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Barclaycard balance of deceased person
worried50
Posts: 11 Forumite
in Credit cards
My father died recently, leaving a credit card balance of c. 10k. My mother has received a letter from Barclaycard closing the account, and saying that interest and charges will be frozen for a period of 3 months.
At the time of his death, my father did not have sufficient money in any UK account to settle this debt. The only large asset is his house in the UK, jointly owned with my mother, where she lives currently.
The bulk of his estate is in Italy, and has been frozen due to the Italian probate process. It cannot be accessed until this process has been completed, which we understand could take at least a year, certainly much more than the 3 months interest has been frozen for.
There is also the question of the ethics of Barclaycard in allowing this debt to mount up. This entire amount had been run up in the 6 months leading up to his death, much of which he spent in hospital. He had no income in the UK (i.e not employed and not yet receiving a pension) and was using it as due to his illness he couldn't access his money in Italy. Barclaycard increased his credit limit several times in the run up to his death. It is questionable if he was in a state of mind to increase his credit limit. His emails and letters whilst he was ill do not reflect a completely logical state of mind, and in the brief time he was out of hospital before he died, he had to go to his bank to re-do his signature as his illness had changed it.
Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this please? At the very minimum we want to ensure that interest is frozen until my father's estate is released from Italy, and that Barclaycard don't attempt to chase my father's share of my mother's house.
Do we have any case against them allowing this debt to build whilst my father was ill? They were certainly aware of his illness. There was an incident when the card got blocked as my mother accidently used my father's card rather than her own. Trying to reactivate it was a nightmare - my father was in hospital and the customer service rep was on the phone trying to speak to my father and do security checks with him - but he really struggled with that, he was on oxygen at the time.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks
At the time of his death, my father did not have sufficient money in any UK account to settle this debt. The only large asset is his house in the UK, jointly owned with my mother, where she lives currently.
The bulk of his estate is in Italy, and has been frozen due to the Italian probate process. It cannot be accessed until this process has been completed, which we understand could take at least a year, certainly much more than the 3 months interest has been frozen for.
There is also the question of the ethics of Barclaycard in allowing this debt to mount up. This entire amount had been run up in the 6 months leading up to his death, much of which he spent in hospital. He had no income in the UK (i.e not employed and not yet receiving a pension) and was using it as due to his illness he couldn't access his money in Italy. Barclaycard increased his credit limit several times in the run up to his death. It is questionable if he was in a state of mind to increase his credit limit. His emails and letters whilst he was ill do not reflect a completely logical state of mind, and in the brief time he was out of hospital before he died, he had to go to his bank to re-do his signature as his illness had changed it.
Does anyone have any advice on how to approach this please? At the very minimum we want to ensure that interest is frozen until my father's estate is released from Italy, and that Barclaycard don't attempt to chase my father's share of my mother's house.
Do we have any case against them allowing this debt to build whilst my father was ill? They were certainly aware of his illness. There was an incident when the card got blocked as my mother accidently used my father's card rather than her own. Trying to reactivate it was a nightmare - my father was in hospital and the customer service rep was on the phone trying to speak to my father and do security checks with him - but he really struggled with that, he was on oxygen at the time.
Any advice appreciated. Thanks
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Comments
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Write to them explaining the circumstances and request that the interest is frozen for a further period. Hopefully they will be understanding.
His continued spending however won't be grounds for complaint, uness he requested that they close his account and block his card. Even then, his continued usage would count against such a claim.0 -
There is also the question of the ethics of Barclaycard in allowing this debt to mount up.He had no income in the UK (i.e not employed and not yet receiving a pension) and was using it as due to his illness he couldn't access his money in Italy.
You've explained yourself why your father used his credit card, so why are you complaining about Barclaycard letting him do it?Barclaycard increased his credit limit several times in the run up to his death. It is questionable if he was in a state of mind to increase his credit limit.
If they hadn't increased his credit limit he would, presumably, have been left without any money. In that case, would you have come on here and complained about Barclaycard being unethical because they refused to increase his credit limit.0 -
Why didn't his family help him during this difficult time?EU tariff on agricultual product 12.2%
some dairy products 42.1% cloths 11.4%
EU Clinical Trials Directive stops medical advances0 -
Because his family didn't know he was out of cash in the UK. He was so very proud he would rather get in debt. There are a number of family members who would have given him money when he needed it.
Is the fact that they increased his credit limit whilst very ill not questionable? He had no means to repay a higher balance so I don't know what they were thinking... Is meeting the minimum monthly repayment all they consider? As I said he was not in a sound frame of mind when he did this, they even struggled to get the security answers from him to unblock the card. Do they not question if the person on the other end of the phone does not seem with it? It just seems so irresponsible.
I'm rather surprised by the tone of the responses on here as previously I've had very helpful responses. I had offered him money before he did this, he said he had enough. The only party who knew he didn't was Barclaycard, who allowed a man who was struggling to speak on the phone, remember his security answers, or replicate his signature, increase a credit limit that was way beyond his means to repay. My mother was also in the background trying to help him - they warned her against that once as the person has to be capable themself, their alarm systems should have gone off at this point. Now his widow is going to be stuck with (according to what they've said so far) probably 9 months or more of fees and charges on this debt. By the way, my mother did not know there was not enough money to pay off the credit card at the time (my father did all the banking), she thought it was being used for practical reasons.0 -
I'm rather surprised by the tone of the responses on here as previously I've had very helpful responses.
Seems like the OP only wants answers that are going to slag Barclaycard off.Be Alert..........Britain needs lerts.0 -
I'm rather surprised at the tone of the OP. The family have done nothing to help despite knowing his state of mind. Yet Barclaycard are supposed to jumped in to save him after having a phone call with him.0
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Deleted_User wrote: »I'm rather surprised at the tone of the OP. The family have done nothing to help despite knowing his state of mind. Yet Barclaycard are supposed to jumped in to save him after having a phone call with him.
The OP said they didn't know he was out of cash as he didn't tell them.
At least read the whole thread if you're going to criticise.What will your verse be?
R.I.P Robin Williams.0 -
I din't mention his cash. I mentioned his state of mind.
Please read the replies before commenting.0 -
Deleted_User wrote: »I din't mention his cash. I mentioned his state of mind.
Please read the replies before commenting.
'Done nothing to help despite his state of mind' yet the whole thread is about him running up credit card debts, which they didn't know about until after his death.
You're therefore saying they didn't help with a problem they didn't know about.What will your verse be?
R.I.P Robin Williams.0 -
Because his family didn't know he was out of cash in the UK. He was so very proud he would rather get in debt. There are a number of family members who would have given him money when he needed it. .
If the family members would have given him money when he was alive, why don't they help his widow out financially now that he's dead? She could always repay them when probate is settled.'Done nothing to help despite his state of mind' yet the whole thread is about him running up credit card debts, which they didn't know about until after his death.
You're therefore saying they didn't help with a problem they didn't know about.
They might not have known about the debt, but they knew that he wasn't in a sound state of mind and that he was struggling to contact the bank. They could have arranged a third-party mandate giving them authority to use the account, or they could have arranged a power of attorney.0
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