my short term 6 month bank repayment period is up-what should I do next?

extent

I am unable to work at the moment due to uncontrollable epilepsy.
after studying I had around £2000 to pay back the bank as the result of a student bank overdraft. as soon as I left the course the bank started charging me regular overdraft charges, although i did not find out until I owed them over £2200 (the extra is all from bank charges which added on each month afterwards, and i did not know I was being charged as i was set up to only receive letters via email at the time-and never had much pc access and no bank phone calls to remind me I was being constantly charged.

I did eventually complain, so just over 6 months ago they agreed to halt all bank overdraft charges as long as I paid a minimum of £30 each month. today the period is now up, as I received a (physical!) letter this morning now claiming £2060 to be paid in full.

the letter does state that they may take legal action or come to a "long term repayment agreement" if I do not do anything. so from today do I simply not pay anything at all, and wait for them to arrange this long term agreement (or court action). even if they do agree to a long term agreement, I dont know how long im going to have to wait before they tell me they will do it-from today i dont want them adding another few hundred £ in charges before they decide to help me long-term. would it help if I went into the bank to talk? I did this before and thats how they came to the £30 per month deal, but as my letter today proves, that wasnt long term at all (and at the bank when i set it up 6 months ago I had to chat to a call centre, instead of talking to a member of staff!)

what should I do next? theres no use in paying any more if theyre starting the overdraft charges once again, and im still unable to work. I receive around £80 per wk in health money, but I theres not much left to give the bank any more than the £30 per month they were previously asking for as a minimum. thanks for any info

DarkConvict

Fill in an SOA/Budget sheet

http://www.makesenseofcards.com/soacalc.html
http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/budget_sheet.php?country=england_wales

It will show what you can afford per month to pay them, drop them in the post back to them with your offer of repayment.

Sample letters for repayment offers - http://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk/england_wales/debt_advice.php#6

You must be proactive in dealing with debt, do not wait for them to respond.

extent

thanks-would it help if I actually filled one of these in and handed it to the bank in person? perhaps they might come to a long term arrangement sooner as a result?

DarkConvict

Your account maybe been handled by collections department so im unsure if the branch can help but it is worth a go, just always remember to get any agreements in writing.

extent

I just dont know why they couldnt come to a long term arrangement beforehand when i visited the bank/talked to the call centre 6 months ago. I did tell them my health problem wasnt something that would disappear in 6 months, and i did state that if i would feel alot more at ease with paying it back if it wasnt so short term.. eg i wouldnt want family members helping me out financially if they could (or myself putting in any more than £30 when i could) if the charges could restart at any time.

since the letter states that a long term arrangement could only ever happen if i stopped paying completely, im guessing that another 6 month period of no interest charges will be more than likely the result if I manage to sort something out with them again? if the bank hands me over to their debt recovery team over the phone i will try hard in stating that a long term arrangement is necessary, but I dont know how likely thatll be as my end result. no doubt constant 6 month repayment periods are better for the bank with my account, since there is always chance this way that they can start making money out of my account again at any time-with my account itself staying at the same level for as long as possible

the letter i got today simply stated to pay the full sum, no number to call for any possible arrangement. if the bank itself or call centres dont help (if they dont want to put me through to debt recovery), then there doesnt seem like theres much I can do.

extent

update - the number I have to call in the letter from hbos ('call us' on 0845 603 4435), and ive tried to call all day, but its very busy. no doubt its their collections debt, but what im trying to find out if its them (the above call centre) that I need to speak to in order to start any (hopefully no interest) long term "debt recovery"? or should I avoid the call centres completely and just give them the offer of repayment (the above budget sheet etc)? I was thinking if i did the latter, since im making them believe I have enough money to a certain degree to pay it all off, they will continue charging interest

thanks

niccatw

Hi Extent, I would make them the offer in writing and avoid the call centre altogether. That way you can explain your circumstances clearly and without some-one trying to persuade you to pay more than you can afford.

I'd send them you SOA as Dark Convict advised and continue to make your £30 payments. Ask that all correspondence be in writing so that you have a paper trail. Then, even if they threaten court action and follow it through, you a have a paperr trail of what you have offered and record of continued payments. It's unlikely that a court would ask you to pay more than you could afford.

Good luck . (And I hope you find the right meds to work for you as soon as poss. Take care.)

Edit: if you can afford more than £30 per month, the do offer more, but don't leave yourself short. And ask for them to freeze interest/charges in the letter too.

dancingfairy

I would make them an offer based on what you can afford and put it in writing (as other have said). Then pay them - as then if they start getting funny and take you to court etc then you can prove that you are still paying depsite them being awkward and it will help your case (if it comes to it) - even if they don't officially accept.
Also you need to get yourself a new bank account as banks can and do take money you have in there for bills etc to pay themselves - they are not allowed to take benefit money but it would be easier for you to have a seperate bank account and set up a standing order to pay the overdraft back than to suddenly find the bank has taken your benefits money and then having to run around and plead and fight with them to get it back.

Anyway that's my 2p's worth and good luck with everything.
df

extent

thanks for the replies I decided to talk to the staff at the bank about it the other day, they were very helpful-although it was mainly probably because I actually had a seizure in the actual bank!!!! probably the best proof I could give them of my current situation health wise. supposedly shaky only for a few seconds/mins, I did not collapse etc, but it wiped my short term memory-which ended up making me walk OUT of the bank. I finally realised what I had done when I came round, in another high st store!-when I got back to the bank, they explained what happened, and although I still got passed on to a call centre, the man on the phone was actually helpful and polite who set up a non interest fee arrangement for the next 12 months. Im planning to put alot more into into paying the £2000 bank overdraft as soon as ive paid off my course fees (forgot to mention-£500 of that left to pay). Im wondering if this 12 month arrangement is likely to be what most banks would refer to as a "long term repayment plan"-or if this is not what I was after-if they could have set up anything up for longer? This should be sufficient for paying back for now though. thanks for the help. staying conscious, lol!