Paying back Barclays overdraft

Dove

I've seen a few recommendations to open another basic account elsewhere and pay back a set amount for an outstanding overdraft. I have an £1800 overdraft and the dreaded £500 Barclays reserve which get maxed each month, resulting in about 4x£22 reserve fees.

I rang Barclays on Saturday for advice as my income is only about £715 per month so I'm never clear of the overdraft and soon back in the reserve amount. They have advised ringing their debt management people on money to set up a plan to pay back the overdraft and remove the reserve buffer. I have paid over £500 in fees since November. Is it wise to swap to a basic account with barclays with a set amount for repayment or to another bank provider altogether?
I think my main concerns are them taking more than the agreed amount but also if I swap to a different bank I am worried that barclays will request all of the money owed straight away if they account is inactive. I plan on offering £50 a month and hopefully can pay extras if the funds are available.

I did speak to my branch manager last year and again last week and they didn't tell me about the debt manangement people, they just wanted to sell me a small mortgage to clear the overdraft. I have no other debts that I struggle with, I do have a loan which is always paid and a small amount of £250 on a tesco cc which is never added to and I always make sure I don't default on these. It is just the overdraft and reserve fee that is making me struggle now.

thatsean

Then I think Barclays' option is sensible. If you don't default on the terms of the plan, there's no reason for them to pull a plan from you.

If you don't pay an income into the account then you are giving barclays good reason to issue a formal demand for the full o/d balance.

Good luck.

iblametheparents

As long as you stick to a pre-arranged plan then they won't ask for anything more. The 'plan' is just your overdraft and reserve limit coming down at a pre-arranged amount each week/month.

Dove

Just to update, Barclays call centre were very helpful. They have downgraded me to an ordinary current account with no monthly fee, removed the reserve fee facility, increased the overdraft for one month to take into account the new reserve fees that were going to be applied to the account. They allow 6 months to pay back the reserve amount to get me back to my £1800 overdraft limit. I can manage that and the overdraft will reduce by £110 each month back to my original limit.

I will continue after the reserve fee has been paid and work on getting rid of the overdraft altogether.

Col7777

You are lucky, you must have got a good advisor, not like the one I got who put me in more trouble.

She was a young girl who at first seemed to know what she was doing, I can't remember all the details but she went through all my outgoings then set up a new account for me, she cancelled all my direct debits from my account and re-introduced them to this new account, then somehow I was to pay off my overdraft from this new account in to the old one.

Any way after the first month I got a few letters from companies saying the direct debit had been cancelled, at first I didn't worry because I knew she had set them up in the new account, then more letters came so I went to the branch to see her.
I was told she was on holiday and would be back in a few weeks, I asked if anyone else could help, a lady came out and looked and said, "You best wait till she comes back I can't see what she has done, don't worry I'm sure it will be all right."
Well I waited till she came back and saw this young girl, all she wanted to talk about was her holiday, I eventually got her to look at my account, then she looked at the computer and said, "Eh! What's happened to your new account, it isn't there?" I asked what she meant, she said it wasn't showing up, then she said, "I'm sure I did it but for some reason it hasn't been activated."

So all these letters were correct, they couldn't get any money from the direct debits because she had stopped them and they were not re-activated in this new account because the new account wasn't there.
I got very annoyed and asked to see the manager as something got fouled up and it has put me in a worse mess, she fobbed me off and said she would sort it out, she then did all this new account stuff again, she managed to cancel some charges the bank had made but then laughed it off as though it was nothing.
I was still annoyed and said to her, "I came to see you thinking you could help and all you've done is put me in a worse mess," she just shrugged and said, "Well you can always go to the Citizens Advice," I just walked out.

To cut the story short I'm still trying to get straight, the only income I have is my works pension as I'm not old enough yet to receive old age pension, I do struggle and I watch what I spend, I'm cutting back as much as I can, this was at Barclays Bank by the way.

iblametheparents

Why did she open you a new account? I can see no valid reason why.

Techhead_2

I can't work out how you would live day to day for several weeks if you have no access to either account? (one is 'closed' , the other doesn't exist)

Col7777

It got complicated, after struggling I managed to set up my direct debits again and the new account now exists, as to why she set up a new account I'm not sure about her logic but from what I could make out it was to pay off my overdraft by taking money out of it to pay in to the old one to pay off the overdraft, or at least that is what I think it was for.
Any way I'm just on my new account now and watching what I spend, I know I shouldn't have let it get this bad but events happened and a hole appeared and I fell in.

I have had a few encounters with Barclays but they are not related to this thread.

Cash_Flow

Dove wrote: »

Just to update, Barclays call centre were very helpful. They have downgraded me to an ordinary current account with no monthly fee, removed the reserve fee facility, increased the overdraft for one month to take into account the new reserve fees that were going to be applied to the account. They allow 6 months to pay back the reserve amount to get me back to my £1800 overdraft limit. I can manage that and the overdraft will reduce by £110 each month back to my original limit.

I will continue after the reserve fee has been paid and work on getting rid of the overdraft altogether.

Well done.

Did they explain to you that this course of action could have an adverse affect on your crdit rating by way of an arrangement to pay marker on your credit file?