Written off by bank

PamelaFlitton

Has anyone heard of a bank writing off a credit card debt?
This is to do with my other half. He has had a credit card debt of around £7k for a number of years. 
The card has now been cancelled and he's had a letter saying the balance is £0 and they are closing down the account. 
He also has a personal current account and business account with them. 
I am worried about what might be coming next, he's sticking his head in the sand about it. 
(Apologies if there are similar questions about this anywhere - i did do a search but couldn't find any). 

cymruchris

Yes it can happen. What bank was it?

PamelaFlitton

LLoyds Bank

cymruchris

The letter specific wording should tell you why they're doing it - so the positive news would be that your partner will no longer be responsible for the debt, but imagine to get to this stage their payment history will have been minimum payment for quite some time? In the short term I'd also imagine that they'd not get another credit card from the Lloyds group for quite a few years. What's your partners credit file in general looking like? You mention they are the type to bury their head in the sand.

p00hsticks

Are you sure that rather than writing it off absolutely they've not sold the debt on to a debt collection agency of some sort ? 

PamelaFlitton

Thank you. The letter says very little but yes you're right that I believe he's been paying the 'recommended amount' (higher than the minimum I believe, but nowhere near clearing the balance).
Don't know about his credit file, our finances are separate and I haven't asked him (he probably doesn't know!). 

cymruchris

p00hsticks said:

Are you sure that rather than writing it off absolutely they've not sold the debt on to a debt collection agency of some sort ? 

Yes - good point - does the letter reference anything about selling the debt on, or mentioning any third party company?

If you have the letter to hand - and can photograph it - then use your phones photo editing software to put black lines across any address/account numbers/personal information etc - you could post it here for us to see the specific wording, just so that we can see exactly what they've said.  (Or copy the letter word for word into a comment - but not mentioning any personal details)

GrumpyDil

There was a thread last week with exactly the same scenario mentioned. It's fiddly to search on my phone but definately rings a bell. 

martinbainbridge1975

it will likely have been sold on to a debt collection company to pursue

Hoenir

Highly possible that it has if an internal review has been conducted as to it's recoverability. The downside is of course that the financial institution is unlikely to do further business with you for the foreseeable future. 

Ayr_Rage

You need to read the letter very carefully.

Don't get worried by the comment from @martinbainbridge1975 who is just speculating.

However, @Hoenir is more likely to be on the money so your other half should put alternate banking arrangements in place asap as they may soon get bad news regarding their other accounts.