Question for a friend

[ymcmurtrie]

Hi Everyone, This is a little off topic, But When I was telling my friend how to go about claiming her charges back, She asked if I knew if a pregnant woman was allowed to be given a bank loan?

 

She said that she had heard of a case where a woman had had her bank loan struck off because she was given it while she was pregnant, and apparently when pregnant you are not supposed to make any major decisions?

 

Personally, I havn't heard of this, and can't really see why a bank would strike off a loan just because the applicant was pregnant at the time, because being pregnant isnt a mental illness or anything that may not meet a banks lending criteria?

 

Basically, she said that she walked into her branch for another matter while she was pregnant, and walked out with a large loan. She said she didnt sign any application forms, or agreements - again I feel she must have signed something, But I do know that she was off sick for a lot of her pregnancy - And I know you can't be given a loan when you are offsick, so I can only imagine that instead of having her loan struck off through bank error (which is what she's hoping for) she would end up in trouble because she lied or "Miss-led" the bank in order to obtain a loan?

 

If anyone can help, please point me in the right direction of legal advice on her behalf - so I can print off the information for her and tell her what to do (or not to do as the case may be)

 

Thanks, and hope you're all getting on well with your claims

 

Yvonne

[JMio]

Not a clue, sorry!

 

I've asked a few of the other Mod's to see if they've any ideas - I'll get back to you if I hear anything.

[ymcmurtrie]

Cheers,

I've looked on the financial ombudsmans website, cant find anything - looked on a few others and cant find anything either - not with regards to that - However, I did notice that you can be given a mortgage when pregnant because women are legally entitled to return to work after pregnancy - so I dont see why they wouldnt be expected to carry on paying a loan. The loan amount in question might as well be a mortgage - it was just under 25k - So i'm thinking it'll be a hell of a fight to get that struck off LOL!

[caro]

I can't believe this is being asked? Surely it is sex discrimination not to give a loan to a pregnant woman. If they look at income and expenditure, and income will continue after the baby is born then where is the problem. As far as I know pregnant women are even allowed to vote! This is prepostorous!!

[bram stoker]

I should imagine that denying a loan to a pregnant woman would be discrimination - completely.

 

I've completed loan forms before and there's no box to tick, and no-one's ever asked. I think if they had I would have had them in court for discrimination.

 

The idea is preposterous to me.

[ymcmurtrie]

Well thats what I figured - I promised I would try and find out - I think shes wrong with the information - The only thing I can find is maybe being denied a payment break because of pregnancy - then I can understand someone taking the bank for discrimination - But I dont see why they wouldnt give a pregnant woman a loan. Or why they would strike it off because she was pregnant at the time of the loan application.

That said - I didnt know you could claim charges back - so I figured it was worth asking....

[trundlecat]

It's an urban myth, not a bit of truth in it. Banks, employers or any institution aren't even allowed to directly ask you if you're pregnant (unless H&S issues are present) never mind discriminate against you if you are. If your friend really does know someone this happened to then my guess would be she was refused the loan for some other reason & is saying it's due to pregnancy to save face.

[ymcmurtrie]

Sounds like my origional posting has been taken the wrong way?

 

Basically, she wasnt refused a loan - she was granted a £23,800 bank loan. She now seems to think she doesnt have to pay it because - and I quote "Someone walked into their branch and had a loan struck off because she'd been given it when she was pregnant and women are not allowed to make any major decisions when they are pregnant"

 

Personally, I think its codswallop - but I did promise to find out. As I said in my origional posting, Pregnancy isn't a mental illness, so I dont see why being pregnant excuses you from making major financial decisions.

 

Also, As Vampiress has said, no part of a loan application asks if a person is pregnant - I know they don't give a loan to someone if they are off sick from work at the time, or know of any impending redundancies - however, this is not the case - she was off sick for a lot of her pregnancy, I dont know if she was off sick at the time of her application, but if thats the case - then she lied on her application, and she shouldnt have been granted the loan in the first place - but that is nothing to do with being pregnant.

Please bare in mind folks - this is just a question, I think its codswallop, but if anyone knows of a case where it's true, then i'll gladly eat my hat. Also baring in mind the friend i'm referring to is a bit of a drama queen in the sense that you have a headache - she has a brain tumour. Put it this way - in the same breath that she asked me to find out information on this...she also told me she thought she had mouth cancer yesterday because her "bone" was showing in her mouth - after a trip to the dentist, it turns out it was a shard of bone left over from a recent tooth extraction! Enough said me thinks?

[caro]

Just wondering if it is worth getting pregnant to get a loan and not have to pay it back. Maybe not.:o

[trundlecat]

Just wondering if it is worth getting pregnant to get a loan and not have to pay it back. Maybe not.:o

 

No!!! lol

[trundlecat]

I think you'd have to get a solicitor to prove you weren't of fit mind (is that the right term?). Same as the procedure folk have to go through to prove their elderly relative didn't know what they were dong when they gave all their cash to the dogs home. It'd be a difficult one to prove as pregnancy doesn't render you unfit to make descisions..... pregnancy is the result of you becoming unfit to make sane descisions (happend to me twice)

[bram stoker]

Well, if you get yerself pregnant in order to attempt to get a free loan, you can't be of sound mind, can you?

[caro]

Sorry Yvonne. Hope you don't mind a bit of fun on a Friday afternoon. Might be as well to just print the sensible replies for your friend.

 

Edit: I'm sorry for hijacking too, Vamp. x

[trundlecat]

The pregnancy bit's no bad, the birth & 1st couple of days are fine too.... it's the months & years that follow that no loan could be big enough for

[caro]

No need to tell me hun. Mine are 19 and 17. Now they are getting really expensive.

[ymcmurtrie]

No worries for hijacking the thread - to be honest, I think i'll just tell her the general respose was "Mwahahaha" etc - As for children being expensive - It's not the expense that puts me off - I actually think I may be allergic to them!! I get hives n everything! I like them when they are old enough to come to the pub with me, other than that "Auntie Yvonne" is busy!

 

Thanks for replying anyway though