Irresponsible lending update

Birminghamboy

Hi Everyone, 

I have posted a few times about how I am helping my brother with his finances - lots of debt, shockingly bad mental health and potentially undiagnosed neurodiversity has led him down a road of high debts and a total breakdown. 

We submitted an irresponsible lending complaint to one of his lenders - this is a bank that gave him a £3000 loan back in 2022. At the time, he was already massively overcommitted, using credit cards for cash withdrawals and payday loans etc. The financial ombudsman have been amazing and have very quickly upheld the complaint. This means that he is about to receive a refund of about £1400. After the last bit of the balance if cleared he will have £1100 left over which will go straight towards another debt. We are over the moon with this outcome. 

So.... on to the next one. A few months after this loan was approved he also applied for a credit card which was approved. This was also clearly unaffordable. We are in the process of referring this one to the ombudsman now. Does the fact that the loan complaint was upheld mean that there is a good chance that the Ombudsman will also uphold the credit card complaint? We are going to reference the recent complaint in the new one - will this help?

sourcrates

Yes by all means do that, if they see a pattern in his borrowing, it might help, although most cases are decided on an individual basis, I can`t see it harming the process.

RAS

So glad for your brother. Debt and mental health issues are a difficult combination. 

And he's a lucky guy to have you rooting for him.

ManyWays

The fact that the loan complaint was upheld (and good to hear FOS was speedy!) means he was in financial difficulty at the time the loan was taken out. Very often that means he was also in financial difficulty at the later point the card was taken out, but this is a seperate investigation. He wont win this I dont think just because the earlier claim was upheld, but it should give you both confidence that you are doing the right things.

I think it's best to make any more complaints now, you cant rely on them all being quick and the sooner this is all over the better. 

RAS

ManyWays said:

I think it's best to make any more complaints now, you cant rely on them all being quick and the sooner this is all over the better. 

Which may also mean when deciding where to put the £1100 looking at his priority debts like rent and CT. If he's up to date on those, then consider which of the debts are least likely to be accepted as unaffordable?

fatbelly

I agree with the above. You seem to be doing this on a one-by-one basis. Considering how slow the process usually is, why not hit them all with affordability complaints?

Brie

Well done on the progress you're making on your brother's behalf.

Meanwhile - have you considered getting a debt and mental health form to submit to creditors?  It can help if they are reluctant to stop charging interest or take any concerns seriously. 

All the details are on the StepChange website.   Please note also that a medical professional cannot charge for completing this form - many surgeries assume you have to pay so may need a bit of push back.  

Debt and Mental Health Evidence Form. StepChange