Credit card companies and Bank account access??

Windscreen_Viper

Yes, all banks do this right of set off thing - they gernerally however, work to set rules:-

1) They can only take amounts in arrears and not a normal payment or set off against the general balance if you are up to date with your payments

2) In general you would normally need to be at least 2 months in arrears and have either proved difficult or impossible to get hold of by telephone to discuss the account (or if not then have been reluctant to agree to pay) or have no previous arrangement in place

3) They should not take benefits such as JSA or income support etc - though it does happen - if it can be proved this is so, then they will most likely refund the amount taken within 48 hours.

4) If you can prove that the money taken was in place for an expected priority Direct debit/Standing Order or have bills you can take into a branch to prove this money was for those payments then the money (or at least enough to cover the bill) will be refunded.

The mistake of he OP in this case was when the first payment of the arrangement was not paid, was to not re-negotiate with the creditor, the arrangement again, and then worse, seeing Off Set as a convenient way to make your monthly payment. When you have an arrangement with a bank for a payment which is lower than your normal monthly payment, then even missing one payment means that the arrangement could be considered ended and any reduction in charges or interest may (or may not) cease there and then as the bank may choose, and you will be treated as simply another non payer and telephone calls and letters may re-start again, and if it is found that you have money in your account seemingly available - then they will take it and have every legal right to do so.

Rule 1) Do NOT bank with one of your creditors - move it elsewhere, NOW! (See Rule 4)

Rule 2) IF you make an arrangement with your creditor, then stick to it, if you have a problem, call them and ask for their help as to what you should do, or explain that your circumstances have changed and you will send in a new SOA to show the lowered payment - keep them informed and the likelyhood of a set off is much slimmer

Rule 3) If you plan to ask the bank to pay back an amount they have taken by set off - do not be surprised to find they refuse (even if it was for a priority debt) if they can see on your account (and they WILL look at it) things such as a Sky TV subscription or other regular non essential purchases etc (Betfair.com - Paypal - Amazon) - their sympathy factor will nose dive

Rule 4) Refer to rule 1

jester1971

OK!
I can now see the error of my ways. It didnt occur to me that if i missed a payment they could default back to the original minimum payments.
As suggested i should have phoned and re-negotiated after the first missed payment and not just buried my head in the sand. Seeing Off Set as a convenient way to make your monthly payment is not the way to go.
I am going to phone the card collection people tomorrow and see if they can re-arrange a new payment plan for me.
After thinking about this over night i'm just going to suck it up and put it down to bad management on my part.
I forgot to mention i now do work and dont claim any benefits so that is not an option.
A huge thanks for all the advice.