Secret debtor cry for help

poppy10_2

TallMatt wrote: »

3) As the wife doesn't work and the account is entirely in her name, the only benefit she gets in her name is the child benefit. We could make the suggestion that they try to make the claim against her which, being unable to pay personally, she'd have to default on and end up with something like a CCJ, which lasting 6 years and with no intention to work until the kids are in full time education won't impact on her financial situation (as she's not going to be able to apply for credit cards etc) - worst case situation for bank as they're not going to get ANY money from that solution.

No no, please don't choose this option. <img>

TallMatt

Hi,

Didn't think option 3 was sensible - so didn't touch it with a barge pole.

Asked staff for list of bank charges over last 3 years (enough to cover the problem period). Happily provided these, together with the cost of interest being charged. Summed them for me, got today's balance and worked out the difference between them. Approx 1k in bank charges & interest!

She even commented that it seemed that was an awful lot for going such a small amount over the limit!

Paid the difference immediately and was advised to send in a letter together with the bank statements she happily printed out. Turns out that my wife had been getting 3 monthly statements and binning them (in denial). This is the first time in 2 years they've made the link that there was no money going into the account, yet money was being taken out with bank charges*, plus an undisclosed (to me) a DD going out paying the MINIMUM PAYMENT to a credit card she'd stopped using 2 years ago but amassed over £500 on!!!!!!!!! Grrr - still keeping my calm - just! :mad: :cool:

Have paid off the credit card. Have paid off the money owed less bank charges and interest! Fortunately this site has helped me to squirrel away some cash for a rainy day - today, thanks Martin & all those who contribute to the site by forum / articles etc...:beer:

Have put the letter together using the templates and my own work and passed these on to the bank by hand. Await decision from bank within 7-14 days.

Wish to dedicate moneywasteroftheyear.com award to my missus who now realises what marriage vows are! :rotfl:

Funniest thing about this is when the staff member mentioned that there was a template on the internet and the wife asked if it was on their site! YEAH - AS IF!!!

Anyway - thanks to those for helping out.

Cheers,
Matt

ZTD

And closed everything?

silkglade

Well done to you!!! :T

MSE 1 Banks 0 :rotfl:

Has the offending bank account now been closed?

I really have to say that it makes such a nice change to hear a positive outcome come from a meeting with a bank.

hayley1471

How did you get on?

TallMatt

silkglade wrote: »

Well done to you!!! :T

MSE 1 Banks 0 :rotfl:

Has the offending bank account now been closed?

I really have to say that it makes such a nice change to hear a positive outcome come from a meeting with a bank.

bank account hasn't been closed simply because the bank hasn't yet written off the charges / interest. Well, actually I forgot to say that the branch manager wrote off what she could yesterday (£100 branch limit FYI). The rest needs to be sorted out by the bank's "bank charges reclaim team" so it's not all over yet.

However, judging by the immediacy with which the manager wrote off the £100 within a minute (without actually seeing her myself), coupled with the fact they've been allowing a DD to come out for 2 years with no money going in, coupled with the fact my wife doesn't work and therefore has no income save for child benefit, coupled with a single letter after 2 years saying that the outgoings were exceeding the income, suggests to me that if I had to threaten to take the bank to the small claims court, the judge may ask some seriously embarassing questions of the bank. But let's not hope it gets to that stage. Once all is fair & square with that account, it's as good as shot dead and closed.

The credit card has been cut up (ages ago by the wife - who seemed to think that would make the debt go away:eek: ) so can't be used. It's paid off in full, but I want her to get onto them tomorrow to get a list of statements from the beginning of her opening the account (allowable under the Data Protection act) because we can only see 12 months online. I have a feeling that there may have been either some credit card charges or fraudulent use of the card. If it's the former, I'll be using this site's template to reclaim those charges. If it's the latter, then we should be getting some sort of refund. If it's the wife having rung up the bill via (ab)normal usage, then fair's fair - we've paid what's due. Anyway, that account too will be closed once I've got to the bottom of it.

The moral of the story: Partners, if you see "bank statement" style letters coming through the door and you believe your partner has some problem, confront them with it, but go gently as it may be like mine, she's shoot scared of confessing because it's quite bad.

Moral part 2: The money you save via tips on this site, don't go mad and spend on other things. Save it - you never know when you'll need it.:money:

So, back to zero savings, but hey, at least they're zero and not negative.

Ta to all of your kind words of encouragement via this site and if I see someone on here that I can help, I hope I too can be as you guys have been.

Happy New Year! :beer:

Matt