Been redundant for a year :( Need advice!

Wilseus

Hi everyone, I'm not sure if this is the best place to post this, but here goes. I was made redundant (rather unfairly, but that's another story) almost 1 year ago from my fairly well-paid job in the computer industry. I received about £10,000 in redundancy and payment in leu (I was on a 90 day notice period) but despite trying to live as frugally as possible, this is now gone, despite the fact that I have mortage insurance.
I'm finding it impossible to get another job in computing, I have had only ONE interview in the past 12 months, and it's got to the point now where I am at my overdraft limit and I am paying the remainder of the bills with a cash withdrawal from my Natwest credit card every month.
Nationwide, who I moved to about 3 years ago after I fell out with Natwest, and I thought were "good guys" have charged me £180 in returned overdraft charges over the past 2 months. I have spoken to my branch manager who was utterly unhelpful and suggested that I cancel all my direct debits to avoid any further charges.

The other thing that I am extremely angry about is that my mortgage (which I also have with Nationwide) failed to get paid at the beginning of December, due to insufficient funds in the account due to a delay in my paying in my cheque from my mortgage insurance company. I did not notice this, and Nationwide DID NOT INFORM ME about it until 6 weeks later even though January's payment went out fine. The first thing I knew about it was when I received a snotty letter telling me my mortgage was seriously in arrears and they were placing a default notice on my (until then, unblemished) credit record.

(Subsequently, MBNA, who I also have a credit card with, have got wind of this and reduced my limit from £3500 to £500 and doubled my APR to nearly 30%. There's a small balance of about £300 on this card)

What I would like to know is:

• What rights do I have?
• Was it legal for Nationwide to file a default notice like that without warning me first about the missed mortgage payment? (I immediately paid the arrears and interest as soon as I got that letter)
• What are the chances of NatWest asking for the my credit card balance to be repaid or reducing my credit limit like MBNA have? (The balance is currently about £1200)
• What are the chances of Nationwide asking for my overdraft to be repaid (£1950)
• If/when I get back on my feet, is there a fairer bank/BS I can defect to, or are they all as bad as each other?

I am currently starting my own business, so hopefully I will not end up in a spiral of debt worse than I already am, but it's difficult when I have no money!

Thanks for reading.

Spirit_2

You post is more about your present financial situation, than employment so you might want to head over to the Debt Free Wannabee board where there are many posters who can advise about handling your debts and credit issues.

Good Luck

Wilseus

Thanks. Is it better to repost this there, or post a link to this post there?

nolongerindenial

I would repost over there - there a friendly bunch (its where I spend most of my days)