Hsbc

sarahc266

I was ill which lead to me not been able to work for over 6months, i cancelled everything i could, borrowed money off family, but due to bank charges from hsbc i ended up in nearly £600 of debt,(£550 of that is bank charges) i got not extra letter telling me, just a bit added on my bank statement saying they were taking x amount from my account on said date, i spoke to them on the fone, eventually asked for all dd, standing orders etc to be cancelled so nothing other than charges should be coming out of my account, they told me this was done, only for me to find on next statment that they allowed payments to go out, which i then got charged for. i put in a claim, even claimed hardship and just got letter back saying it was on hold, in this time they transferred my account to a collection company.
a family member said they saw GMTV one day and someone rang in with similar case and it was said that they shouldnt of transferred account to collections, just wondering where i stand and what i should be doing, not heard anything from my bank since november when i put the claim in, and got the 1st letter saying no.

i am now in a better position financially and so no longer in hardship, but still struggling to payback all the debit i ran up when ill.

I wouldnt mind a small charge if the bank did something, i was in no position to check my account balance and so racked up5+ charges a month, if i'd known about the 1st one i could of done something, but i only found out at end of month, which just added to my illness.

Having a bank account is a nesscity and so should be provided free or at a low fixed cost, if not then we shouldnt be made to use them. i would rather be handed cash and use that to pay everything with, not very practical but its better than stupid charges.

BenS1

If you have an overdraft which is made up of bank charges then HSBC can't pass it onto a collections company whilst it's in dispute. Tell the collection company or HSBC for that matter to fob off as the debt is in dispute due to bank charges.

Complain to the OFT if HSBC has passed it onto a collections company while your case is on hold. It's against OFT regulations to pursue a debt whilst it is in dispute.