Over 6 month time limit- mental health problems

Nervsmomma2022

I have sent my irresponsible lending complaint to the financial ombudsman. They have came back to say they wont look at it as barclaycard refused as i was over the time limit, they said they then looked at it to see if my circumstances were suffice to take me over the limit and they decided i would have had enough time 😞 gutted and feel beyond annoyed at myself and upset. Its alot of money in question and would have been in my best interest to get this sooner rather than later its not like i was just too lazy. 

I have had mental health issues since 2012, my daughter was born january 2021 and i was diagnosed with severe post natal depression, given a nurse at the house, heavy dose of antidepressants, health visitor for longer than normal and i am a full time carer for my partner who has autism, depression & suicide ideation. 

Financial ombudsman have said they are not withholding complaint as i stated i was unwell when i contacted barclaycard initially so they are assumining althought unwell i would have had reasonible time to also send it to them.  I have until 28th feb to tell them if i accept and if i dont accept it will be passed onto a senior ombudsman.

I dont know what to do? They said my medical evidence will make no difference. Totally deflated
 

MalMonroe

Hi, it's not really clear what your situation is. Did you mean that the financial ombudsman is not upholding your complaint, rather than withholding it?

What is it that you have to tell them if you accept?

It's again not clear - and if the ombudsman is not upholding it, why have they said it will be passed on to a senior ombudsman? If that's the case then that would not be a bad thing for you because a senior ombudsman would be able to do a complete review.

Even if everything had been done in time, of course, there's no iron-clad guarantee that the outcome would have been better.

If the lending has placed you in debt, you could contact StepChange, or one of the other free debt help agencies for advice and help. They are friendly, helpful and non-judgemental. I've used them in the past and they helped me to get out of a terrible financial mess.

Their link - https://www.stepchange.org/

There's also National Debtline.

But whatever happens, it seems that you do need some independent advice and StepChange could give you that. 

Citizens Advice are also very good but they are also always very busy as they deal with all kinds of different problems, not just financial ones. 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

I do hope that some of that is helpful. All the best to you and your family.

Nervsmomma2022

Hi Mal, they have said they wont investigate as i missed the 6 month time frame for bringing it to them. They said they looked at my reasons for not bringing it to them earlier and did not agree. If i let them know by 28th that im still not happy they can pass it to an ombudsman to review if they can investigate. 

Im trying to avoid going with step change as i have a mortgage in my name and im worried about the effects on this and any potential pay rise i might get in the future. Ive heard horror stories

dunstonh

Over 6 month time limit- mental health problems

There are three time limits when it comes to complaints.

3 year and 6 year rule.  you have to complain within 6 years for the sale of the product/event or within 3 years of being reasonably aware of an issue.  Both of these rules have to apply to allow a timebar.

The 6 month rule is how long you have to refer your case to the FOS if you disagree with the outcome.

You appear to have hit all the timebars.

Financial ombudsman have said they are not withholding complaint as i stated i was unwell when i contacted barclaycard initially so they are assumining althought unwell i would have had reasonible time to also send it to them.  I have until 28th feb to tell them if i accept and if i dont accept it will be passed onto a senior ombudsman.

The timebar to refer to the FOS requires significant reasons to be overruled.  Death of an immediate family member or incapacity for the whole of the period (not just the first 6 months but the whole of the period after it took you to refer it to the FOS.

So, at this stage, the FOS haven't considered your complaint. They are just saying they don't have the remit to look at it.

Even if the FOS then decide to overrule the 6 month time limit, you are then hit with the main timebar.   The FOS will not consider a complaint if timebarred correctly by Barclays.

ts alot of money in question and would have been in my best interest to get this sooner rather than later its not like i was just too lazy. 

It is worth noting that the majority of irresponsible lending complaints result in rejection.  So, the odds of success to begin with are lower.    You broadly find that the subprime lenders get more complaints upheld than the mainstream lenders.  Barclaycard is mainstream.  You don't give any reasons why you think you have a complaint. So, we cannot give more on your chances of success even if you hadn't failed the timebars.   However, the point is that going into this endeavour, your chances of success were low.   Sometimes, people get too engaged into a battle they are not going to win and don't put the same effort into things that can help.

It's again not clear - and if the ombudsman is not upholding it, why have they said it will be passed on to a senior ombudsman? If that's the case then that would not be a bad thing for you because a senior ombudsman would be able to do a complete review.

Its a default response.  The adjudicator is saying its timebarred for not being referred within 6 months.    If the complainant disagrees, they have the right to have it referred to an ombudsman.  i.e. if they felt the adjudicator was wrong, they can refer it to an ombudsman to decide.    However, on something like this, it is unlikely to make a difference.    Ombudsman only change outcomes in around 1 in 10 cases and it tends to be in more complicated areas.    And, as mentioned, the next barrier would be the fact that Barclays have timebarred it for being outside the 3/6 year rule. So, the FOS cannot look at it anyway unless the timebar has been applied incorrectly.

Im trying to avoid going with step change as i have a mortgage in my name and im worried about the effects on this and any potential pay rise i might get in the future. Ive heard horror stories

Horror stories will be with people that are generally uncooperative or have just built up so much debt that there are no easy solutions and more extreme options need to be considered.       An unsecured debt on a credit card is unlikely to cause any problems with your current mortgage in terms of debt management plans.  However, it would prevent you getting a new mortgage for a period.