Bank accused of inhumanity after threatening to seize home of widow with cancer

A bank has been accused of 'gross inhumanity' for threatening to evict a 70-year-old cancer victim because she has not paid back a loan.

Widow Elizabeth Steskens was told her home will be repossessed this week unless she repays the £43,000 she owes to NatWest.

Mrs Steskens is undergoing treatment for bowel cancer and says she appealed to the bank to make allowances for her poor health, but it refused to back down.

She received a legal letter at the beginning of the month saying she had 21 days to pay the sum otherwise her two-bedroom cottage in the village of Blackrod, near Bolton, would be repossessed.

Although a county court judge initially cleared her debt because of her health, Mrs Steskens was informed that NatWest had appealed against the decision.

She was then taken to a second court where a judge upheld the bank's case.

She then received a letter from NatWest's solicitors Irwin Mitchell demanding the total sum of £43,207.50.

Described as a 'final charging order', it said the property needed to be 'taken into possession' to 'repay the monies outstanding'.

NatWest made a £10.3billion profit last year.

MP Vince Cable, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: 'Banks are bringing themselves into serious disrepute.

'Steps should be taken to ensure that cases like these don't end up in court with a person facing repossession of their home.

'Banks should be required by law to be compassionate in certain circumstances and keep people in their home. The decision is grossly inhumane.'

Mrs Steskens took out a £17,000 loan with the bank in 2006 so she could make improvements to her cottage and put it on the market.

She had hoped to move to Cyprus and had made an offer for a small villa on the north of the island.

But last August, before she had been able to sell the cottage, which is worth about £150,000, she was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo extensive chemotherapy and surgery.

The illness left her feeling so weak that she decided to take the property off the market while she underwent treatment.

She says she fell behind with her monthly loan repayments of £300 partly due to her ill health but also because she did not have the income from the sale of her cottage.

Mrs Steskens explained her illness to the bank and it offered her another loan of £19,000 to help her pay off her initial debt.

With added interest and costs she now owes a total of £43,200, which she says she cannot pay.

Mrs Steskens, a former medical secretary, fears she will be forced to move into social services care if she loses her home.

She is currently in remission but complications have arisen and she is due to undergo keyhole surgery in two weeks to remove several hernias caused by the cancer.

She has a daughter, Donia, 44, who lives nearby but she has recently gone through a divorce and moved into a small flat.

Mrs Steskens says she does not want to be a burden to her.

A NatWest spokesman said: 'The letter we have sent Mrs Steskens advises her to contact us within 21 days so we can discuss proposals for payment.

'Although she was ordered by the court in July 2007 to repay the bank £194 per month these repayments have not been maintained and we have asked Mrs Steskens to respond so that we can work together to reach a satisfactory resolution.

'Repossession is a last resort and one we always look to avoid.'