I've been really stupid, advice appreciated

5pound

Hi I'm feeling really down at the moment because I am off to uni at the end of the month and as someone who thought was careful and attentive to their finances since opening my current account would be approved straight away for a proper student account with overdraft that would help me through uni.

But no the guy at HSBC told me I've been bad basically had 3 unautorised overdrafts and one bounced cheque in last 15 months which I didn't realise at the time actually had a negative impact on my handling of the account! I just thought if they were paid off within days and also paid off the penalties they wouldn't hold that against me.

But now in a situation where all these are held as black marks against me and they won't let me have anything now basically saying come back when your good, but I know the answer will be the same because of the amount of times I've done this (each time been under 10 pound unauthorised!)

As someone who is constantly worrying financially and would like to deal with it properly what can I do now to rectify this? How long will these be held on my credit file? Can I open a current account elsewhere and start afresh or shall I just wait for these to drop off at HSBC and then apply again next September?

Really appreciate your sound advice.

tehone

I would apply with another bank - explain to them the situation and ask if they will let you have an account

ldn-100

These things may not even be visible to other banks. It depends on what information has been reported to the credit reference agencies. HSBC are not renowned for fair treatment of students, try Lloyds TSB instead.

asandwhen

I would try Halifax - they are having a big push on stuent accounts at the moment - even up to £3000 interest free overdraft

CLAPTON

get copies of your credit files... either the one month free trial variety (make sure you cancel before the month's out) or the statutory £2

relying on an overdraft to get you through uni isn't a great financial plan anyway... they can be withdrawn at very short notice especially if the a/c isn't run properly (but lesson learnt now presumably).. a nice to have but don't rely on it.

and apply somewhere else... HSBC are not a student friendly company

5pound

I suspect other banks would reject me for any credit even in the form of a small overdraft because on my credit report the unauthorised overdrafts appear as '1' late payment on every month I made a mistake in overlooking a missed DD or a bounced cheque!

This probably means I have no chance of immediately opening a student account but would rather open a plain current account with Lloyds Tsb or someone without overdraft then wait a few months by running the account smoothly and applying for an overdraft then.

But this throws another spanner in the works that I've heard banks perform credit searches even when opening a current account, would I be refused a current account if I've had 4 of these 'late payments' on my current account over 2 years?

Thanks for all you advice.

ShelfStacker_3

In general, no bank will like you if you bounce cheques and go overlimit. It shows poor financial management, and HSBC is not alone in thinking so - companies don't like to lend to people who will take a mile if they're given an inch, if you get my drift.

However, other banks will not know or care about HSBC's own internal scoring, so unless they've reported your conduct to the credit reference agencies (which is extremely unlikely unless you REALLY annoyed them) you should be clear to get a student account elsewhere.

WhySoHard_2

5pound wrote: »

I suspect other banks would reject me for any credit even in the form of a small overdraft because on my credit report the unauthorised overdrafts appear as '1' late payment on every month I made a mistake in overlooking a missed DD or a bounced cheque!

This probably means I have no chance of immediately opening a student account but would rather open a plain current account with Lloyds Tsb or someone without overdraft then wait a few months by running the account smoothly and applying for an overdraft then.

But this throws another spanner in the works that I've heard banks perform credit searches even when opening a current account, would I be refused a current account if I've had 4 of these 'late payments' on my current account over 2 years?

Thanks for all you advice.

Is anything negative showing on your credit reports?

5pound

I know it sounds daft but I always thought going overdrawn by small amounts was never noticed unless it was substantial!

I've looked at my report and everything is ok except the 'late payments' on my current account section where it has '1' on those months I was overdrawn/bounced cheque.

ShelfStacker_3

5pound wrote: »

I know it sounds daft but I always thought going overdrawn by small amounts was never noticed unless it was substantial!

I've looked at my report and everything is ok except the 'late payments' on my current account section where it has '1' on those months I was overdrawn/bounced cheque.

Very wrong. Like I said, it shows poor financial management, i.e. that you don't bother to check your balance before making a payment of some kind. The root problem is that you, like many other people, don't seem to care unless it directly affects you in some way, and it's come back to bite you. Take this as a lesson.

The late payments will count against you. Your best bet is to add a notice of correction to your file explaining that the late payments aren't actually late payments, but it may be too little, too late. However, in the near future, you haven't got much chance of getting a scored lending facility.

5pound

But don't these drop off after a certain amount of time? Thats what I mean, I didn't really need an overdraft and won't do so for 3 years as I will just use your student loans etc. Surely these 'late payments' don't stay there for good do they?