RBS facing investigation over credit card debt suicide
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is facing an investigation by the banking watchdog over the suicide of a man who ran up credit card debts of £130,000. Richard Cullen, who was 65 and from Wiltshire, owed more than £35,000 on cards operated by RBS including a Mint card and one from Tesco Personal Finance.
He was found dead in January 2005 after inhaling exhaust fumes in his garage.
Of particular concern to the banking watchdog, thh Banking Code Standards Board (BCSB), is that the different parts of the RBS group didn’t communicate properly about Mr Cullen’s situation, increasing credit limits on one card while chasing arrears on another.
The BCSB have asked Mr Cullen’s family for permission to investigate RBS’s handling of his account, while RBS said it had been unaware of the extent of his other debts and defended their ‘rigorous and responsible’ customer debt procedures.