Help needed with student loan overdraft and hsbc

sx_turbo

Hi,


hope people on here can help me,


in september i got a letter through from hsbc saying that they have changed my account from a student account to a normal account,

the problem is i had a £1400 overdraft in there.

i hadnt used the account since leaving uni in 2007, and kept putting payments in until may last year, because life got in the way and completely forgot and i dont earn very much, (i was one of the unlucky ones who didnt walk into a 50k+ per year job when leaving uni)


as i said the letter arrived in september, and because i hadnt put any money in the account for 3 months they changed the account.

they had sent me letters previuosly warning me that i needed to make payment but i didnt open them thinking they were just random offerings of loans and usual marketing spiel.

they demanded full payment of the £1400 in september, and i went into the branch explaining that i couldnt afford to pay it all in one hit, and can only afford to pay £100 per month.

the branch was extremely unhelpful and inconsiderate and told me that i had to phone and it couldnt be sorted in branch (which is ludicrous),

so i ended up phoning and spoke to a somewhat very rude staff on the other end of the phone who kept insisting i pay the full ammount, which again is silly because if i had the money i would have just done that.

anyway we eventually agreed on £100 per month payment.

2 months later i kept getting phonecalls demanding payment in full, which again i cannot do, and agreed things would stay as they are.

i even had a phone call while i was driving on a very busy motorway, and when i explained i couldnt talk about the account as i was currently driving on said motorway, she demanded i pulled over onto the hard shoulder, which a) is illegal b) dangerous and c) damn right rude.


so beginning december i had another call demanding full payment, and again i said i couldnt afford it, and agreed that we will carry on with the £100 payment until march 2011 where the situation will be once again reviewd.

roll on to today, where i have recieved yet another letter demanding payment, and if i dont contact them within 10 days of the letter being sent, they have threatened to report me to all the credit reference agencies, and enforce any security given (i'm assuming this means bailiffs).

i know at the end of the day i was a doughnut for not paying for 3 months, but i need help with this as i am really worried.

i'm surprised they are being so aggressive over £1400 (hoping its a bit less than that now that i've been paying £100 per month for 4 months),

maybe we as a tax paying nation should do the same with the bank seeing as all our taxes have helped bail them out.

if any help can be given it would be really appreciated.

zppp

I've just read your long post and I will summarise so people can see the jist of what you are saying;

• You stopped paying into an overdraft of £1400 for a period of 3 months. Thus the acount defaulted.
• You were contacted by a collections agency to arrange repayment. You did this at £100 per month to clear off the debt.
• Since then you have had communications from this debt collection agency requesting full payment of the debt.

I would suggest that you write to them (there is a template on here if someone will kindly add) requesting that they only deal with you in writing. Next, I would send a letter making an offer of monthly repayment at what you agreed.

At the end of the day they want their money back because you defaulted. It is in both your and the collection's agency's interest to come to a formal written agreement. This probably is not with the bank, as they will have sold the debt on. As you have had letters, it should have contact details on the letterhead.

sx_turbo

sorry for the confusion,


it is not a collections agency, it is HSBC,

all they have done is change the account to a normal current account with a £1400 over draft, and demanding payment.

again i understand it is my fault i am in this situation.

i will call them tomorrow and start sorting it out in writing.

sx_turbo

forgot to add,

they changed the account from a student account with an authorised overdraft, to a normal debit account with an un authorised overdraft.

can they do this?

i thought they would have changed it from a student account with zero interest to an account with interest, but because the accounts now showing as an unauthorised overdraft is this why there chasing me?

thjey are getting there money back because in september i owed them £1454 and now its down to £1054.

sorry to keep ranting, just really annoyed and worried etc etc

paddyrg

Banks hate surprises. You dropping off the radar for 3 months means they no longer feel you can be trusted with an overdraft facility. They tried to get in touch, you didn't answer their letters, what else could they do? They want their cash back any way they can, as fast as possible. As to whether they can cancel an overdraft, check the terms of your bank account agreement, you'll probably find they can do what they like!

