In a right pickle! need some help and advice!?

stephaniek6838

hi again, need some more advice, im in a right pickle with bank overdrafts etc.
basically im in debt and staring uni in september.
i have a loan with HSBC that is £1500 which i pay £25 a month
i also have a overdraft which they are hounding me over.
i also have two credit cards.
i need to open a new bank account preferably a student current account, HALIFAX wouldnt let me because of my credit scoring (probably the hsbc overdraft?) i have been trying to pay the HSBC overdraft off with £30 a week for the last 2 months, but this gets swallowed up in charges.
basically i just wondered if they was any way of transfering this to another bank account or anything i just wnat to get it sorted
ive sent numerous letters been into hsbc branch etc and nothing is getting done about.
thanks any advice much appreciated, steph

CLAPTON

your circumstances are not very clear

you have
a. loan for 1500 and you're paying 25per month - is this the contracted payment?

b. you have an OD of how much ? and why are you being charged?... are you over the agreed OD ?

c. what are the CC amounts, APRs and monthly payments - are they all up to date ?

-best to get copies of your credit files before applying for any more bank accounts so you can see what they say

- are you earning over the summer?

auburnette

Hi Stephanie,

Have you been on time making your payments on the loan? If so, and you have a fairly good history with HSBC, it would probably be easier to ask them to convert your existing account into a student account. Yes, this would mean you would have less credit available than if you opened a whole new student account, but you don't WANT loads of credit available when at uni, it is a recipe for more and more debt which eventually has to be paid off.

To be honest I think it's unlikely any bank would give you a student account with the full overdraft facility when you already have the loan and an existing overdraft and the credit cards, even if you have been working for a while. You may like to try Barclays though - it may have changed since (esp with current financial climate) but I know they gave £200 overdraft to all student accounts even if you were not approved for the full amount. I opened a second account for bills (with their knowledge that it was a second account) and got the £200 overdraft even though they knew I had a full student account with full overdraft facility with the Co-op. I got an Electron card which they subsequently changed to normal Visa Connect after about a year.

Be very careful about doing anything which increases the overall level of credit available to you though. That's why I think it's probably best to negotiate with HSBC about changing your account there into a student account with interest free O/D. Go and talk to someone in-branch rather than applying online or over the phone as they have more ability to make irregular arrangements for customers.

stephaniek6838

hi clapton,
loan yes thats the contracted payment
overdraft is £300 it was agreed to that amount but they charged me £75 for going over by pence on 3 occasions which tipped me other the edge, then they asked for it all back.
CC are 1. 2000 and 2. 600 not up to date at mo, i got intouch with CCCS who advised me to send an offer of a pro rata payment.
i am earning now, part time job minimum £60 a week. im looking for a fulltime job for the summer
thanks

stephaniek6838

auburnette wrote: »

Hi Stephanie,

Have you been on time making your payments on the loan? If so, and you have a fairly good history with HSBC, it would probably be easier to ask them to convert your existing account into a student account. Yes, this would mean you would have less credit available than if you opened a whole new student account, but you don't WANT loads of credit available when at uni, it is a recipe for more and more debt which eventually has to be paid off.

To be honest I think it's unlikely any bank would give you a student account with the full overdraft facility when you already have the loan and an existing overdraft and the credit cards, even if you have been working for a while. You may like to try Barclays though - it may have changed since (esp with current financial climate) but I know they gave £200 overdraft to all student accounts even if you were not approved for the full amount. I opened a second account for bills (with their knowledge that it was a second account) and got the £200 overdraft even though they knew I had a full student account with full overdraft facility with the Co-op. I got an Electron card which they subsequently changed to normal Visa Connect after about a year.

Be very careful about doing anything which increases the overall level of credit available to you though. That's why I think it's probably best to negotiate with HSBC about changing your account there into a student account with interest free O/D. Go and talk to someone in-branch rather than applying online or over the phone as they have more ability to make irregular arrangements for customers.

hi, aubernette, i went in branch today to talk to someone, but they couldnt do anything, they dont have the authority or something,. ive to ring a certain number, which im going to do in the morning, to try and negotiate something. my head feels like its guna explode!!
if i could pay the overdraft off, if they stopped charging me id be fine. so i suppose ill see what happens in the morning.
any ideas on how can get my credit score rating back up??
thanks

stephaniek6838

auburnette wrote: »

Hi Stephanie,

Have you been on time making your payments on the loan? If so, and you have a fairly good history with HSBC, it would probably be easier to ask them to convert your existing account into a student account. Yes, this would mean you would have less credit available than if you opened a whole new student account, but you don't WANT loads of credit available when at uni, it is a recipe for more and more debt which eventually has to be paid off.

To be honest I think it's unlikely any bank would give you a student account with the full overdraft facility when you already have the loan and an existing overdraft and the credit cards, even if you have been working for a while. You may like to try Barclays though - it may have changed since (esp with current financial climate) but I know they gave £200 overdraft to all student accounts even if you were not approved for the full amount. I opened a second account for bills (with their knowledge that it was a second account) and got the £200 overdraft even though they knew I had a full student account with full overdraft facility with the Co-op. I got an Electron card which they subsequently changed to normal Visa Connect after about a year.

Be very careful about doing anything which increases the overall level of credit available to you though. That's why I think it's probably best to negotiate with HSBC about changing your account there into a student account with interest free O/D. Go and talk to someone in-branch rather than applying online or over the phone as they have more ability to make irregular arrangements for customers.

hi, aubernette, i went in branch today to talk to someone, but they couldnt do anything, they dont have the authority or something,. ive to ring a certain number, which im going to do in the morning, to try and negotiate something. my head feels like its guna explode!!
if i could pay the overdraft off, if they stopped charging me id be fine. so i suppose ill see what happens in the morning.
any ideas on how can get my credit score rating back up??
thanks

auburnette

Keep trying with it, I think it's definitely the most promising option. If you can get on the phone to someone and just explain that the charges are making it really difficult they may be sympathetic esp considering the outcome of the recent test case re: bank charges.

As far as your credit rating goes - if you're missing payments on one of your cards that will hurt your rating even if you're up to date with your loan and your other credit card. Have a look on the Up Your Income board on here for some ideas of ways of making extra money - on a £600 balance the min payments shouldn't be too much - just try and get back to the stage where you're making the payments every month and then work on getting the balance down. I'm making an extra £10 a week through slicethepie to pay off my credit card faster - even an extra £10 per week is £40 a month that would help get that credit card back in line. Try not to miss payments. Being late once every while won't hurt it too much but several months of arrears will. Also make sure you're on the electoral roll at your current address.

stephaniek6838

:j hey everyone thanks for all the advice ive just got off phone to hsbc and they have agreed to do a managed loan, so no need for a student overdraft now
thanks again steph