Natwest Visa are trying to kill me.

suburbanwifey

This is just an aside and in no way saying that I think the OP is doing this, more an explanation as to why NatWest may be being difficult.

I've come across 2 people during the course of my life who have admitted to faking mental illness as its practically impossible to prove its existence either way to be honest. One person suddenly became bi-polar upon finding herself in too much debt and fed up of her job (lots of benefits came her way after that) and another after she had a baby and didn't have enough money coming in .... I know from when I spoke to these two people that they were not bi-polar or had ME (another one that is easy to fake) so I think a lot of institutions (banks etc) worry that customers are lying to get out of debt and lets face it, they get a ton more in benefits when they have mental illness.

Just thought I'd offer that as an explanation.

Tracewhy

OP, to be honest I'm not too fussed whether what you say is true or not. If it is true (and I have to believe for my own sanity that it is). If I was you and in the state of health you say I'd get a solicitor to be doing the fighting for me. Debt altho it feels like it (and I've been in serious debt so know), its not worth dying over.

If you don't want to do this then I suggest you follow Natwest's comlaints procedure, this I have done with NW previously when I had an issue with them (nothing like your issue) and I received an apology and compensation. I'm not saying that you will though as I'm not over confident that in your case they have actually done anything wrong, yes they may not have been compassionate but not sure they have legally done anything wrong.

endora

As this is a forum where people post anonymously under an assumed name without face to face or even voice contact, there really is no reason for the OP to lie about his condition. He could just come here and say "I can't afford to pay my debts and also pay the bills/heat my house/provide for my family" like so many others.

When you have health issues, whether physical or mental, your health should come first. Mental health issues can not only make some people spend more and get into debt more easily, they also make it hard to find and/or hold down a job.

In all honesty, if I had all those health issues and was living abroad, NatPest, or any other financial institution, would be the least of my concerns. Health has to come first.

Gromitt

endora wrote: »

In all honesty, if I had all those health issues and was living abroad, NatPest, or any other financial institution, would be the least of my concerns. Health has to come first.

Thats one post in this thread that I 100% agree with.

I can understand the business side from Natwests point of view as well, but from the OPs point of view, look after yourself first and others second.

oscar52

endora wrote: »

When you have health issues, whether physical or mental, your health should come first. Mental health issues can not only make some people spend more and get into debt more easily, they also make it hard to find and/or hold down a job.

Obviously some people dont agree, hence why certain posts supporting the OP (from users who have an understanding of Mental Health) have been amended or deleted.

callum9999

oscar52 wrote: »

Obviously some people dont agree, hence why certain posts supporting the OP (from users who have an understanding of Mental Health) have been amended or deleted.

How do they not agree? I think it's more a case of you and others not liking what you hear. There doesn't appear to be anything on here that is majorly wrong in my opinion. Though I guess it could be phrased better with regards to it being from the banks perspective and not what's "right and wrong".

From Natwest's perspective, the only evidence they have of mental illness is a doctors letter from Finland which specifically says they are currently fit enough to live a normal life - which from that it can be inferred that he is 100% capable of dealing with this debt problem, he is just hiding behind the illness.

From the OPs perspective, they aren't capable of dealing with them and disagree with their doctor. While that deserves sympathy and should be dealt with compassionately, as far as Natwest are concerned it's pretty likely they are just making it up (yes, many, many people will do just that).

As has already been pointed out, there isn't a huge amount they can do with them being resident in Finland. I would personally send them a letter reiterating their illness in a very concise manner (yes, they should know all this already but it's far simpler to just spell it out for the individual that opens the letter) and say that your final offer is for the amount you actually owed minus the charges with a reasonable amount on top - maybe even enclose a cheque to that amount. If they reject that then just ignore them from then on - don't talk to them on the phone and ignore letters/emails. As has been said before, it's not worth risking your health over (particularly if you believe previous correspondence has sent you to hospital).

oscar52

callum9999 wrote: »

How do they not agree? I think it's more a case of you and others not liking what you hear. There doesn't appear to be anything on here that is majorly wrong in my opinion. Though I guess it could be phrased better with regards to it being from the banks perspective and not what's "right and wrong".

From Natwest's perspective, the only evidence they have of mental illness is a doctors letter from Finland which specifically says they are currently fit enough to live a normal life - which from that it can be inferred that he is 100% capable of dealing with this debt problem, he is just hiding behind the illness.

From the OPs perspective, they aren't capable of dealing with them and disagree with their doctor. While that deserves sympathy and should be dealt with compassionately, as far as Natwest are concerned it's pretty likely they are just making it up (yes, many, many people will do just that).

As has already been pointed out, there isn't a huge amount they can do with them being resident in Finland. I would personally send them a letter reiterating their illness in a very concise manner (yes, they should know all this already but it's far simpler to just spell it out for the individual that opens the letter) and say that your final offer is for the amount you actually owed minus the charges with a reasonable amount on top - maybe even enclose a cheque to that amount. If they reject that then just ignore them from then on - don't talk to them on the phone and ignore letters/emails. As has been said before, it's not worth risking your health over (particularly if you believe previous correspondence has sent you to hospital).

Not at all. I just think that serious helath issues being automatically discredited is wrong.

There was a post on here that basically said we cant be expected to believe a doctor based outside the UK. While the letter may indicate they are "currently" fit to work, it does not state how long this will last.

The rest of your post I agree with, there is little that can be done from Natwests point of view

bigadaj

endora wrote: »

As this is a forum where people post anonymously under an assumed name without face to face or even voice contact, there really is no reason for the OP to lie about his condition. He could just come here and say "I can't afford to pay my debts and also pay the bills/heat my house/provide for my family" like so many others.

When you have health issues, whether physical or mental, your health should come first. Mental health issues can not only make some people spend more and get into debt more easily, they also make it hard to find and/or hold down a job.

In all honesty, if I had all those health issues and was living abroad, NatPest, or any other financial institution, would be the least of my concerns. Health has to come first.

However someone who isn't ill could be looking for advice as to what to claim to get out of the debt based on others experiences or even people working for the banks who may post. This is the reason that institutions don't make their credit scoring practices known as then people would just give the answers they wanted to hear to get their money and credit.

RobertoMoir

oscar52 wrote: »

Not at all. I just think that serious helath issues being automatically discredited is wrong.

There was a post on here that basically said we cant be expected to believe a doctor based outside the UK. While the letter may indicate they are "currently" fit to work, it does not state how long this will last.

I think you're reading something into that statement about the doctor being outside the UK that isn't there.

The post stating that was made before the OP pointed out that they currently lived in Finland - as they were posting on a UK debt board about a UK bank debt, its not entirely unreasonable to assume that the person is based in the UK.

Therefore any letter from a doctor based outside the UK could have been possibly outdated - especially when the letter says that the OP can live a normal life while medicated, and their post indicates that, in fact, they're struggling.

Rather than being "dismissive", I would suggest that suggesting the OP got an updated letter was actually a very good idea.

oscar52

RobertoMoir wrote: »

I think you're reading something into that statement about the doctor being outside the UK that isn't there.

Rather than being "dismissive", I would suggest that suggesting the OP got an updated letter was actually a very good idea.

Ordinarily, I may agree with you, however your post is not based on the original thread, but on the thread as it currently stands, from which several posts have been deleted and others significantly amended by Site Team.

Am sure you will appreciate that the thread no longer reads as it used to and therefore some responses make little sense.