Help needed, dont know what to do

welshboy20

Hi I would really appreciate it if you could help me with my current problem
I opened a Halifax bank account with an overdraft facility of £500 when I was an employee with them back in august 2007, in December I lost my job and as a full time student I had a lot of expenses such as running a car and food. It was 4 months later that I found a job which was less then what I was getting paid and I had also incurred £900 of overdraft charges, as Halifax kept charging me for overdraft charges my debt increased and had to borrow money off family to get into the agreed limit. I haven’t used the account since June 2008 and was in my agreed limit at £470.
However I recently received a letter stating that I had again gone over my overdraft due to interest being charged and as a result I have to clear the whole balance or else I may face going to court.
I’m 20 years old in university with a total debt of £2400 on credit cards, I live with my parents and I have to spend even more as I live further away from university most my grant goes to them to pay for food and bills.
I’m not sure what to do as I have no chance of paying off the debt by March 20th
Look forward to your advice
Thanks

Treadway1

Welshboy, take a seat, take a deep breathe and relax, (As best you can) as the best thing youve done is log onto this site. There are loads of people on here who will give you useful and helpful advice. As for me, with regard to the immediate problem of paying back the OD, Im not sure what to suggest, other than maybe asking family agian to help out (Although I know you mentioned that they already had) to get you out of this set back. Fear not though, as there will be lots of other people along soon who will be able to help more than me.

With regard to your bank charges though. I know it doesnt help the present issue, but it is worth getting a claim for your charges in now, as the longer you leave it, the longer youll have to wait to be paid out. You can still apply for your bank charges back, but obivously with the test case on hold at the moment, you would have to wait until there is a court decision on the matter. However, if you are in financial hardship (See http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges#hardship for definition and more info) which to be honest, it sounds like you may be, then you can ask for your case to be heard sooner.

Other than that, you say you have £2400 on CC's. Have you ever missed payments or gone over your agreed limit on those? If so, you should be able to claim back any charges for those aswell, as long as they are over £12.

To start your claim, have a look at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges, and http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/credit-card-charges which will tell you exactly what to do, and how to start the ball rolling.

As I say, dont panic as youre in the right place. Someone will be aong soon to help out.

Oh, it may also help if you could post a statement of affairs up, so people can give a bit better advice on where you can save money, etc.. You can get the SOA template at http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html.

Hope this all helps

welshboy20

Thanks alot mate for replying
Im fine with the credit cards hopefully this summer i should be able to pay them off with over-time, just this halifax account which is giving me problems. I'll have to ask money from family(wish me luck) but yeh i'll most definatly write a letter regarding the charges and hopefully get them back soon.
Thanks

welshboy20

Household Information[/b]
Number of adults in household........... 3
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 4
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 636
Total monthly income.................... 636[/b]
Monthly Expense Details

Rent.................................... 200
Mobile phone............................ 30
Groceries etc. ......................... 50
Clothing................................ 60
Petrol/diesel........................... 90
Road tax................................ 15.41
Car Insurance........................... 65.5
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 4.16
Car parking............................. 28
Haircuts................................ 10
Gym..................................... 30
Total monthly expenses.................. 583.07

Assets
Cash.................................... 800
Shares and bonds........................ 1560
Car(s).................................. 1
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 2361

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.....APR
mbna...........................1563........25...........15.5
egg..............................457.........13.25......17.65
Total unsecured debts....2020........38.25.....

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 636
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 583.07
Available for debt repayments........... 52.93
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 38.25
Amount left after debt repayments....... 14.68
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 2,361
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -2,020
Net Assets.............................. 341