Jobseekers and Debt with bank

Lifesaver

I hope someone can help. My 20 yr old son has an overdraft of £1500 and is on Jobseekers. He lives at home and has benefit paid into the bank directly.

He is unable to get any cash out until he has paid off his debt to the bank, which is gonna take absolutely ages.
Are the bank allowed to take ALL his income in this way?

Thanks for any advice on how to deal with this.

cifpower

http://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/pdf/BENEFITS-Right-of-appropriation.pdf is quite an interesting summary.

I would advise him to open a basic bank account elsewhere immediately and have his JSA paid into there

Mum2twins98

Lifesaver wrote: »

I hope someone can help. My 20 yr old son has an overdraft of £1500 and is on Jobseekers. He lives at home and has benefit paid into the bank directly.

He is unable to get any cash out until he has paid off his debt to the bank, which is gonna take absolutely ages.
Are the bank allowed to take ALL his income in this way?

Thanks for any advice on how to deal with this.

But why did he have so much overdraft if he was on JSA ?
I had an overdraft and they didn't take all my money they simply took the overdraft fee which is payable each month and you continue to pay until the overdraft is paid off, if he is past the deadline then yes they can take his money after all he loaned theirs why shouldn't they want it back ?

speedfreek1000

cifpower wrote: »

I would advise him to open a basic bank account elsewhere immediately and have his JSA paid into there

Is the correct answer :T

I'd also suggest that he gets advice at the same time on what to do with the overdraft.

Places like this offer advice and help with budgeting and making agreements http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/

Banks tend to not like being owed money so heading them off at the pass and reducing the debt at the same time would be prudent.

@ Mum2twins98 Maybe he bought some Easter eggs for disadvantaged children is it really any of your business? :rotfl: Please read the board rules! We are here to offer advice and help not to pass judgement. :T

Druagh

If your son has difficulty finding a bank whom will open a Basic account for him, another option is a Post Office card account. JSA can be paid direct into such accounts.

richard9991

Druagh wrote: »

If your son has difficulty finding a bank whom will open a Basic account for him, another option is a Post Office card account. JSA can be paid direct into such accounts.

also he can ask to be paid by giro untill bank account sorted

Mum2twins98

speedfreek1000 wrote: »

Is the correct answer :T

I'd also suggest that he gets advice at the same time on what to do with the overdraft.

Places like this offer advice and help with budgeting and making agreements http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/

Banks tend to not like being owed money so heading them off at the pass and reducing the debt at the same time would be prudent.

@ Mum2twins98 Maybe he bought some Easter eggs for disadvantaged children is it really any of your business? :rotfl: Please read the board rules! We are here to offer advice and help not to pass judgement. :T

Pass Judgment ...so if everyone has an overdraft then decides he its too much and i cannot pay back ...are the banks supposed to say 'Hey its OK don't repay it we can afford to just hand it out'
Offer advice yes OK so the advice is really 'How does my son get out of repaying the overdraft he had knowing he couldn't repay'

littlerat

Mum2twins98 wrote: »

Pass Judgment ...so if everyone has an overdraft then decides he its too much and i cannot pay back ...are the banks supposed to say 'Hey its OK don't repay it we can afford to just hand it out'
Offer advice yes OK so the advice is really 'How does my son get out of repaying the overdraft he had knowing he couldn't repay'

Or rather, how can he repay it at a rate that he also has money to buy food/utilities etc on? JSA isn't to repay your debts, it's to cover basic living costs.

alwaysonthego_2

If he is on JSA then he should offer them a token payment of £1 per month and the CAB can help with this, though they do use the template letters and debt pack from National Debtline, someone has already posted their link.

kelloggs36

Mum2twins98 wrote: »

Pass Judgment ...so if everyone has an overdraft then decides he its too much and i cannot pay back ...are the banks supposed to say 'Hey its OK don't repay it we can afford to just hand it out'
Offer advice yes OK so the advice is really 'How does my son get out of repaying the overdraft he had knowing he couldn't repay'

Maybe son was a student and had no choice but to have OD to survive at uni. Now he has no job and has no choice but to sign on. It is entirely possible.

Breast_Cancer_Survivor

Mum2twins98 wrote: »

Pass Judgment ...so if everyone has an overdraft then decides he its too much and i cannot pay back ...are the banks supposed to say 'Hey its OK don't repay it we can afford to just hand it out'
Offer advice yes OK so the advice is really 'How does my son get out of repaying the overdraft he had knowing he couldn't repay'

The original poster didn't say that her Son wanted to get out of paying his overdraft just that he is currently on benefits & can't afford to have all his JSA swallowed up by the bank which seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Id imagine that the op's Son must of had a job or at least an income of some kind at some point to of been given an od in the 1st place as I can't see many banks giving them to people on benefits with no reliable income.