Nationwide reducing overdraft by £550, HELP

Austinhead

I have just rcvd a letter from Nationwide telling me that they are reducing our joint acc overdraft limit from £2000 to £1450 from 11th July. They reduced it a few months ago by £750 and are now reducing it again.

Our financial situation is far from good - which is why I suspect they are reducing it. We missed 4 direct debit payments in April/May which resulted in 4 x £30 charges in June. I think this month we missed 1.

I am out of work having been made redundant last year and having another baby (found out I was pregnant 2 weeks before losing job). I do have redundancy insurance which is paying into my account until Sept. I also get JSA until Sept.

My partner has his own business but hasn't brought any money in since before Christmas !!!. He now has a temp job but only for 3 weeks, and we are unsure after this. We get tax credits which go into the joint account, but these don't cover our expenses. Generally speaking I am putting money into the joint account, but again, my insurance and JSA isn't enough to cover all bills which is why we are in this mess.

Bottom line is, we don't have the £550 unless I take it from a CC, which I am loathed to do because I've already had to use it a lot to cover stuff for the last few months.

Last time we were told to pay back £750 I phoned them up to say we were struggling, basically they were not interested. They said either we cough up now, or they put us on a repayment plan to pay it all off, and then I wouldn't be able to get an overdraft for another 6 months after that. I don't envisage them being anymore helpful this time.

It makes me so mad :mad: we have been with nationwide for several years, have our mortgage with them, and it's only in the last few months that we have EVER had any financial troubles, but they seem to have forgotten all the years when we never missed a payment ?!>.

So. What can I do ??. I have wondered whether I could move my account but am worried whether anyone else will have us ??. (If I can't do it now I WILL be moving it in the future). We just don't have any cash, no savings (apart from the kids and i'm not using theirs).

Suggestions/advice please ?!.............

Oh, and needless to say my partner is in a worse financial mess than me, up to his ears in debt so absolutely NO cash there.

herbertthehelper

Austinhead wrote: »

So. What can I do ??. I have wondered whether I could move my account but am worried whether anyone else will have us ??. (If I can't do it now I WILL be moving it in the future). We just don't have any cash, no savings (apart from the kids and i'm not using theirs).

Dont Panic for a start - contact the bank ask them to reconsider but paramountly dont panic

gazelle8760

Austinhead wrote: »

I have just rcvd a letter from Nationwide telling me that they are reducing our joint acc overdraft limit from £2000 to £1450 from 11th July. They reduced it a few months ago by £750 and are now reducing it again.

Our financial situation is far from good - which is why I suspect they are reducing it. We missed 4 direct debit payments in April/May which resulted in 4 x £30 charges in June. I think this month we missed 1.

I am out of work having been made redundant last year and having another baby (found out I was pregnant 2 weeks before losing job). I do have redundancy insurance which is paying into my account until Sept. I also get JSA until Sept.

My partner has his own business but hasn't brought any money in since before Christmas !!!. He now has a temp job but only for 3 weeks, and we are unsure after this. We get tax credits which go into the joint account, but these don't cover our expenses. Generally speaking I am putting money into the joint account, but again, my insurance and JSA isn't enough to cover all bills which is why we are in this mess.

Bottom line is, we don't have the £550 unless I take it from a CC, which I am loathed to do because I've already had to use it a lot to cover stuff for the last few months.

Last time we were told to pay back £750 I phoned them up to say we were struggling, basically they were not interested. They said either we cough up now, or they put us on a repayment plan to pay it all off, and then I wouldn't be able to get an overdraft for another 6 months after that. I don't envisage them being anymore helpful this time.

It makes me so mad :mad: we have been with nationwide for several years, have our mortgage with them, and it's only in the last few months that we have EVER had any financial troubles, but they seem to have forgotten all the years when we never missed a payment ?!>.

