The bank told this grieving mother she owed $38K in student debt. She fought back | Go Public

Last year, Joyal Singfield lost her 30-year-old daughter, Mari, to breast cancer. Nothing can prepare you for the loss of a child. Then, TD went after her for the nearly $40,000 owing on Mari's student loan. The still grieving mother fought back. Having to battle for something that we know was wrong should not have been what we've had to deal with. This was the original loan. When Singfield co-signed Mari's student loan in 2020, it included life insurance, which she assumed would cover the debt. We committed to that loan in 2020 with insurance. But TD says when Mari graduated in 2023, her student loan converted to a personal loan, cancelling the insurance. Singfield was never notified. If you had known about the lapse in life insurance, would you have taken action? Absolutely. TD claims it wasn't required to notify Singfield because she had opted out of loan notifications. But GoPublic found evidence the bank had sent her several notifications, just not the important one, about the expired insurance. After hearing from GoPublic, the bank backed down, telling Singfield in an email the $41,000 debt had been paid in full by TD. I think as a bank, you cannot dig your way out of that one. Somebody went, uh-oh. And that was that. Check was cut. I don't think they paid out of the goodness of their heart. However, in an email, TD said it did everything right, but decided to help out Singfield due to her difficult circumstances. Very relieved. I'm very grateful. I'm also a little bit disheartened at how this... Some experts say Singfield's case highlights the need for Ottawa to set up a consumer advocacy group that helps out customers battling the big banks. Sophia Harris, CBC News, Toronto.