Irresponsible lending

[Devindreamer]

Hi,

Does anyone have any experience of submitting an irresponsible complaint? I’m supporting my elderly dad with this. Has anyone had any success?

Who's it with? Bank or random company that approached him?
Does he have capacity?

He’s gotten into a lot of credit card debt which we’ve just discovered. He is cognitively fine, but he’s made bad decisions and is now in a difficult position. One particular bank (NatWest) gave him a card with an 8k limit when hex was already heavily in credit card debt. I just can’t believe it

What has he spent the money on? Do you/he think he shouldn't have to pay it back?

What is ‘elderly’ here? Can he not pay the debt?
does he have assets he can sell to pay the debt?

I've submitted a few successful complaints - it helps to see the paperwork (if any) and know the questions and enquiries that we're made at the time. It's also dependent upon outgoings, other debt, and income.

I don’t suppose there’s any way if him not having to pay it back but some help with the interest would be appreciated

he’s 76. It’s eating up a huge amount of his income and he’s had to cut back on essentials. My issue is that he clearly wasn’t able to manage more debt and yet NatWest gave him 8k

Initially house repairs. The only % ended and he struggled to maintain payments, so he took out a new card to ‘help’… can you see the pattern!! There’s no doubt that he’s managed really badly but I can’t understand how the bank allowed it

I think that this poster managed to get interest reduced/waived for her elderly mum:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/money-matters/5221754-irresponsible-lending-mums-credit-cards

If you can show that the bank didn't carry out due diligence before granting the credit you may have a chance.
Was your dad truthful in his credit application? £8,000 is a very high limit for a new card. Credit limits are determined by looking at credit history and declared income etc. If for instance your father's only declared income is his state pension and he has lots of other credit cards showing on his credit report then you can argue that a credit limit of£8,000 should not have passed affordability checks.
I would start with obtaining a copy of the application and his credit report and take it from there.
There are also various eligibility checkers online. Try putting your father's details that he used in his application into one of them and see what it gives you. If it says not eligible or eligible for a much lower limit it will give you ammunition to take to the bank.
I heard a recent radio programme regarding withdrawing cash for house repair scammers. In one case because the person told the truth when they withdrew the cash from their account the bank were judged not to have carried out due diligence and so had to refund the money. In another they didn't truthfully disclose the reason for the withdrawal and so the bank didn't have to refund.