Desperately need more overdraft

poorstudent123

I'm having to repeat my third year due to medical reasons. This has completely messed up my finances and I need to get my hands on more money some how. I'm looking for work but my university doesn't permit students to work during term time, so I can only work in the holidays which makes earning extra money very difficult as nobody wants to employ you for just a couple of months at a time. I will be applying for ALF and all the other grants I'm eligible for and will be getting student loan but that won't be until late September so I need to find some extra money to live off of til then. I also have some credit card debt that it would be nice to clear.

At the moment I have a Natwest student account. The railcard is nice, but the overdraft limit seems pretty low compared to what else is out there.

Around about 6 months ago I tried applying for Halifax and Post Office student accounts and they both rejected me. I think my credit rating was very poor due to the fact that I had about £2500 on credit cards, no income, and I had tried applying for a few other cards that declined me. I've now paid off about £1500 of my credit card debt (my mum did a 0% balance transfer to a card in her name and I just have to pay her back when I can) so I'm hoping this will make my credit file look not so bad.

I was thinking of applying for the RBS student account as they are advertising up to £2750. Is it worth a try? I suppose really the question I want to know the answer to is, Which student account is easiest to get?

Also, when I applied for the Halifax and PO accounts they were both online. It was immediate online rejection by Halifax, and a letter in the post from the PO. Would I be better off going into a branch and begging?

Stubert

If you have a poor credit rating, RBS won't give you the full £2750 overdraft.

You're only usually allowed to have one student account, so that may be why you got rejected elsewhere.

Also how can your university not let you get a part time job....how are they ever going to know? That seems a very bizarre set up. Its university, not boarding school.

Karl.H_2

Welcome to the forums.

Most student accounts will only accept you if you are at University for at least two year. You are in your last so you are unlikely to be accepted. Also, you cannot have more than one student account. In theory you can; however, most student accounts require you to have your student loan / grant paid into that account to qualify for their 0% overdraft. Smile has an exception, and you can fund the account with £300 to get the overdraft. However, you need at least sixth months left on your course. Click here.

poorstudent123

Hi Karl. I didn't know about the 2 year requirement. Good to know. Thanks for the tip about Smile. I've applied and a message in the application tracker says "Sorry we can't let you know straight away. We'll let you know in the next few days".

I suppose this means I've been rejected.

glider3560

The Post Office don't do student accounts??!!

I know that some Oxford/Cambridge colleges don't let their students have term-time jobs - although I'm not sure how they'll know, unless they question you everytime you leave the building.

Karl.H_2

poorstudent123 wrote: »

I suppose this means I've been rejected.

Not necessarily. It's most likely due to the fact you are entering your final year and have a substantial amount of debt. I hope you're successful. I am not sure how much you will get, as £1,800 is for the third year but I suspect you'll end up with about £1,000. Let us know.

The_One_Who

glider3560 wrote: »

I know that some Oxford/Cambridge colleges don't let their students have term-time jobs - although I'm not sure how they'll know, unless they question you everytime you leave the building.

A lot of employers around the cities are wary of employing students in the first place for term-time jobs. But if you explain your situation (that you don't have enough to live on during the year) the college can usually pass some money your way to prevent you from having to take up paid employment. Or you might be able to work for the college/university.

OP, how are you living just now? If you don't live at home, then move back to save money and try to take any job you can get (although at this stage in the holidays a lot of places won't be hiring students).

You will find it difficult to have two student current accounts, especially if you are wanting an overdraft on each one. The vast majority won't allow that.

flutterbyuk25

How will your uni know you are working?

My uni did not allow students to work more than 16hrs per week, but I regualrly worked 20-25hrs+/week. I had all my lectures on one day, would spend 3 days working and then study/write essays on another day, and have weekends too for work or study. My uni never found out!

This was 5 years ago mind, and my home situation wasn't typical student. I lived with a (now ex) boyfriend, who worked full time, and I didn't go out all the time like some students.

So provided you can manage to work (round timetables, studying and your health) then go for it.

Or see if there are any jobs going in your uni. My uni paid students to write up lecture notes for disabled students (around £8 per lecture, if its a lecture your going to be in anyway then its a no-brainer!), or you could type up people's notes to be printed in Braille for blind students. Also my uni often needed people for experiments, eg psychology/medical/art etc, and you got paid for this.

HTH and good luck

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