Everytime I want to activate a new credit card with TD Bank, they tell me the same nonsense story:

“Mr. El-Eter, card activation may take up to 5 minutes (which I’m sure is a lie, card activation takes less than a second – other banks do it on the spot), and while we’re activating your card, we would like to tell you about one of our products, which is the credit card insurance (or something like that, they say it costs $1/day if I’m not mistaken), which ensures that your credit card statement is fully paid when you lose your work, in case of dismemberment, or in case of death.”

My usual reaction to this is the following: “You are going to pay my credit card for me when I die? Thanks a lot! I was really worried that if I die, I won’t be able to pay my credit card, and thus I might accrue more interests.” And then I continue “You know what, I think the least of my worries when I die would be to pay off my credit card.”

Everytime I say this the person on the other end of the line laughs (usually it’s a woman’s voice), and she tells me that this is the first time she notices this in the script. This time, when I activated my credit card earlier this week (I think it was on Monday), the woman on the other end of the line was really, really rude (by the way, TD Canada Trust claim that they are the #1 in Canada when it comes to customer support – yeah, right!).

Here’s what she said: “Well sir, you are still liable for your credit card statement when you die.”

And here’s what I said: “Why would I want to pay my credit card statement when I die? I don’t think my credit will be any issue for me then, right?”

And here’s what she said back: “Well sir, if you have an accident… What if you get hit by a bus tomorrow” (Never in my wildest dreams have I ever imagined that a bank representative will wish me to have an accident).

So I said: “Well let’s hope not!

In any case, I feel bad and sorry because I wasn’t equally rude with that person, but in any case, I did my research, and apparently you are liable for credit card debt when you die. Here’s what the bank will do:

• If you have a bank account with them: They will seize the money directly from the account when they know that you’re dead. They usually know before someone else withdraws the money from the account, unless it’s a shared account or if you have authorized someone to withdraw money from your account (such as your wife) before you die.

• If you have a bank account with them but not enough money to cover for your debt: Then they will seize any property you have until someone pays off your debts. If not, then they will sell the property themselves, get their money + their fees, and then give your inheritors the remaining money.

Here’s some more information (that I gathered when doing my research on the subject):

• Bank fees (such as yearly fees) can no longer be charged on the credit card once you die. Interest, however, can still be charged.
• The bank may be able to seize money from the inheritance money/assets, but this is not always the case.
• If there is no inheritance money/assets, then the bank deals with this as bad debt and writes it off, and the spouse/close family member won’t be charged anything.

To conclude, if you really hate your bank, you need to accrue as much debt as you can and ensure that you don’t own anything at all, and then, and only then, you can die a happy man – but beware, these people do try to follow you to the grave!

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