Has your overdraft been cancelled?

Lokolo

boyo2 wrote: »

Help,

I have had an interest free alliance and leicester account for about a year. (the one recomended by MSE). I looked last week and i have been charged a daily fee for going into my overraft because the interest free year was up. I had no notice that my year was up!! Can they do this without anotice period?

Yes they can. They gave you a notice period, it was a year, it ended.

Infidel

Not sure if this counts as my overdraft wasn't cancelled as such, but HSBC closed the interest free period of my overdraft 1 year early. The interest free portion was supposed to go down in £500 increments over 3 years, but vanished in 2. So I got screwed for over £100 extra interest last year

rogertutu

Smile used to renew my standard £500 overdraft automatically each year, until my credit rating got hit when I lost my job (employer went bust). Now while trying to get back on my feet they put me on a six month 'reducing overdraft' plan to bring it down to £280.
The moment I achieved that reduction last month they snatched away the overdraft altogether causing havoc with direct debits and standing orders and then charging me for the privilege.
There was nothing in writing nor any telephone warning they would do this. After some phone calls they reinstated the overdraft provided I agree to another reducing plan and insisted I pay the charges caused by their arbitrary actions. I was over a barrel.

Smile's statement reporting is very flaky and often you just dont know where you are with your account. If they dont pay a direct debit it just doesnt show up. Their archived statements are often different to the real time statements, and spookily, dont even show your overdraft. Nor can you compare compare your statement balance with cleared funds as with other banks. You might get an ATM readout showing you've got funds but then after you make the card purchase you find you've been fined because actually you didnt have those funds after all

If you are struggling financially, then Smile's creaky operation can turn out to be a minefield which will make things a lot worse..

dingdong1984

Northern Bank cut mine approx 2 months ago. Was only £300 which i went about £100 into each month to cover a couple of bills before my salary clears it again at end of each month.

No notice given from them whatsoever & they also cancelled all my direct debits without notification. It was only when I got phone calls from these people looking their money that I realised what was going on.

becca211

Today I received a computer generated slip of paper to tell me my overdraft will expire on Jan 1st 2010. I have no idea why or if I am supposed to pay it back on the 1st Jan, or when they are likely to take the money from my salary. This leaves me broke for Christmas. I have been a customer for over 30 years and only have an overdraft of £500 and have never owed them anything. The least I would have expected would have been a proper letter of explanation. I am due to have a large sum of money deposited late December, but will now be depositing it elsewhere. I am really disgusted with the bad service and the fact that they can do this to people. Does anyone know if I can do anything? I am wasting my time trying to talk to operators in India who just read from a script and give you no help whatsoever.

Innocent_Guy

becca211 wrote: »

Today I received a computer generated slip of paper to tell me my overdraft will expire on Jan 1st 2010. I have no idea why or if I am supposed to pay it back on the 1st Jan, or when they are likely to take the money from my salary. This leaves me broke for Christmas. I have been a customer for over 30 years and only have an overdraft of £500 and have never owed them anything. The least I would have expected would have been a proper letter of explanation. I am due to have a large sum of money deposited late December, but will now be depositing it elsewhere. I am really disgusted with the bad service and the fact that they can do this to people. Does anyone know if I can do anything? I am wasting my time trying to talk to operators in India who just read from a script and give you no help whatsoever.

What bank is this please?

jambosans

becca211 wrote: »

Today I received a computer generated slip of paper to tell me my overdraft will expire on Jan 1st 2010.

Poor wording on the banks part aside, this does not necessarily indicate they are going to remove the overdraft. Almost all overdrafts are granted on a rolling fixed-term basis of 12 months, after which point the overdraft technically "expires".

However the bank will review the limit closer to the time and will normally: maintain, increase, decrease or remove your current overdraft limit. I would suggest you contact your bank and ask them to "review" the limit, it may be worth calling during the day, as they may have to speak with underwriting if an appeal is possible.

Unless the letter states "... we will remove your overdraft on 01/01/10, and expect the amount repaid in full by this date.", it may not be as bad as it seems.

If they are calling in the debt, you can't really do anything as overdrafts are repayable on demand, and so long as the bank are following their terms and conditions (which normally dictate 30 days required notice of such changes*), there's little recourse for complaint.

Just to address the finer points in your post: you claim bad service, but they are entitled to review their lending, and if you pose a higher risk, they can call in the debt. Unfortunately the bank will not reveal exactly why the overdraft is being removed, however it is normally based on account conduct (e.g. charges, going over the limit, smaller in-goings than out-goings, etc.). Also if you're having no luck over the phone, book an appointment and go in branch.

Like I've said, it is not nessarily all doom and gloom yet, you have to clarify with the bank if they are actually removing the overdraft, or they merely wish for you to contact them for an overdraft review.

*Under the new PSR implemented on 01/11/09, I think the notice period has been increased to 60 days, however I'm not sure if this applies to overdrafts.

annoyed-and-stressed

Not sure if this is the best post for my problem.

Have been a customer of Abbey for over 22 years and have never had as much trouble as I've had in the past week.

Since August this year, I've been getting bank charges (due to one D\D that I had arranged for the date to be moved, which wasn't done), since then it's been a slippery slope of more charges for unpaid D\D.

On monday I recieved a call from Abbey Collection Department, saying that they could give me a temporary increase (£500) on my overdraft to bring me back into credit and ensure that charges are paid, and then reduce this by £50pm until it is back to my original overdraft limit (£1500).

The clerk who set this up on Monday made a huge mistake, as she put on the the temporary overdraft first which cancelled out my existing OD, therefore causing me to be £1200 ish over my overdraft. I went into the bank to get this resolved, and have been told that I need to make an appeal to the underwriters, which was done in the branch. Since of Thursday no decision has been made, and I have subsequently tried to open another account, which is now being declined with 'refer to underwriters'.

I cannot believe that because of a mistake made by an Abbey employee, that my bank account can be turned upside down like this without the facility of a 'go back' function.

I have over £1100 worth of D\D due to come out on the 1st, but cannot open another account to transfer it into. This is going to worsen my credit rating even more that it has been already, and I've been declined a bank account elsewhere.

Looks like I'll have to pay my wages into my partners account, and suffer the consequences of the failed D\D.

ggggrrrrrrrr

MummyE

Current account provider - HSBC
Overdraft limit before change £2500
Overdraft balance at time £2500
New overdraft limit after change £0
Whether this happened at an official overdraft review no
Any charges Not Yet
Whether you were notified - we were notified, but the letter was dated for the day after the overdraft was removed.... this has now been changed so it comes off on 19th december, but still

rachy86

• Current account provider Nationwide
  
• Overdraft limit before change 1000
• Overdraft balance at time 800
• New overdraft limit after change 0
• Whether this happened at an official overdraft review No
• Any charges If i am not able to pay it back in time, yes
• Whether you were notified - yes, given 21 days notice in writing, yet by the time i actually received the letter it was more like 14 days.