Halifax Student Account. Did you get the full £3,000 overdraft

jocksmum

when my son opened his first account with the Halifax the letter of offer stated that he had a £5 overdraft. being responsible with his account this worked well for a couple of years until he went £3 over drawn and yes he incurred charges, when he went to the bank to complian they denied that the £5 facility existed and it was only when he was able to produce the original letter that he had the charges refunded. the assistant manager didnt even apologise even though it caused him distress as well as the time spent going back and forward to the bank.

at the same time he had set up a student account to have his maintenance grant paid into, he applied for the £3000 overdraft and guess what? they said that due to him being overdrawn previously they only gave him £1000 even when it was pointed out to them that the charges where due to thier error and that they had been refunded. it was like talking to a brick wall.

Halifax is along with Abbey probably the worse for charges, but in my sons case it is the only branch in the area where he has a part time job and is conveinent.:mad:

atypical

Lokolo wrote: »

Look at the asked for £3k and got £3k though....

You really think a bank is going to give out £3k to everyone even if they don't ask for it?

The majority are being turned down though even after asking, which seems to suggest the £3,000 is only for the purpose of advertising.

It's misleading but most annoyingly I think intentionally so; there is little other reason anyone would go for the Halifax account other than the large overdraft. If it doesn’t exist neither does a reason to open the account.

Kavanne

Shame there aren't any rules as with 'typical APRs', ie: they have to give the £2000 to two thirds of applicants

BigAl13

I applied for the £3000 overdraft just got £500 overdraft but not turned down for credit reasons as have perfect record and have been charged £116 for going into my unauthorised overdraft including one charge of £48 for going 79p over my overdraft :mad:. Have sent in a claim for these charges and have had to fill in form to show financial difficulties as I live off £25 a week but as yet have had no reply. May apply for bigger overdraft

rassilonsring

I was given a £1250 overdraft in my first year. I requested an increase to £1750 which was granted. I then requested a further increase but was denied, being told that £1750 was the maximum allowed for Year One students.

Halifax set a review date for 12 months when I would be allowed to request an increase up to the full £3000. They even contacted me just beforehand to tell me my current limit was expiring and that I could request an increase. This I duly did, asking for an overdraft of £2750. I was turned-down.

I believe this is mainly because in the space of those 12 months I had accidentally gone over the limit twice and had to pay charges totalling about £75 for the privilege. Yet not only did this feel like I was therefore being punished twice, but of course would not have happened had been granted the greater overdraft in the first place.

It also seems a bit remiss to me that despite advertising a £3000 limit for students, you can only get this if your credit score is high enough - yet surely most students' credit score must be pretty low as they have high levels of debt? And surely the idea is that the bank loans you the money while you need it on a similar understanding to the government's, that it's what you're worth after you graduate?

It seems to me the £3000 limit must only be granted to those who come from fairly privileged backgrounds not to need the money in the first place, as they are the ones most likely to be without debt and have a higher credit rating? Talk about a self-fulfilling propechy!!

Needless to say this, coupled with the extortionate charges this excuse for a bank levels against those who can't afford it in the first place, means I have now transferred to the Co-operative Bank - a lower overdraft but doubtless a more scrupulous, customer-orientated company.

TDQO

I got mine back in 2006 and they gave me 1000 to start with, I increased this to 1500 near the end of my first year. However less than 4 months later they cut it down to 1000 without warning! This led to my account being frozen and my phone being cut off and major issues with my landlord. I had to wait 6wks to be paid and got it all paid off in one go yet they still added 200 pounds of charges to the account while it was frozen! Then I had more and more charges for the next 6 months!
I got it put back up to 1500 in my 2nd year and the charges eventually stopped.

However I'm now on a year out working in Australia... I informed them of this and they said it wouldn't be a problem. Imagine my surprise then at xmas when I came back to the UK to be told that because my loan hadn't been paid in (I don't get it while doing industrial experience) the limit on my account would have to be reduced! Luckily I managed to transfer a months wages from oz into it then they reduced my limit to 1250.

I've been told that I can increase it when my loan is paid in september but I'll never get the max of 3000!

christinacheney

I was given the initial £500, and asked for an increase but was turned down despite plenty of credit history - all good, and i was £1000 in credit when i asked! They set a review date for a full year later and i haven't asked for an increase again as i don't want lots of refusals on my credit history!

janet_mac

In January this year,The Halifax told my son, who graduated in Sept 08, that his overdraft facility was ending unless he paid in £400 per MONTH. Panic as he has not secured employment! It then transpired after a letter of complaint of the handling of the matter it should have been £400 per Quarter! No such figure was ever mentioned from the outset and they still omit to! Personally,I think they are untrustworthy and conveniently rely on the current trend that any misleading or dubious dealings are referred to as 'mistakes'.

gunton10

i have just been given £1750 which is at the very end of my first year. they were not allowed to up it on there computers in branch so they called head office and i asked for £2000 but was told the max for first year is £1750. im sure it said when i applied up to £3000 and no restrictions were in place. i wonder how much i will get it up to second year.

ellielambert

I have been a Halifax customer since I was 16 and went with their student account when I started university. I used their standard £500 overdraft for the first year and then upped it to £1,000 in second year and wanted to up it again in third year as I was struggling but I was told the highest I could go was £1,250. I challenged them on this mentioning that they advertised £3,000 being the overdraft, that I had been a loyal customer for 5 years and that I had 2 other accounts with them (an Isa and a small account that family debited to help me from time to time) both of which were in credit. They told me that £3,000 was reserved only for specific cases and that I didn't fall into the category. Needless to say I was pretty irate about it all.