Bank account advice for bipolar son

vigman

Hi

My adult son is bipolar and is living with us having worked abroad on and off for a few years.

I have previously had to pay off debts when he was manic and spending, but I am now retired and can no longer bail him out.

Is it possible for me to contact Barclays and advise them that he should not have an overdraft allowance as he is not earning or claiming any benefits. Preferably I believe he should have a 'basic' account that will only allow him to spend what is in the account.

He went overdrawn by £600 and was being charged fees for transactions over his limit.

Unless you have experienced bipolar sufferers it is impossible to explain that you cannot reason with them in a manic state and he would not contact them himself.

Any advice welcomed as this is a very worrying time at the moment.

TIA

Vigman

grumbler

I don't think that Barclays will listen to you.
Try discussing this with his GP and asking him/her to send a letter on your behalf.

Also, have a look at MSE's Mental Health Debt Guide

pjread

unless you e.g. have power of attorney they won't/shouldn't listen to you.

Can you get your son to agree/do this himself while not in a manic state? It's likely he could still become overdrawn regardless of having an arranged OD or not though.

vigman

pjread wrote: »

SNIP It's likely he could still become overdrawn regardless of having an arranged OD or not though.

I thought that this was the point of a 'basic account' which I read about in another mental health guide. The holder can only spend money that is in the account?

Thanks

Vigman

Archi_Bald

I wouldn't normally suggest this, but could something like Thinkmoney be of any help?

It's a really difficult one because he can still get in a mess with a basic account if he has bills to pay and DDs or SOs will bounce. Also, what would stop him from applying for a full account, or credit cards, alongside his normal account?

vigman

Many thanks, Archi Bald, I'll take a look!

Vigman

scoobydoothedog

Hello Vigman

Does your son have a CPN? If so, it might be worthwhile to have them discuss this with him and possibly persuade him to take proactive steps when on a more even keel to discuss this with the bank himself if he has sufficient insight into the consequences of his manic state.

You could consider taking some legal advice on the question of a lasting power of attorney. Whether or not the legal nicety of this would be lost during a manic state I do not know. Your local branch of MIND might have some advice if your son does not have a CPN.

Best wishes

vigman

scoobydoothedog wrote: »

Hello Vigman

Does your son have a CPN? If so, it might be worthwhile to have them discuss this with him and possibly persuade him to take proactive steps when on a more even keel to discuss this with the bank himself if he has sufficient insight into the consequences of his manic state.

You could consider taking some legal advice on the question of a lasting power of attorney. Whether or not the legal nicety of this would be lost during a manic state I do not know. Your local branch of MIND might have some advice if your son does not have a CPN.

Best wishes

...only just back on the site due to continuing difficulties. He now does have a care team but despite this, he managed to get an overdraft allowance increase by lying to the bank (overheard conversation). Surely they can see he is not getting any regular income paid in over the last 12 months?

[At this point in the posting I had a call from his care team who said that they had successfully taken lenders to the Financial Ombudsman for not checking the background of people they lent to]

Anyway, I am looking into various options, and will be posting somewhere else in the forum for advice on some sort of trust should my wife and I be killed in an accident or similar.

Thanks

Vigman

xylophone

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/trusts/types/vulnerable.htm may be relevant.

Trusts and taxation can be complex - I would strongly suggest that you take advice from a solicitor expert in wills and trusts.

http://www.step.org/online-directory

daphnemoon

Hello,

Appreciate this may not help with the overdraft but it may help to stop additional problems.

It may be worth getting your son to write to all three credit referencing agencies.

He can ask them to put a note (explaining his condition and asking no further credit to be extended to him) onto his records, this will mean that if he applies for further credit in the future the request will not automatically go through. It will mean that the lender will have to look on the credit report and will see the note and hopefully not grant the credit.

When he is not manic he should appreciate that this will help him from applying and getting further credit.

I would suggest checking with the credit reference agencies that they still allow this to be done, I can't think why they wouldn't but they can give you advice on what to ask for in the letter.

I do hope this helps, been there, done it and know how hard it is!

InsideInsurance

With a lot of these things it depends on how far you want to go in taking away his freedom which will cover both the manic and non-manic state. Plus of cause what happens when you yourself are no longer around to manage life for him.

Mental health charities will talk you through the options and things can be done via the CRAs etc. There is no law that a lender must check these, hence we get the adverts from the payday lenders etc, but mainstream do and there is always with a contract of lack of mental capability can make the contract unenforceable.

My limited experience of mental health charities however does suggest they are a little more pro the patient and against the idea of taking away all the persons freedoms unless absolutely necessary which running up debts when manic may not be considered sufficiently life threatening to warrant it