So now you're talking to them again, as mentioned above, suggest you only communicate by post and agree a £100/month repayment which will probably take ~18months or more as you'll be paying high interest. Or better still ask them if you can formalise it into a £100/month loan (the interest will probably be lower than unauthorised overdraft).

As for calling you on the motorway, how could they know you were driving? Don't take calls whilst driving, problem solved, and it's safer too ;-) Does that mean you have a car? If so, perhaps sell it and reduce the overdraft faster? And even consider selling as much stuff as you can - unsecured OD interest rates and charges are deliberately high.

As for them being rude/pushy/forceful/whatever - try not to let the emotion of the situation cloud your financial handling of it. Just make a deal to repay, and be consistent about doing so.

bobothebear

Could you not get a loan to pay it off? Or a Credit Card? Or Parents lend you it?

sx_turbo

paddyrg wrote: »

Banks hate surprises. You dropping off the radar for 3 months means they no longer feel you can be trusted with an overdraft facility. They tried to get in touch, you didn't answer their letters, what else could they do? They want their cash back any way they can, as fast as possible. As to whether they can cancel an overdraft, check the terms of your bank account agreement, you'll probably find they can do what they like!

So now you're talking to them again, as mentioned above, suggest you only communicate by post and agree a £100/month repayment which will probably take ~18months or more as you'll be paying high interest. Or better still ask them if you can formalise it into a £100/month loan (the interest will probably be lower than unauthorised overdraft).

As for calling you on the motorway, how could they know you were driving? Don't take calls whilst driving, problem solved, and it's safer too ;-) Does that mean you have a car? If so, perhaps sell it and reduce the overdraft faster? And even consider selling as much stuff as you can - unsecured OD interest rates and charges are deliberately high.

As for them being rude/pushy/forceful/whatever - try not to let the emotion of the situation cloud your financial handling of it. Just make a deal to repay, and be consistent about doing so.

yes i do have a car, and no i wont sell it as it's worth !!!!!! all, as mentioned i dont earn very much.

i understand the bank want there money, and as i stated i know i was in the wrong.

i answered the call thinking it was work as i drive a van for a living, i didnt know it was the bank, i told the bank i couldnt talk right then because i was driving and they got !!!!!! with me on the phone.

i have phoned hsbc numerous tims since spetember, and they have phoned me numerous times, and they will not make a payment plan with me, 1 minute they say it is fine to pay £100 per month, then 4 weeks later they change there mind.

i did try and get a loan, but it worked out a lot more expensive than paying the overdraft monthly because it was such a small ammount that was needed.

the interest is only 19.9%, which has been about £20 per month so far, and it will only take a further 9 months to pay it.

they also refuse to allow me to setup a direct debit to garuntee the money goes in each month, my local hsbc is also only open 9-5 weekdays and not open saturdays, i work 8-6 monday to friday, which makes it very awkward to get to the bank,

short of giving them a lump some of money that i dont have i cant see what else i can do.

i have realised i was wrong, but now it seems there trying to make it as awkward as possible to give there money back.

sx_turbo

bobothebear wrote: »

Could you not get a loan to pay it off? Or a Credit Card? Or Parents lend you it?

my parents have there own issues,

credit card wont give me a £1000 limit, and a small loan of that ammount costs more than the interest on the overdraft at the moment

paddyrg

I guess you just keep paying the £100 regularly and keeping a log of all the calls dates and times, and payment dates, etc. If they get nasty in court you can show that you are both repaying it, and have been trying to set up a payment plan and be responsible, etc. But keep paying it off, and at some point some hsbc person will call up threatening bad things only for you to point out you'd paid back over half already and that they should calm themselves down a bit... If you're a regular payer and showing willing, I can't see there being any reason to go to court. And, obviously, leave hsbc ;-)

churchrat

Hi
I doubt very much they will take you to court because the judge would be VERY cross with them if they did. They would go to court to get you to pay more per month, which as you say you are giving them all you can afford they will not win.
Dont speak to them again, tell them that all communication will be in writing. There is template on the dfw board.

Why dont you post over on the dfw where they know a great deal about this type of thing.
ggod luck