MSE News: Reaction to Halifax's changes

hixey101

opinions4u wrote: »

If you have a poor credit rating, your options are truly limited.

With you owing around £2000, the amount you will pay in £1 a day charges is about the same that you would have paid in interest under the old charging structure.

Some points to consider:

1) Change the account to a Reward account and transfer £1k a month in to it to ensure that you get the £5 rebate.
2) Always fund the account. Failure to do so could lead to Halifax demanding repayment of the overdraft on demand.
3) What's your plan to repay the debt? Have you considered an eBay sale? Have you visited the Debt-free Wannabe part of this forum for ideas?

You raise a good point about funding the account. As it stands I'm paying it off around £100 per month which means it will be paid in around 1.5 years, but plus the overdraft fees this is likely to be pushed onto 2 years.

I think what I will end up doing is when I get to the stage (around the end of the year) when my monthly wage will take me out of the red (for a few days) I will transfer the remainder of the overdraft debt to the Alliance and Leicester account, therefore minimising the amount of time I have to pay the fees for. I should have around 6 months left on the interest free period in which I can continue to pay it off. By then I should be in a much better position.

Thanks for your help, I'll check out the Debt Free Wannabe forum.

pinkglitter22

Really wish i'd spoken to you guys sooner! I have a £3000 student overdraft on my account from B.O.S. Due to recent unemployment and being alone with two children, im now living deep in it. Just got a letter saying they will be changing my account to a current account and charging me £2.00 per day for being in my overdraft. I dont know what to do, even when i get back to work (fingers xx its soon) il have to pay £60 per month before i start to repay. Feeling pretty hopeless. Any advice would be gratefully received.x

jambosans

pinkglitter22 wrote: »

Really wish i'd spoken to you guys sooner! I have a £3000 student overdraft on my account from B.O.S. Due to recent unemployment and being alone with two children, im now living deep in it. Just got a letter saying they will be changing my account to a current account and charging me £2.00 per day for being in my overdraft. I dont know what to do, even when i get back to work (fingers xx its soon) il have to pay £60 per month before i start to repay. Feeling pretty hopeless. Any advice would be gratefully received.x

First off, when did you graduate? Bank of Scotland provide your overdraft interest free for a year after graduation. So check the dates, branch key them, so mistakes can happen.

If everything's correct, you need to borrow or budget your way out of the overdraft. Being unemployed isn't going to help getting credit, so this may not be an option. If budgeting is your only option, then your first priority is to get the overdraft below £2500. This means the fees will half to £1 per day. You may want to consider moving away from the Lloyds Banking Group (Bank of Scotland, Halifax and Lloyds TSB). Separating your day-to-day banking will help you budget a set amount each week/ month to pay into the Student Account. Quite simply you treat the overdraft as a loan, with fixed payments reducing the balance, and use the account for nothing more (i.e. no debit card spending, bills, etc.).

For some more help and support in budgeting I would post on Debt-Free Wannabe.

tenkas10

my partner has a hfx account and is permanently over-drawn to the point where he pays charges on charges. Eventually out of sheer frustration i took him to HFX high street branch and asked them how much he owed to close the account, they worked out the future interest and it came to about £300, I paid this (using our mortage payment money) and they agreed to close the account. Online the account did not show as closed and eventually it came to light that the teller gave us the wrong amount and we (he) still owed more interest on the interest.

In the meantime, said partner managed to re-open the account and we are back to square one. Under the t and c's, £1000 has to be paid in monthly, which it isn't. Surely HFX are profiteering and blatantly taking advantage of someone who lacks complete money sense.

It effects the family in so far as some of the joint income has to pay hfx interest charges monthly Surely they have some responsiblity to individuals who just cannot manage money. I don't think I can close this account (as muchas i would like to).

Can anyone suggest anything?