Mental Health and Sporadic Spending

devils_spawn

I'm trying to find some advice for a close friend of mine who has been diagnosed as having Bipolar disorder, PTSD and a personality disorder. He has been recently voluntarily admitted to a mental health ward.

Whilst talking with his wife, I found out that in the space of 2 years, he managed to burn through £30,000.

Reviewing this, he appears to have spent the money in what looks to be a dodgy pharmacy site. His wife has said that he did not receive anything as she signed for parcels. She has also admitted he's spent £'000s buying from reputable UK sites. I'm contacting them to see if I can return goods.

All his spending appears to be through a Visa Debit card as he has no credit cards. Looking at the account info, he is fine during 2011, but then there is a sudden flurry of spending from 2012 through 2013. The bank is Santander.

Before I suggest his wife calls the bank, has anyone ever had any experience of asking the banks to review the spending and trying to see if there is anything that can be reclaimed?

They are facing losing everything now and I'd like to see if there is anything I can do to help, they have enough on their plate with the mental illnesses and this is tearing the family apart.

HappyMJ

You've lost me a little...why are they facing losing everything. This person had £30,000 in cash sitting in a current account and has no credit cards. Have any joint loans or joint mortgages been taken out? Did the wife sign for any of these? If not then only he is liable for them. The wife does not need to pay for them.

If he's just spent £30,000 of cash then that's all they've lost. If it's a joint account the wife should have been keeping tabs on the spending on what is also her account otherwise it was his money to spend. They'll have to write a joint SOA to see how they can move forward with this. If the joint assets of the household (excluding the property they live in) have fallen below £16,000 they can claim income based benefits. Does the wife work? Could the husband claim a contributory benefit?

DomRavioli

Why would anything be able to be reclaimed? The bank has done nothing wrong, and it seems that your friend's wife has been aware since possibly 2012, three years ago. Why did they not contact the bank three years ago when the issues started?

If a person wants to spend that much money, they can, on whatever they want (its a free country!) even if people disagree. BP (I or II), PD and PTSD aren't necessarily reasons for spending any money at all, let alone burning through 30k in 3 years.

Something just doesn't seem right, in that if the wife has been intercepting parcels for three years, why has it taken until now to do something?

Perhaps speak with the MH team that he is under for advice and guidance, and even signposting. But you're barking up the wrong tree with regards to banks so get that one out of your head.

devils_spawn

He is unemployed, ha I g lost his job through his condition. I myself questioned why his wife let this happen, she was unaware of the scale but that she was aware of, she did not act upon to avoid arguments.

I agree that I think there is no chance of getting anything back but though I would ask.

They have a joint mortgage, she does not earn enough to pay this. But they are talking to the mental health team to see if they are entitled to any benefits.

I agree the bank have done nothing wrong, but surely it would be prudent for them to check up on accounts where they see a sudden change in spending habits. Though, even if they did (I don't know at this stage) then he would have probably authorised it.

I'm still thinking about the dodgy website though, I'm unsure whether she should phone the bank and ask them to do chargeback so for this. Given the time that has elapsed, I don't think they would do anything.

Reading through the moneysavingexpert guide to debt and mental health just now, very good reading. Might suggest she also takes a trip to CAB before things get even worse.

faerielight

I think it's down to the bank's discretion and there's no harm in asking . I did get one credit card debt written off years ago from impulsivly spending when I was very ill,..I also got my student loan completely wiped by a CPN at the time writing to them.this was 25 years ago... but I was on benefits with no assets and the baillifs were coming to my door every day and making my illness worse.. I went bankrupt 2 years ago, again due to not being able to control my impulses.. BPD and Bi Polars struggle with sere impulsivity.. trying to medicate our pain and illness with things...I dissagree with Dom ravioli, if you don't have these illnesses, you don't know how overpowering it is to curb impulsivity when you're ill.. unless you have mental health help, it is not actually a choice..just like self harm, overdosing, eating disorders and addictions.. you just are not in control of yourself..especially if you are in the throws of psychosis

.There is enough scientific research to show that this is a brain chemical depregulation illness.. I think unless they are in debt, have no assets and are about to be homeless, they will struggle to get that spending written off. But.. if their home is in danger of being reposessed, they are in a serious situation.. Martin's guid suggests talking to the bank and Banks can offer a spending limit block and can flag it up that he may be overspending, for the future, to put a plan in place to avoid getting into debt in the future.. Also, money wise, he may be entitled to P.I.P for his mental health.. I'm not sure if he's already claiming it, just thought I'd mention it, as not everyone knows that it exists.. It's not means tested either.

Here are some links to info regarding mental illness and overspending .. here's Martin from MSE's guide to mental health and money
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/images/attachment/mentalhealthguide.pdf

Here's Mind's

http://www.mind.org.uk/media/273469/in-the-red.pdf

kah22

Just realised that I've also posted a thread on bipolar and money 'Bipolar what can banks do to help.' If any of he mods think it worth of joining the two then please do so

DomRavioli

OP, it isn't the bank's responsibility - an adult can spend whatever they like on anything; and unless the goods were returned to the supplier (the so-called dodgy online business) then not sure how a chargeback will help, plus the huge amount of time gone past. You can't get goods, then do a chargeback whilst still retaining said goods without full return of them within the corresponding timeframe, that would be potentially illegal.

I can understand how frustrating it may be to be an onlooker in the situation, but unless there is concrete proof of diagnosis in or before 2012 when this happened, even if the bank was to do something as goodwill they would be unable to as there would be no proof of illness. (you don't say when the diagnosis was made, didn't want to assume).

If the wife doesn't work, then apply for SMI (statutory mortgage interest) to at least get some money for the mortgage. She can also claim JSA, or if she is ill, then ESA - the rules regarding a spouse in hospital are a little confusing so the CAB or Welfare Rights (if your area has one, not all do) will help. Also the husband could apply for PIP if he is under 65, as it seems the condition fits the criteria. Again, get someone to help with the forms as they can be confusing.

Also, speak to the local authority with regards to council tax relief, its one less bill that they may get help with. And if there's a local branch of MIND, they have some great people down there who can help with a lot of the practicalities, and if he's a voluntary patient, there will be help in the unit for all of this also.

Ames

I read the OP as the guy ordered stuff from a dodgy website but the stuff never arrived. The wife knows that it didn't arrive as she's the one who signs for parcels and didn't see any such parcels at all.