, you did not state that in your first post. But did your father have an additional card?
If no the debt should have stopped if there were no funds left in the estate to deal with it. So yes you/father should request return of the money with interest from the bank.

louielouie_2

I just wanted a little advice, apologies if I am appearing frustrated, new to this.

My father did not have a bank account as my mother dealt with everything. As normal her account was frozen and we had to get him his own bank account, even had to show him how to use a cash point. It looks like he agreed to this but at the time he had just lost his wife who did everything for him so would have agreed to anything.

I handled all other matters this was missed by me somehow and I have only just found out. There wasnt a will, life insurance was cashed which paid off the rest of the mortgage, no savings and nothing left in the estate. This was the only debt and it was a barclays staff account. (not sure if this makes any difference).

He has been paying £140 month since March 2007 and just had a letter to say it has paid and the payment will now stop.

I just wanted to know is it normal that he would be liable even if he didnt have the funds to pay and if anyone has had similar experiences

NAR

louielouie wrote: »

I This was the only debt and it was a barclays staff account. (not sure if this makes any difference).

Still not clear what debt was. Credit card? Overdraft? Loan?
In any case it seems unlikely that your father should have paid the debt off. I would contact Barclaycard and ask them how come your father was asked to clear the debt. Sounds like someone chanced their arm and your father agreed.

louielouie_2

NAR wrote: »

Ah it was your mother's credit card, you did not state that in your first post. But did your father have an additional card?
If no the debt should have stopped if there were no funds left in the estate to deal with it. So yes you/father should request return of the money with interest from the bank.

Thanks Nar.. Just wondered if it was worth questioning.

louielouie_2

NAR wrote: »

Still not clear what debt was. Credit card? Overdraft? Loan?
In any case it seems unlikely that your father should have paid the debt off. I would contact Barclaycard and ask them how come your father was asked to clear the debt. Sounds like someone chanced their arm and your father agreed.

Thanks Nar, its was her barclay card bill. He said this came to light a few months after she died and he didnt want to trouble us anymore. He pretty much would have agreed to anything at the time so your right.

Will contact them and see what happens.

Thanks again for your advice