HSBC Credit Card Irresponsible Lending?

[Craig123]

Hello, I’m not sure if this is the correct place on CAG to post this thread, but hopefully so!I have recently become concerned with the state of my 86 yr old grandmothers finances. Old age is starting to take hold so i have been trying to help her keep her household bills and paperwork in order as she worries and doesn’t understand much of the letters, bills etc that come through the letterbox these days.Whilst sorting through her paperwork i came across her HSBC bank statements and credit card statements. I didn’t even know she had a credit card! She was overdrawn past her overdraft limit and also had a balance at the maximum credit limit of £ 10,000. Upon further investigation i found that there were two cards registered on the credit account, one to her and one to my uncle. He has been unable to work due to ill health for many years and from looking at her statements i found that all of his living expenses are going through on 'his' credit card. She hasn’t spent a bean on her credit card since the first statement that i can find going back 5 years or more, i have also found that she has been paying the minimum balance of the monthly credit card each month for well over 3 years with no contribution from him, and this, along with withdrawing large sums of money from her bank account to give him, has caused her bank account to be overdrawn. I have talked to her about the issue of my uncle getting her into debt and his lifestyle being on her tab, and that she should cancel his credit card etc - she grasped that giving him money from her bank account was causing her to go overdrawn and that it was impacting on her lifestyle (she was rationing her food!!!) - and has stopped giving him money from her bank account. I am pleased to see from her last statement that she is back in the black, but she doesn’t really understand what a credit card is and doesn’t get the concept that she is £ 10,000 in debt, and also worries about her son because of his health and not being able to work etc.To top it all off HSBC have recently increased her credit limit to £ 11,000, even though she only makes minimum monthly payments, the balance sits at a few pounds under the £ 10,000 limit and she quite regularly pays late as she forgets. She just thinks that it’s a monthly payment she has to make over the counter at her branch, with no grasp of what it’s for!!!!I am hoping that someone here can give some advice or guidance on what i can do to help her situation with regards to the credit cards. As far as i can tell from the paperwork i have found is that the credit account would have been opened after my grandfather passed away (that was over 20 years ago and the first statement i have is around 5-6 years ago), he was the only earner out of the two of them and since this she has lived only on her state pension and disability payments. Would HSBC giving her a credit card under these circumstances be considered irresponsible at her age and with no employment income? Especially increasing the credit limit recently to £ 11,000 when she quite obviously has no way of repaying the debt.The only way out of this for her that i can see (my uncle paying off the debt and reimbursing her for the money she has spent on paying the monthly payments is not going to happen) is if we can get the debt written off due to irresponsible lending? But i have no idea where to start.Many thanks for your help

[BRIGADIER2JCS]

Hi Werlcome to CAG,

 

Very tricky situation, 20 years ago her circunstances

may have been different but after such a long period

it would be hard to prove any wrong doing on the part

of the card provider.

Also as another relative seems to be involved one could

be suspicious about the application for the card in this insatnce.

My advice is to make a subject access request (you will need your grandmothers

written authority) it goes to the creditor and requires them

to provide all data held on the account within 40 days.

There is a £10 statutory fee to pay for this, but in this

case it is well worth it,there is template letter in the CAG

library top left green tab on this page.

Meantime I suggest that you get all the statements

and other paperwork into a logical order, is it possible

she may have even kept a copy of the original agreement.??

[Craig123]

Thanks for your replyI dont think that the credit card account goes as far back as 20 years, probably no more than 6 years or so. I have been through everything and put into order, though I havent found the original statements.Putting aside the manner in which the debt has been accumulated (although I am extremely angry at the way she has been taken advantage of by someone in the family) I am still astonished that given her age a bank would be willing to make the credit available in the first place! I will try talking to her about the situation again to see if she will allow me to contact HSBC in the manner you suggest, she becomes very closed when the subject is raised......