So. What can I do ??. I have wondered whether I could move my account but am worried whether anyone else will have us ??. (If I can't do it now I WILL be moving it in the future). We just don't have any cash, no savings (apart from the kids and i'm not using theirs).

Suggestions/advice please ?!.............

Oh, and needless to say my partner is in a worse financial mess than me, up to his ears in debt so absolutely NO cash there.

Hi

From the sounds of things, Nationwide have probably done you a favor!
Nationwide overdrafts are reviewed at 6 monthly intervals, and are repayable on DEMAND. I am sorry to learn that your in a financial situation which you feel you have little or no control of, and also surprized to learn that Nationwide refuse to help you.
According to their statements, they say they treat people with respect and sympathy when things go wrong, they work with you to find a solution to your problems, and it is in their interest and yours to find this solution.
Would it be such a hardship if you didn't get the overdraft back again?
You should consider moving your account to a basic banking account, which allows you to set up standing order and DDs and gives you a basic DEBIT card, not a CASH card, then you should agree a re-payment plan with Nationwide to what your finances allow, but not close the account.
Only you can decide which is best for you, but the sooner you act, the sooner you will be back to seeing the light again. Good Luck.

talana

I would suggest popping over to the debt-free wannabe board and posting a full soa.
You're going to need to have to cut back your monthly expenses or increase your income by some means or another. If the folks over there can see the whole picture, they can advise you accordingly.

You could move your account elsewhere now, but that's not going to solve the issue of this overdraft. Indeed it might make them demand that more of it is repayed straight away.

agsnu

Cancel all your direct debits and start paying manually. This will let you pay when you're ready - you might incur small non-DD fees, but this is nothing compared to the £30/time hit you're going to get from Nationwide.

Austinhead

Thanks for all your replies and advice.

I'm not sure cancelling DD is an option - although I understand why you suggest it. I really want to make sure our bills are paid, first and foremost and I am not sure that will happen if we cancel DDs.

Will go to debt free board. Was thinking of moving account ie closing nationwide one. I have seen other accounts where they will match your overdraft, but am not sure what the criteria is for this ?.

Our problem is we are living from week to week, I really don't want to sign up to paying the overdraft off because that would be a commitment to pay out even more money. I think when I called before they were talking about £60 a month, and it would take ages to pay off. Really and truly I just don't want them to be making this demand at this time.

As far as getting an account with just a debit card and no cash card, this wouldn't really make any difference. This account is only used for paying bills/food e.t.c. I very rarely take cash out. Our income has dropped so dramtically in the last 18 months and that is why we are in this mess. I got quite a lot of redudancy money (had been there 9 years) but most of it went on just paying the bills and obviously that ran out a while ago.

dozygirl

Hi i have been on to nationwide collections this morning as i am trying desperately to get myself sorted out to lose the bank charges i have accrued each month for the past 3 months for returned direct debits. My onw stupid mismanagement.
Whilst they can't get rid of the charges what they can do, is add your charges onto your overdraft therefore increasing it. THis is just to help you manage your account and does not increase the amount of overdarft you have for spending, but as you need to get over the counter authorisation for any withdrawals, (apart from your direct debits) this will help you to reduce your overdraft whilst controlling your expenditure. The downside is that if you are not disciplined and go over the agreed limit, they will automatically cancel the contract and the full amount will need to be repaid at once.

As I had already contacted a my credit card companies, VIRGIN were fantastic, capital one not so helpful, to and a loan company, myself to organise debit card payments on the date i get paid for the next 6 months. This cancels my direct debits, which in turn means they are going to be less charges for returned direct debits, therefore less charges, my loan comapny said i was entitled to a payment holiday for one month every year (i obviously didnt read the small print), and while that not ideal means that i have a bit more this month to put towards the charges, which if i reduce those will automatically help my overdraft come down.

The lady at Nationwide told me to stick with what i had done for 3 - 6 months and if i felt after that time i still couldnt manage then to contact them again.

Dont know if that is useful or not but wanted to share in case it was.
Good Luck