13 and overdrawn!!

Gromitt

I don't think they can pass the debt onto you unless you agreed to be a guarantor.

Regardless however, he needs to pay off the debt. Maybe next time tell him to withdraw the cash rather than using the card in a shop to prevent it happening again.

nitac

The letter (well contents of) is what has anoyed me the most. If Barclays are keen enough to have minors open accounts then they should have the decency to contact them in language appropriate for their age.

Because they have wound me up, I am tempted to pay them £1 a week and move his account elsewhere.

Savvy_Money

Did you provide an agreement for the account and debit card? If so you will be held ultimately responsible for the debt. Regardless of whether your agreement was provided you are still responsible for the debt of your son and the bank has a right to try and reclaim the debt. Having said this they cannot charge him for the debt. I suspect the letter was a standard letter sent in these circumstances. I'm more surprised that the payment was not immediately accounted for as he will have been given a full authorisation card. Maybe he saw last nights balance and presumed that he had more funds than necessary, but even so the system should have prevented him from having access to the cash. I would send a letter of complaint and ask why his balance was not in 'real time'.

Debit cards are given to minors though between the ages of 11 and 13 parental permission is sought.

opinions4u

1. You are not liabile for the debt (unless the account was set up in a way that had you guaranteeing it in some way).

2. They cannot take enforcement action against him.

If you wanted your son to walk away from this, he could. There's nothing they can do about it.

The only thing that makes me suggest you don't is the example that sets for your son. I think the idea of making him pay it back at a nominal rate (e.g. £2 a month or whatever) is right.

stclair

How much is the account overdrawn?

It makes me think as the account has been passed external that there must have been a debit balance on the account for quiet a while?

nitac

He cant walk away from the debt, I wont let him do that. One of the reasons I let him have a bank account was to learn how to manage money. Possibly NOT learn this much though.

I have asked the bank why it took 6 weeks to clear and I have made a complaint about the letter's tone and content but the response I have had to date is that they couldnt care a less if he is upset.

As far as I can remember, I never signed anything when he opened the account

jjlandlord

nitac wrote: »

They sent a letter to him, using phrases like "escalating debt can lead to financial difficulty" which left him in tears, and when I called them they said that if this was not paid back quickly it would be passed to debt collection... he is 13!!!!!

Frankly, I think that's a good thing: Better to learn what happens when you fail to balance your budget at 13 than later in life when your house is repossessed.
Learning by experience works.

primowino

All banks are afraid of their complaint statistics now, so I would send a complaint to Barclays. Word the letter with a header of complaint. You will be able to complain on behalf of your son as he is a minor, but make sure you say you are complaining on his behalf and get him to sign he is authorising you to do so.
There are a number of issues here, potentially you were mis-sold as you believed the account could not go over drawn , secondly from a treating customers fairly point there a number of outcomes the FSA expect a firm to meet and I have copied a few that are relevant to this case:

Outcome 1: Consumers can be confident that they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture. Surely sending minors such letters and causing distress breaches this outcome!

Outcome 2: Products and services marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly. If minors can go overdrawn then its the wrong product for the - misselling!

Outcome 3: Consumers are provided with clear information and are kept appropriately informed before, during and after the point of sale. If you believed the account could not go overdrawn then the information was not clear.

Outcome 5: Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is of an acceptable standard and as they have been led to expect. The product did not perform as expected, and the service following has not been good, the letter aside, if your son was upset and the bank just dismissed you then they have not dealt with the complaint properly, a bank should deal with all expressions of dissatisfaction as a complaint, and saying your son was upset and that you did not expect the account could go overdrawn if already expressed to the bank should have already been treated as a complaint and dealt with appropriately!

Get wthe address of where to complain to from the Barclays website,and if still unhappy threaten to go to the Financial Ombudsman, and if still not happy apply to the Ombudsman, if will cost the bank £250 if you do this. Its very easy to do I promise.

hugoshavez

nitac wrote: »

My 13 year old child is apparently overdrawn with Barclays... with an account that we were told when set up could not get overdrawn because of their age. Has anyone else had any experience of this?

Barclays response was quite frankly appaling. They sent a letter to him, using phrases like "escalating debt can lead to financial difficulty" which left him in tears, and when I called them they said that if this was not paid back quickly it would be passed to debt collection... he is 13!!!!!

At no point did they think of informing me of this debt (he has privacy apparently) yet it is ME they are expecting to pay this back (magic faries must have to tell me this if I hadnt found the letter). Surely this is not right???:mad:

Sounds like sensible advice to me

Savvy_Money

Sorry I should have made it clear that you are morally responsible rather than legally responsible and I agree with Opinions 4U that from a legal perspective the bank has very limited options. I'm pleased though that the debt will be repaid as it does send an important and valuable lesson. I'm still surprised Barclays systems allowed him to withdraw funds. Whilst I appreciate that retailers have up to 6 months to process payment I thought with fully authorised cards the amount is deducted almost immediately from the available balance. To be honest I would ask the bank why this did not happen.