Barclaycard balance of deceased person

matttye

EarthBoy wrote: »

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.

The OP said her father was really proud and didn't want to accept help, so he may not have agreed to it.

Lets just stick to the facts instead of shoulda woulda couldas

elisebutt65

But isn't everyone posting here aware that the man is now dead? I thought that debts were not payable once you've died? The money can be paid out of the estates liquid assets after probate, but they can't go after tangibles, like a charge on a house. AFAIK.

Can you send a copy of the death cert to barclaycard?

Eonel

OP, you have received a mixed response from the forum because you have mixed subjects in your questions.

Questions on handling debt after bereavement always receive polite and contructive comments.

Questions on not paying debt due to irresponsible lending will attract critical responses.

While banks do have a responsible lending code - that responsibility is shared with the individual that borrowed and spent the money.

Where the boundary for responsibility lies is subjective and contentious - the posts here suggest that in this specific circumstance it is not appropriate to entirely blame the banks responsible lending code.

EarthBoy

elisebutt65 wrote: »

I thought that debts were not payable once you've died? The money can be paid out of the estates liquid assets after probate, but they can't go after tangibles, like a charge on a house. AFAIK.

Debts are only not payable if you leave no estate, which includes both money, and property, i.e. anything that's worth anything. If you haven't left enough money to clear your debts, then your house or other property has to be sold to pay them.

worried50

Thanks for those who've given helpful replies, and apologies if I've offended anyone by asking a contentious question.

I am aware debts are not written off after death if there are assets. There are assets, jointly owned with my mother - only their house in the UK though. What I'm trying to do here is assist my grieving mother to hang on to as much of their assets as she can, as not only has she lost her husband of 40 years, but she has also therefore lost his pension, which they planned would be their primary income in retirement (she may be entitled to part of his pension, tbc, but it won't be more than half). So she is grieving, and scared about how she will support herself. If trying to protect their / her assets means questioning if a lender did anything wrong, then I will do that. I'm not out to get Barclaycard, just help my mother.

It's very easy to say with hindsight what we should and shouldn't have done in the past. No we shouldn't have believed my father when he said all his finances were okay, and yes we should have set up a power of attorney. Although that process would have been extremely stressful for all concerned given that he was not well enough to set it up himself, but certainly well enough to be aware that his family were applying for a court mandate to take control of his affairs for him. I didn't know such a thing as a third party mandate existed until it was mentioned on this thread, but I don't think it would have been possible due to his signature changing due to illness. However, when you have a relative who has a life-threatening illness (though not diagnosed as terminal, we all hoped he would recover), really all you think about are the really important things, like a desperate hope they are going to live. We weren't aware there was a financial problem till after his death when it became possible as the executor of his estate to access his accounts.

No one has actually answered my question so I'll try to ask it more clearly. Should a credit card company have increased the credit limit to in excess of 10k for a person who didn't have any income, or assets in the uk other than their home? I'm not asking morally, I'm asking if there are any grounds in the UK by which we can question this. When I applied for my card here in Hong Kong where I live, I had to provide a copy of my employment contract and payslips. If the answer to this question is yes they can then fine. I will just try to appeal to their better nature to freeze all interest and charges until such time as the probate is settled overseas. Our family's help now is for my mother's living expenses as her money is frozen overseas.

I will accept that maybe I clouded the issue by expecting the Barclaycard customer service rep to have recognised that a person on oxygen, being passed the phone to answer questions by his wife, is too ill to make decisions, is too subjective.

I would really appreciate some practical advice though, without getting into a debate about the ethics of credit card lending.

Many thanks.

Clive_Woody

worried50 wrote: »

Should a credit card company have increased the credit limit to in excess of 10k for a person who didn't have any income, or assets in the uk other than their home?

I would really appreciate some practical advice though, without getting into a debate about the ethics of credit card lending.

You can't really ask a question regarding ethics then say that you don't want it debated.

I think the ethical side has been answered and you don't really have much chance of trying to claim irresponsible lending. Your father borrowed this money and spent it, the bank would not have been aware of his state of mind or his full medical history.

As somebody already mentioned your best bet would be to write to the bank (or better still the executor of the will write to them) and explain that your father's assets are tied up abroad and will take more than 3 months to be released to the estate and ask that they freeze the account until these become available for repayment of the debt.

The alternative is that family members help repay the debt now so that you can draw a line under this then repay the family members once the estate is finalised.

aleph_0

worried50 wrote: »

No one has actually answered my question so I'll try to ask it more clearly. Should a credit card company have increased the credit limit to in excess of 10k for a person who didn't have any income, or assets in the uk other than their home? I'm not asking morally, I'm asking if there are any grounds in the UK by which we can question this.

I don't think so. When opening the card, they assessed his claimed income (and assets, maybe) and decided that they can give him credit. They probably know he's a homeowner, and if there is a mortgage. He's continued to make the minimum repayments so seems to be managing the account fine.

They had no evidence that he wasn't of sound mind, evidence of physical illness doesn't help. They had no evidence that the illness was causing problems with his income.

Looking at it another way, I can see another customer taking offense if they, say, tried to deduce inability to pay from apparent medical problems.

pqrdef

They're only bluffing with the 3 months. The credit agreement terminates on death, so there's no contract now, just a debt, for which only the estate is liable. Pay when you're in a position to fully settle the estate, not before - for instance, the administrator has a duty to ensure than no other creditor has a prior claim. Don't pay any interest accruing after the date of death.

As a rule, jointly owned property wouldn't form part of the estate and they'd have no claim on that.