overdraft and finanical hardship

haycorns

Hi , I have been trying to help my brother , whos whole life is a bit of a mess following a recent stroke. Thanksfully he is alive but with a malfunctioning body. His problem was he was living 'rough' in a caravan and debt and only self employed income but following the stroke he cannot work with his hands. He has been decalred homeless and thankfully the local councill have temporarily housed him. He is claiming universal credit now and we have a PIP application in progress but he cannot claim until 3 months after the stroke.


Meanwhile we have written to the bank explaining his circumstances declaring financial hardship. He has a £5000 maxed out overdraft that has been that way for 5 years following a ministrke and a cahneg of cirumstances then. I also worked out he had paid back the total amount he borrowed and the £5000 was the sum of interest and charges, so asked if they would write it off. Seems like that may have been a bad move. They have now passed it to their collections department and want him to phone and discuss. We told them in the letter he didn't have the capacity to speak to them on the phone due to the stroke .



Any thoughts on what their next move will be and what I should do next?



We were in the process of opening a basic account with another organisation , but that is not open yet. I am worried he won't be able to access his benefits which are still being paid into the overdrafn account.


I also feel a bit guilty that I may have made thinsg worse. In hindsight it would have been better to wait until the new account was open but that took some while as we had difficultly proviing this address as he didn't have one.

Unicorn_cottage

Haycorns

Expert help will be along soon. Just wanted to send hugs for such a stressful situation.

UC

theoretica

My understanding is that only the collections department have the power to write debts off, so I don't think you have made things worse. But I so hear you about organisations missing the 'can't use phone' bit!

haycorns

Thanks UC - it's a bit of a challenge to get him back on track. I know this is the best place for advice on the financials for experts and those who have been there done that and come out the other side.

Sugarplum634

Benefits have to be paid by the bank. They can not be withheld. You can ask for the money in cash in a branch.

haycorns

Thanks theoretica for your reassurance - the letter frightened my brother - I had asked them to upload the response to his online banking rather than post it as he is depressed and quite vulnerable. i could then deal with it for him.

Gotta love that the banks compassion is overflowing!

My brother thought as he had been with the bank for 37 years they might be nice. I have so much to teach him about money! I will probably ring them and see if they will talk to me as he instructed in his letter. I suspect not but its worth a go

tallyhoh

Don't ring them, keep everything in writing

haycorns

Tallyhoh - i shoud know that shouldn't I. nearly a schoolboy error. I will write on my brothers behalf. thanks for the reminder.

I think i can be patient based on the responses I have had above. It seems the account will continue to function as it was while they make a decision.

elsien

If your brother is happy for you to deal with them on his behalf he can write to them authorising you to discuss the situation with them either in writing or on the phone. He can retract this at any point if he changes his mind.
If you/he let them know that he is a vulnerable adult they are obliged to take note of this. So you can ask them to put a hold on collection action while he takes steps to get advice/resolve his situation. They should put everything on hold for 30 days but you can contact them again if nothing has changed and ask them to extend it again. I did this for someone I was helping who had mental health difficulties.

Has he spoken to any of the debt relief charities such as Stepchange? There is an online tool, but again with written consent you can talk to them on his behalf on the phone if that makes things easier.