Halifax withdrawing o/d - I'm in such a mess

Broken_hearted

First thing is to get you bank account moved so you don't end op in a worse mess. Then come up with a payment plan to pay it off.
If you can pay the mortgage then leave it alone till the fixed rate runs out.

nova

TismE wrote: »

Just looked on other post and that was also the halifax.

Nova what bank was yours, ? if you dont mind saying ?

Hi, mine is nationwide, l could understand if they lowered it bit by bit but the whole lot:eek:

Broken_hearted

bank_of_slate wrote: »

I have just sent a message to Martin Lewis:
"Looking at quite a few posts on the DFW board it seems that HBOS are removing prior arranged overdraft facilities from customers with no warning whatsoever which means that the customers are immediately subject to their high charges of £35 per transaction unless they have the means to get their account immediately in credit.
They are obviously doing this to pay for their mistakes, can they legally do this?
I think it's disgusting behavior that should be highlighted.
...Linda xx"

I will let you know what his reply is.
...Linda xx

They have the right to remove the OD at any time. Excessive charges can be claimed back, fail to see what Martin will do. Barclaycard have cut peoples limits down along with other banks its just a sign of the times.

bank_of_slate

Broken_hearted wrote: »

They have the right to remove the OD at any time. Excessive charges can be claimed back, fail to see what Martin will do. Barclaycard have cut peoples limits down along with other banks its just a sign of the times.

I know but it would be nice to have his opinion on this
...Linda xx

shell_girl

Hi,
Not exactly the same situation but I've had an account with Halifax that had a £750 OD on it that had been pretty much constantly maxed. I had a bit of an emergency last year so applied online to up the OD to £900 for 2 months, knowing I would be able to get it back within £750 in that time. When the two months was up- my OD was suddenly showing as available '0' and the calls started from their accounts dept within the hour asking me when I was going to pay the £750 back:eek:

I spent a whole morning on the phone but eventually got through to someone in customer services who looked at the account (don't bother speaking to their accounts/credit control bit because they aren't in a position to help- their job is to get the money in). I explained the situation and added that I really didn't want to rack up charges that I couldn't pay, and default on my mortgage (also with Halifax). She help me set up an arrangement that the OD would stay at £750 for 9 months, with the understanding that I would make sure it was within the limit by then, which obviously I'm doing. It sounds scary, but by persevering I did manage to get it sorted. My advice would be to contact customer services and explain your position- I don't think they would want to lose you as a customer however your credit history. Explain that the last thing you want to do is end up owing them money that you can't pay them back, and hopefully they'll look at giving you a realistic amount of time to reduce the OD down to 0.

I really hope this helps.

LydiaJ

HOPE1234 wrote: »

Hi and thanks for the reply....

Hi Hope1234 and welcome to DFW. I'm sure you'll get lots of supportive suggestions as to what you can do, especially when you post your SOA.

If you find boredofbeingathome's post useful, then the thing to do is click the "thanks" button at the bottom right hand corner of the post. Everyone has a thanks count as well as a post count - you'll see them on the left by the person's ID and avatar etc.

secretsmiler

Hi Hope1234

I really feel for you... halifax did the same to me in October last year, calling in my £650 o/d with no notice. I was panicking too but bit the bullet and rang the phone number on the letter and told them I couldn't afford to pay it all back straight away. By looking at my account they should've seen that I've been living to that limit for years!
Anyway, the lady I spoke to arranged for me to pay it back in installments over 6 months... they just automatically reduce my amount available by £108 a month which has been tough as I have loads of other debts to pay, but I know that by the end of March I will be finished paying it back.
I also have a halifax mortgage which has it's fixed rate ending in october of this year but have been told that it'll just transfer onto the standard rate - this hopefully will reduce the monthly payments a fair bit as we pay 5.9% at the moment. Should be able to throw some more at the debts then. :j

Give them a ring first thing on Monday..you'll feel better for it!

secretsmiler x

PS Word of warning.... the day they set up my installment plan I was told the account would be frozen for 48 hours to get it going but they did say that any direct debits or switch payments to go out during that time would be honoured with no charges. This only happens when it's set up though and not each month

gratefulforhelp_2

Good luck with this one

HOPE1234

I feel so much better for airing my laundry in public :j

Everyone has been so helpful and the collective knowledge on here is fantastic.

I will take on board all the advice that has been given and I'll phone the Halifax monday morning to get some info on interest only mortgages.

With regard to the o/d ,should I wait until they withdraw the facility on 15th March, or should I contact them before to try for another extension ?

Shell_girl, gazindebt and secretsmiler. You have all made me feel so much more positive about my situation.Maybe I will get through it in one piece. Thanks for sharing your experiences with me :T

caramia1812

For starters, PUT HIM OUT! I had a similar problem last year and in the end, you MUST look after yourself and your kids. If he's you "ex" let him be your "ex", you owe him nothing. Get him out first and then get yourself sorted out girl!