Should my bank be more sympathetic?

Q I developed a chronic illness two years ago, which ended my career and left me living on benefits of £225 a month. My bank's platinum credit card provided some insurance cover, which I claimed on, but this ended after a year. I continued making payments off the card debt with money I had from my former employer, but this, too, has now run out.

This means I cannot make the full card repayment to my bank, which insists that my offers are not acceptable, and keeps adding interest and late payment fines - so the debt continues to rise. The bank is aware of my situation and knows I can only make token payments, but it continues to harass me. I have been to Citizens Advice Bureax (CAB), and drawn up two payments plans, the most recent one offering £25 a month, but so far have had no success. Should my bank accept this?

GC

A Under the banking code, banks agree to treat customers' financial difficulties "sympathetically and positively" and to work with customers to devise a debt repayment plan, but it doesn't sound as if your bank got off to a good start with your case.

After I contacted it on your behalf, however, it confirmed it had only just received your forms from the CAB, and was now happy to accept a debt repayment plan of £25 a month, starting from March 21. All interest charges and late payment fines have been suspended as and from February 21, and the plan will be reviewed in September this year. Good luck with clearing the rest of your debt.