Think i'm in the crap....

MORPH3US

Think i might need help / advice...

I am a fanatical moneysaver, a tight !!!! some might say.

Well 4 years ago when I was on my University work placement I had a bright idea of trying to save a bit of cash and at the time, Cahoot offered the best rate for a current account.

I opened the account with the intention to save, but shortly after was involved in a car accident (not my fault) and needed to buy a new car. For this reason, I never actually saved any cash because it all went on my new (not really new, just new to me) car, in fact, I ended up using £220 from the overdraft of this Cahoot account.

Now I actually had a £500 overdraft with Cahoot and as I remember, the first £250 was interest free.....

So I withdrew the £220 thinking "its fine, its interest free" and then a few more unexpected outgoings meant I never actually used the Cahoot account or paid the £220 back.

Four years later, i.e. yesterday, I get a letter from Cahoot basically saying "you owe us £220 (plus interest and charges)"

I nearly crapped myself. I have never forgotten about this £220, but the "(plus interest and charges)" bit has gotten me worried.

After checking on their website now, they only offer the first £100 of the overdraft interest free and now i'm worried they are going to try and charge me interest on the overdraft that I thought was interest free for the last 4 years.

Now I have just rung them to get all the details reset so at least I can login and see whats what, but can anyone offer any advice?

I would have thought that if they were changing the "buffer zone" from £250 to £100 then they would have had to write to me by post and tell me which they didn't, but with it being online, i'm worried that they could have just sent a message to my account or just updated their website T&C's and then say its my fault for not loging in and seeing them.... plus, I have no proof whatsoever that the "buffer zone" was £250......

Perfect timing, coming up to Christmas, money is tighter than ever, car is playing up with something new every week....

What to do.....

Sorry for the long post....

M

Counter55

If it helps trace the email and work out the interest charge, this is what they sent me on 5th Oct 2005 -

"As of the 30th September we have reduced our free overdraft
facility from GBP 250 to GBP 100 for both new and existing customers.

---What does this mean for you

---

Although the cahoot website details have changed, this change will not
effect your account until the 8 November 2005, after which you will be
charged interest on any overdraft above GBP 100 up to your agreed overdraft
limit. Your overdraft limit and interest rate will remain unchanged"

MORPH3US

Thanks Counter55,

How the heck do you still have an e-mail like that from over a year ago?!?!

How would I work out the interest on £120 for 1 year.

Interest rate is 0.9367% monthly or 11.8% APR.

I never received that e-mail and I suppose it is because they have an old e-mail address for me. Don't they have to notify me by post?

I suppose that because its online, e-mail is enough, and if I tell them I never got it then they will say its my fault for not keeping my details up to date with them!!

Did everyones Cahoot change as above at the same time?!?!

M

Counter55

"How the heck do you still have an e-mail like that from over a year ago?!?!"

I store all my old money emails in their own folder in outlook - and searched for all from cahoot to find.
Interest will be about £120 x 11.8% x 11/12 (11 months) = about £13.
This assumes you didn't have any DDs or standing orders set up taking other money out of the account.

I don't remember getting notified by snail mail. Assume the T&C say you need to tell them of email changes but might be worth asking for a discount on the interest if they hadn't written by post.

Not a bad account - I'd stoozed at £245 o/d since 2001 and at £95 o/d since

Debt_Free_Chick

MORPH3US wrote:

How the heck do you still have an e-mail like that from over a year ago?!?!M

Me too. I have a folder called "Archive" where I store all those emails that I think I might want to refer to, in the future.

Hope you get your O/D sorted. Once you've done that, set up an archive for your email!!

MORPH3US

Thanks Counter!!!

£13 isn't too bad, ok its bad from an MSE point of view but could have been a lot worse. Luckily I didn't have any DD's or in fact anything at all coming out of the account, like I said I never used it.

I will get it paid off this month and then close the account, but if / when they try to charge interest, I will fight it tooth and nail its in my nature, I am a serial complainer when it comes to parting with money.... but at the end of the day, if I have to pay it, I pay it and learn the lesson!!!

You might find that you get a letter off them soon if you don't have reglar payments into the account, that was why I got a letter in the first place because apparently the T&C's state that 15% of the overdraft must be paid off each month.....

Thanks Debt_Free_Chick, TBH, I don't get any e-mails from banks and stuff, all my banking is through Nationwide and thats all online and snail mail!

Cheers both!!

M