irresponsible lending - Mental health

Apples2

The first loan was given before she was even diagnosed so nobody knew any different.

After being diagnosed however, you dragged her in to sign up for a remortgage.
Why would you do such a thing if you believe she shouldn't be allowed to make a decision?

DaveTheMus

drayfus wrote: »

Hi,
Bit of advice pls, my wife suffers from bipolar depression, during a particularly bad episode before she was diagnosed properly she walked into Halifax and got a 4.5K loan, 3 months later she went into Halifax again, got a 5.5K loan, during the time she was earning approx 10K a year, we were only banking with Halifax, so they could have checked and seen she was receiving sick pay, and that she was having difficulty making the payments on the first loan, she wasn't asked to provide her last 3 months payslips nor was she asked about the 1st loan at the time of applying for the second loan, both loans where completed and paid into her account within an hour of walking into the branch,
since then we remortgaged and borrowed more to clear the loans, this was 2001/2002,
do you think it s worth complaining and how should I word it? I remember how Ill my wife was at this time pre medication and cant believe anyone would have lent her money let alone 10K. any advice welcomed pls

The loan was obtained before your wife was on medication or diagnosed - this to me means that you weren't certain that there was something wrong with your wife because if you knew she was ill you would have taken her to the Dr's immediatley.

How on earth is a counter assistant at a bank meant to tell that your wife isn't compos mentis during a relatively short conversation when you, her husband, didn't even know?

chanz4

Did you. Give them the unspent back right away

drayfus

Just want to say thanks to magpiecottage, morglin and battyboimatt for the constructive and well put advice,
seriously whats up with the other replies, this isnt facebook or the daily mail comments section, if some one asked you for help face to face would you be such an !!! or are you just brave behind a keyboard?
but in response to the questions asked, no we didn't give it back as it was all gone by the time i knew what was happening, I "dragged her to get a re-mortguage as our fixed rate was up and we needed to get a better deal, it made sence to clear the debt, she was diagnosed and her condition was better managed by then, but nice of you to assume i just wheeled her into the bank and made her sign up.
yes I had already taken her to the doctor but you seem to think they just give you a prescription for some antidepressants and that's that, in reality it takes a good 6 months of different dose antidepressants, then a bit of stability then a year and a suicide attempt later you get to see the consultant psychiatrist, then after 6 consultations and some therapy you get a diagnosis. So yes, I did know something was wrong,
I can understand the first loan being offered as morglins spot on, but the second one 3 months later for almost half a years salary, that one really annoyed me, as i said, if they had checked the state of her account or our joint account they would have know it wasnt right,
anyways I'm going to write to complain, if only to get it off my chest and seek assurances they have changed there practices. Ill update this post and let you know how I get on.
Happy new year all,

PeacefulWaters

drayfus wrote: »

anyways I'm going to write to complain, if only to get it off my chest and seek assurances they have changed there practices. Ill update this post and let you know how I get on.

While lending practices have changed, and there is a code of conduct on mental illness, staff are not trained to diagnose before a loan application is taken.

You might have more mileage trying to reclaim PPI if it was included.

sinizterguy

drayfus wrote: »

Hi,
Bit of advice pls, my wife suffers from bipolar depression, during a particularly bad episode before she was diagnosed properly she walked into Halifax and got a 4.5K loan, 3 months later she went into Halifax again, got a 5.5K loan, during the time she was earning approx 10K a year, we were only banking with Halifax, so they could have checked and seen she was receiving sick pay, and that she was having difficulty making the payments on the first loan, she wasn't asked to provide her last 3 months payslips nor was she asked about the 1st loan at the time of applying for the second loan, both loans where completed and paid into her account within an hour of walking into the branch,
since then we remortgaged and borrowed more to clear the loans, this was 2001/2002,
do you think it s worth complaining and how should I word it? I remember how Ill my wife was at this time pre medication and cant believe anyone would have lent her money let alone 10K. any advice welcomed pls

She had depression. Not dementia.

jjlandlord

As others have said you left it for too long and you might have had a case (or rather your wife might have had) if she was visibly of "unsound mind" at the time as summarised in the Ombudsman's decision quoted previously.

As for the banks making bad decisions to loan to someone who cannot really repay, I'm afraid that this is their loss.

You have dealt with the situation and hopefully your wife is better now. Just move on.

System

sinizterguy wrote: »

She had depression. Not dementia.

Bipolar

Which in some cases is somewhat more severe than depression, the manic stages can have debilitating effect like dementia

OP there is a link somewhere on MSE about mental health and moneysaving, i think it also has advice relating to debts

edit: found it http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/mental-health-guide?_ga=1.166234300.326082681.1412531047

i don;t know if this will be any help regarding previous debts but it may prevent further debts

drayfus

xXMessedUpXx thanks, that is just what I was looking for, as everyone says, its probably a bit late but if it anyone with the same issues finds this thread then hopefully that will help them.

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

anyways, thank you for the helpful reply's people, I'll send the letter today and let you know how I get on,
If anyone with mental issues is reading this, pls read the link xXMessedUpXx posted, its really useful