44 Year Old Credit Card Balance

LondonSammy

A pensioner friend of mine has been paying £200 per month for a £10,000 balance on a credit card for an unbelieveable 44 years. Thats a total of £105,000 she has repaid to them for a £10,000 initial debt.

The bank in question have told her she still owes them the capital amount despite having repaid them £105,600 in interest. Their suggestion to resolve the capital debt outstanding is for her to default the payment, get threatening letters go to court and have the judge assess.

Anyone with any common sense approaches that are less angst ridden for a wonderful 80 + year old.

If Id not heard this myself I would have thought it was a joke. Bank in question is Natwest.

Thanks

London Sammy

Tixy

Is the £200 per month just the interest? or the minimum payment on the account?
If its just the interest then is the APR around 25% and has been for the last 44years?

Can she afford the £200 a month? can she afford more than that?

Does she have any assets? is she a homeowner?

antrobus

2012 minus 44 is 1968, and £10,000 in 1968 £s would be worth £135,000 in 2010 £s, and a bit more in 2012 £s. So by my reckoning the credit card company appears to have been the big loser on this deal.

bengal-stripe

Where did you get 44 years from?

Barclaycard was launched in June 1966, but Natwest
did not issue a CC (Access) until 1972?

1972
NatWest, Midland, Lloyds & RBS join together to issue the Access credit card under the Joint Credit Card Company (JCCC).

http://www.theukcardsassociation.org.uk/Advice_and_links/index.asp

lisyloo

I can't see a lot wrong with this.
It sounds like a lot but they have used the service for almost half a decade.
There would have been better/cheaper ways to have arranged long term borrowing e.g. mortgage, overdraft or loan, but the price paid does not seem outrageous for borrowing money for nearly half a century.

There is no case to answer here, just the debt needs to be paid back.
Can they pay it?
If they can't pay it they need to reach an agreement with NatWest about what can be paid back.

Ben8282

This is not possible. Natwest did not issue Access cards 44 years ago. Does she still have her first statement? Would love to see a credit card statement issued in £ s d. Also I recall that cheques were subject to stamp duty at the time ... 2d if I remember ... collected when the cheque book was issued. I wonder if the credit card charge forms would have been subject to this as well.

Anyway, I don't believe this and I don't believe that somebody would have been given a £10,000 credit limit in 1968 either.

And she has been paying this £200pm, not a penny more, not a penny less, since 1968 has she? I assume that you know that there were no 1% minimum payments in the old days. The minimum payment was quite high on the early cards, 5% maybe? but definately more than the interest. How come that she has not repaid or reduced the balance AT ALL after all these years.

Why has she done nothing to reduce this debt or contacted the bank before this?

Dabooka

Something's odd. And it's worth noting she maybe a wonderful 80+ year old today, but she would have a wonderful 40 something when she took it on; I assume she knew what she was doing then?

bengal-stripe

Ben8282 wrote: »

.....I don't believe that somebody would have been given a £10,000 credit limit in 1968 either.

Back then, 10,000 quid would have bought a very, very nice house.

lisyloo

she maybe a wonderful 80+ year old today

Being wonderful or 80 does not exempt you from contracts you sign.
You are either a competant adult or you are not.
If she's not competant someone in the family should get power of atttorney sorted, but presumably she was when this was agreed, even though we don't believe the 44 years is true.

MonkeyMad

I smell wind-up....£220/m flat on a £10000 load would pay the balance of within 15 years even at credit card rates I would have thought. (Without mentioning what £200/m was worth 44 years ago)

Its like this OP, if you make minimum payments on a credit card you can expect the balance to hang around you for a long time. Assuming a starting balance of £10000, making 2% min with APR of 20% it will take approx 70 years to clear the balance. (Please, someone correct my maths)

rhoda

LondonSammy you're a day late. April 1st was yesterday. It's the 2nd today :rotfl: