Guardian Unlimited Money | Credit and debt | Suicide prompts credit card investigation

Guardian Unlimited Money | Credit and debt | Suicide prompts credit card investigation: "Suicide prompts credit card investigation

Monday July 3, 2006

Royal Bank of Scotland faces investigation by the banking watchdog following the suicide of a customer who was heavily in debt.
Richard Cullen, a 65-year-old mechanic from Wiltshire, killed himself after building up credit card debts of �130,000.
Mr Cullen owed Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) more than �35,000, more than twice his annual income, through four different cards, according to BBC1's Panorama programme, which aired last night.
Mr Cullen held cards with 22 different providers, including Mint and Tesco Personal Finance, which are run by RBS.
In November 2004, two weeks after he was chased for arrears on his Mint card, the credit limit on his Tesco Personal Finance card was increased by �1,000 to �7,700.
In January 2005 he was found dead in his garage after inhaling exhaust fumes.
The credit cards Mr Cullen held with RBS cost him more than �4,300 in interest and charges during the last year of his life - nearly a third of his annual income.
Seymour Fortescue, chief executive of the Banking Code Standards Board, which runs the industry's voluntary code of practice, said it was asking for the authority of Mr Cullen's family to investigate the case to see if the code had been breached.
Asked why there appeared to have been a lack of communication between the different parts of the RBS group, Mr Fortescue said it seemed to be a case of the bank 'failing to put two and two together'.
RBS defended its treatment of Mr Cullen, saying it was not aware he had a serious debt problem.
In a statement issued to Panorama, it said: 'Mr Cullen "