Any advice please?????

mattblack

Hello,

Ok basically my girlfriend received a letter from Barclays bank informaing her that they are shutting down her current account with immediate effect! All cards to be ripped up a large overdraft which they demanded be paid within 2 months leaving her with no £ for food or travel to work?!

She hasnt received any letters prior to this nor any phone calls! She has gone over her overdraft limit, which they have charged her for!!
When she contacted Barclays they said they would allow her the money for her bills this month, not including food of general expenses and thats the end of it!

Now i know there must be other factors involved in this but can they just shut her account down like that and expect her to pay a few thousand back in 2 months?? Is there any way around any of this???

Thankyou for reading this

gonzo127

this sounds a little bit like 'off setting' which is where a bank can dip into your wages to pay of outstanding debts you owe them, this is not usualy something they do stright away due to going over her overdraft a few times, so there might (please note that there might not be) a bit more to it than this so i would try and get your girlfriend to make a full and detailed SOA so you can see what situation she is in (also if you post up here we could suggest places to cut back)

one thing i would say is get her to open a basic bank account which has no overdraft facility ASAP she should be able to get one of these with no problem as they do not require a credit check, once she has one of these she can make sure her wages get moved to this new account so they can not offset - BIG NOTE a lot of banks are joined with other credit providers, i am sure someone will be along shortly to post up the link to which banks are linked to which. MAKE SURE SHE GETS A NEW ACCOUNT WITH A BANK THAT IS NOT ALREADY ONE OF HER CREDITORS

Tixy

Unfortunately overdrafts are repayable on demand. Maybe because she has gone over her limit they have decided to call in the overdraft.

Agree with gonzo, get a new basic bank account elsewhere straight away. If she can't get it set up in time to transfer her wages or benefits could she ask her employer for a cheque this month (or even give them a relative or your bank details just for this one month)

If her wages are just about to go in she can use her first right of appropriation to withdraw funds for prioirty expenses (rent, ctax, utilities, food). There is a template letter for this.

Then once she has done this she needs to write to the bank with a proposal for a monthly repayment plan at a rate she can afford (after paying priority bills first). She might want to include an income & expenditure sheet to show its all she can afford to repay.

This includes a list of related banks http://www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/about_the_fsa/compensation/uk_groups.html choose one that she doesn't owe any money to (co-op cashminder is popular)