Natwest gave husband 5 loans - can we claim for exploitation?

Jcb85

I recently found out that my husband has been in financial trouble and has gotten himself into serious debt. Unfortunately he is not money savvy at all and took out more debt to cover debt repayments and all with big interest rates. We do not know what his credit rating is but we don't think it is very good as he has defaulted numerous times and has many loans and 2 credits cards all maxed out. (Have tried MSE credit club but we can't get past verification stage)
My query is regarding his loans - all of which are with Natwest (who he banks with) and amount to approx. £22k plus an overdraft of £4.5k!!! This just seems absurd to me that Natwest have given my husband loan after loan with high interest rates even though he has struggled to make payments on some months yet they give him more loans. Is there such a thing as banks taking advantage of people who have debt issues and anything to help protect people that have been taken advantage of??
I now have control of all finances but we now have more money going out thatn in and with 3 children and a large monthly rent, we are seriously in the red!
Can we claim back against the bank in anyway??

boo_star

There is certainly "irresponsible lending" but it's not entirely clear if that's the case here. What is/was your husband's annual income?

Bear in mind that your husband is an adult and despite not being money savvy, should have known that if you can't afford your current financial responsibilities then you obviously can't afford to take on more.

Silver_Queen

When you say he struggled to make payments, did he miss payments?

Did he ever communicate with the bank that he was struggling, or did he do anything that made it clear he was struggling?

To be honest, it's not the bank's responsibility to make sure that an adult of sound mind can manage his own finances, especially if they haven't been given any indication otherwise.

Jcb85

He has missed payments in the past yes and with the most recent payments being missed is how I found out about it all! No, as far as I am aware he did not contact them to say he was struggling meeting repayments.
The bank would have know all his income and expenditure as he uses them for all his banking. He is a complete idiot and more so for hiding it for 2 years from me and lying
On paper he takes home about £3.2k per month - outgoings every month NOT including loan repayments equals approx. £2900. He took out loans in quite close proximity of one another and then extended his overdraft to £4.5k! I completely agree it's not the banks responsibility to manage someones finances but do they not have some duty under the banking code to realise when someone is in financial crisis when 5 loans PLUS and overdraft have been applied for and approved within a short space of time?

Gaz83

Jcb85 wrote: »

He has missed payments in the past yes and with the most recent payments being missed is how I found out about it all! No, as far as I am aware he did not contact them to say he was struggling meeting repayments.
The bank would have know all his income and expenditure as he uses them for all his banking. He is a complete idiot and more so for hiding it for 2 years from me and lying
On paper he takes home about £3.2k per month - outgoings every month NOT including loan repayments equals approx. £2900. He took out loans in quite close proximity of one another and then extended his overdraft to £4.5k! I completely agree it's not the banks responsibility to manage someones finances but do they not have some duty under the banking code to realise when someone is in financial crisis when 5 loans PLUS and overdraft have been applied for and approved within a short space of time?

But you said yourself, he did not contact them. How are they meant to realise, if they're not informed?

boo_star

Jcb85 wrote: »

I completely agree it's not the banks responsibility to manage someones finances but do they not have some duty under the banking code to realise when someone is in financial crisis when 5 loans PLUS and overdraft have been applied for and approved within a short space of time?

Not really, no.

The bank would have had an overall figure that they were comfortable lending and whether a customer takes that out as one loan or five is immaterial. There perfectly reasonable reasons for doing it this way.

AnotherJoe

Jcb85 wrote: »

I recently found out that my husband has been in financial trouble and has gotten himself into serious debt. Unfortunately he is not money savvy at all and took out more debt to cover debt repayments and all with big interest rates. We do not know what his credit rating is but we don't think it is very good as he has defaulted numerous times and has many loans and 2 credits cards all maxed out. (Have tried MSE credit club but we can't get past verification stage)
My query is regarding his loans - all of which are with Natwest (who he banks with) and amount to approx. £22k plus an overdraft of £4.5k!!! This just seems absurd to me that Natwest have given my husband loan after loan with high interest rates even though he has struggled to make payments on some months yet they give him more loans. Is there such a thing as banks taking advantage of people who have debt issues and anything to help protect people that have been taken advantage of??
I now have control of all finances but we now have more money going out thatn in and with 3 children and a large monthly rent, we are seriously in the red!
Can we claim back against the bank in anyway??

"we" or him?
Can he go bankrupt?
As you dont own a house to be repossessed what would the downside be?

pmartin86

Jcb85 wrote: »

He has missed payments in the past yes and with the most recent payments being missed is how I found out about it all! No, as far as I am aware he did not contact them to say he was struggling meeting repayments.
The bank would have know all his income and expenditure as he uses them for all his banking. He is a complete idiot and more so for hiding it for 2 years from me and lying
On paper he takes home about £3.2k per month - outgoings every month NOT including loan repayments equals approx. £2900. He took out loans in quite close proximity of one another and then extended his overdraft to £4.5k! I completely agree it's not the banks responsibility to manage someones finances but do they not have some duty under the banking code to realise when someone is in financial crisis when 5 loans PLUS and overdraft have been applied for and approved within a short space of time?

You haven't mentioned figures for the loans, just that there are 5 of them. 5 Loans at 500 quid each is different from 5 loans at 15k each.


You also need to accept that an adult earning not far off 60k would be reasonably self-responsible and I think trying ti blame the bank(s) would be a fruitless exercise.


You also need to look at where the "£2900" a month is going, as an example I spend less than that a month looking after a wife and toddler, feeding us all well along with 2 cars, a loan that was used for home improvements and 2 dogs that eat their weight in food each day! I would guess that with a bit of belt tightening you could solve this relatively easily.

Mr.Generous

Your husband is not financially savvy. You let him deal with the money. He is in trouble. It must be the banks fault. Does that sum it up?

Perhaps taking some personal responsibility now rather than just letting you take over would help him more in the long run.

Thrugelmir

Jcb85 wrote: »

On paper he takes home about £3.2k per month - outgoings every month NOT including loan repayments equals approx. £2900.

That's an expensive standard of living. Did your husband lie and understate his outgoings when applying? More importantly what did he do with the money?

DCFC79

I bet if you were to look at his £2900 outgoings you could reduce them so then theres more to get the loans paid off.

It wouldnt cost him anything to make a complaint so why not give jt a try.