Barclaycard cleared my account!

WAYLANDER

Hi

Can anybody help .... is this even legal ?

I have owed Barclaycard money from a credit card for years, i am not disputing this, and have been in and out of payment plans.

A month ago i opened a basic bank account with Barclays ( now i realise that was stupid ) to pay wages in.

So my wages were payed in on 28th October, on the 29th October my account was cleaned out all but £20 !

The money was taken by Barclaycard, but i had not even told them about this account !

Surely this isn't legal, they have left me with nothing for food or bills for my family.

This is a personal account and i have not even told Barclaycard about it let alone give them authorisation to take my money.

I need help ... i can't afford them to take my wages !

Please can anybody give me advice

gazebo

it's called 'right of set off'

bank has the right to offset your debts against your savings or other funds - and they can do this if you hold funds with the same place you owe debts to.

I'm afraid they are perfectly entitled to do it. You may not have told them about the account, but banking systems are quite easily able to spot a customers and their holdings, they are all linked. Only way you'd be able to dispute this is if you could prove the debt wasn't actually yours.

As for if they'll help you - call them and ask?

jd87

WAYLANDER wrote: »

( now i realise that was stupid )

At least you know now.

WAYLANDER

I have tried to ring but after speaking to 4 people i was told the collections dept was closed until tomorrow.

I find this incredulous that this can be done with no warning, these are one of the biggest banking institutions in the UK, at the very least surely they should have some moral obligation to the public... they have not even left me enough for a weeks food and i have a 3 yr old.

I can't just let this slide...

YorkshireBoy

WAYLANDER wrote: »

I find this incredulous that this can be done with no warning...

Well, as others have intimated, the "warning" was given in the T&Cs, for both products.

How much did they take?...just the arrears/what was contractually owed?...or more than that?

noh

WAYLANDER wrote: »

I have tried to ring but after speaking to 4 people i was told the collections dept was closed until tomorrow.

I find this incredulous that this can be done with no warning, these are one of the biggest banking institutions in the UK, at the very least surely they should have some moral obligation to the public... they have not even left me enough for a weeks food and i have a 3 yr old.

I can't just let this slide...

Why would you be incredulous?

You agreed to their Terms and Conditions for Personal Customers which I assume you read?

Section 8 "Set Off"
says:-

"..we may use the money we owe you to reduce or repay the amount you owe us. This is called a right of "set off". We can use our set off right without telling you in advance if we reasonably think you will do something to prevent us from obtaining repayment by set off."

"8.3 We can also set off amounts we owe you against amounts you owe other companies in the Barclays Group and set off amounts other companies in the Barclays Group owe you against amounts you owe us (unless prevented by insolvency law)."

McKneff

I wouldnt even waste your time and money on a telephone call, they have done exactly what they said in their terms and conditions which you agreed to.

Sorry

LongTermLurker

To be fair, although it's in the Ts & Cs and they have the right to set off you would hope they wouldn't just take what is obviously his salary without notice.

@Waylander - firstly, contact them tomorrow and claim hardship, as they have not left you enough money to live on. Taking such a large percentage (I'm assuming you get at least £100 a week, and 80% of net income seems unreasonable). If you've just started a new job, tell them and try to work out a fixed amount that you can pa/month - at least then they'll be able to see you're trying.

Secondly, open an account with another bank asap and move your salary.

McKneff

I wouldnt hold your breath though,
put it this way, if someone owed you money and you were having trouble getting it paid back to you. They then paid you, yippee,
then they said they made a mistake, 'can i have it back' I know what your answer would be.
The banks dont care that much to be honest.

Could you live on a credit card or borrow till next pay day, cuttin down your costs.

The upside is is that you dont owe them any money now.

pqrdef

This is contrary to paragraph 163 in the Lending Code, which says

"[The Bank] should leave the customer with sufficient money for reasonable day-to-day expenses, taking into account individual circumstances."

The Lending Standards Board wrote to the banks last year as follows:

"We have been concerned to have received reports from debt advisers of what appears to be inappropriate use of set-off where the customers are in financial difficulties and where the funds appropriated had been intended by the customer to meet essential day-to-day living expenditure.

"The supporting information that the debt advisers have provided would seem to indicate that this may in some cases be a systemic issue. We are seeking specific case details and intend to investigate these formally."

So they may be interested in your case, though that won't solve your immediate problem.

The practice has also been condemned by the Citizens Advice Bureau and the previous Government.

With all these guns ranged against them, they'll probably cave in as soon as you phone. Even if they do, you can still make a formal complaint, since they're out of order under the Lending Code. You may get compensation.

jimjames

McKneff wrote: »

The upside is is that you dont owe them any money now.

Thats always assuming the amount taken from the account covered it. From the post that isn't clear and it could be that if next months wages are paid in the same will happen again.

@OP - if that is the case you should move back to your old bank or another bank asap