Help with Nat west overdraft

edwinamonsoon

i have 2 accoubnts with nat west with overdrafts on each totaling to £8000, the interest and account fee each month adds up to around £120, i am working part time, my partner is not so its a struggle to apy each month and i cannot get the overdrafts down, i have rang nat west and the best they can offer me is a loan, paying back £190 a month, which i definatlety cannot afford. what else can i do to lower what i am paying on interest, my credit rating is not good, even tho nat west said i can get the loan, i applied for a credit card to do a 0% balance transfer on a couple months back and got turned down. i need a solution and nat west are not really that helpful

cifpower

I would pop over to the Debt Free Wannabe bit of the forum. There are experts who will help you work out a budget and offer other sage advice.

cheesedoffwithdebt

[i have 2 accoubnts with nat west with overdrafts on each totaling to £8000, the interest and account fee each month adds up to around £120, i am working part time, my partner is not so its a struggle to apy each month and i cannot get the overdrafts down, i have rang nat west and the best they can offer me is a loan, paying back £190 a month, which i definatlety cannot afford. what else can i do to lower what i am paying on interest, my credit rating is not good, even tho nat west said i can get the loan, i applied for a credit card to do a 0% balance transfer on a couple months back and got turned down. i need a solution and nat west are not really that helpful[/QUOTE]


It would be good if you could call one of the non fee paying organisations what can advise on these issues and offer help such as CAP (www.capuk.org 0800 328 0006), National Debt Line-who also have a very informative website or CCCS for initial help. My guess is that someone will help you sort out a statement of affairs- where you add up what money you have coming in, and then what you need to live on.

Once you've done that, you will then have details of what you can pay back. I feel it's irresponsible of a bank to offer you a loan- it's what they tend to do but it's of no value if you cannot afford it.

You may need to open an account as well with another bank- if it gets to the stage where you have to pay only what you can afford, then you don't want to be in a position where the bank has your wages and you have nothing left to pay the bills.

So I'd be inclined to move your day to day banking now, without mentioning it to Nat West-do this by moving the direct debits yourself, and have your wages paid to the new bank,

Then you can go to NatWest- explain you are in financial difficulty and make what's known as a token payment- that can be £1, or if you are really stuck- you might have to explain that you can't afford anything.

Do everything in writing.

Get some advice very quickly from a trained debt counsellor.

You need to understand fully what your options are, and then decide on what you need to do.

Do let us know how you get on, and keep reading the boards there is some really good help and advice going!

withnell

...And when you move all your banking and stop making regular credits they will totally remove the overdraft, and if you don't immediately pay it back your credit history is ruined!

Maybe try and move to a bank with a lower apr on the overdraft? If your credit is good enough for a loan then a different provider could well accept you.

cheesedoffwithdebt

withnell wrote: »

...And when you move all your banking and stop making regular credits they will totally remove the overdraft, and if you don't immediately pay it back your credit history is ruined!

Maybe try and move to a bank with a lower apr on the overdraft? If your credit is good enough for a loan then a different provider could well accept you.

Not necessarily-in my experience the same bank are accepting payments from a DMP -but one of the credit organisations can help- if you read some of the threads on the banks using their offset rules it was in that context the thought was presented.

cheesedoffwithdebt

oh- and if I were a bank with a lower interest overdraft rate-I would not consider taking on the account when it's clear the account holder was not able to repay the overdraft-so yes although it shoots your credit score is that more important than being able to buy food?

rb10

edwinamonsoon wrote: »

i have 2 accoubnts with nat west with overdrafts on each totaling to £8000, the interest and account fee each month adds up to around £120

Do you need to have an account that you pay for? If you change to a free account, you'll be able to put more money towards the overdraft.

beaniebabe

edwinamonsoon wrote: »

i have 2 accoubnts with nat west with overdrafts on each totaling to £8000, the interest and account fee each month adds up to around £120, i am working part time, my partner is not so its a struggle to apy each month and i cannot get the overdrafts down, i have rang nat west and the best they can offer me is a loan, paying back £190 a month, which i definatlety cannot afford. what else can i do to lower what i am paying on interest, my credit rating is not good, even tho nat west said i can get the loan, i applied for a credit card to do a 0% balance transfer on a couple months back and got turned down. i need a solution and nat west are not really that helpful

I have been in a similar situation and am now on a DMP (Debt Management Plan) this has helped enormously and means I am now in control of my finances. Try not to worry and look at the dealing with my debts section.;)