please help im so worried

2011Fairy

i literally have £200a month to live on, i owe some loan companies money, i have made an offer and in the meantime I changed my crad details so they couldnt just charge my card.

i have now got payments of
£5
£10
£20
£30
£40 and so on

my bank have said they cant tellwhat it is but if it is a loan company i may not get my money back, this leaves me nothing. plus they definatly DONT have my new card details. Am i protected in anyway?

Im so worried as pregnant and cant get through the month.

climbgirl

Ok, firstly don't panic - there is a way out of this so keep calm.

We need a bit more information to help you. Are you saying they're still charging the card? If so, the first thing is to cancel it so they can't. If you have no idea who it is or if the payments are legitimate, make a fraud claim with the bank - they have to investigate then and find out who is making the charges to your account.

Then we need a bit more info about what bills you need to cover this month and what you've got coming in so we can help you out.

Don't worry, there's a way out of it.

climbgirl

In terms of getting through the month - what bills do you need to cover, or is this for food etc?

If it is for food, what do you have in the cupboards already? The people on the Old Style board are incredible at making meals out of almost nothing!

Do you have anything you could sell quickly to make a little cash to get you through the month? Any books / cds / whatever - anything to get a bit more cash.

Any family or anything you could borrow off short term to tide you over? I know it's not nice to ask, but if you're desparate I'm sure they'd rather help.

2011Fairy

the bank have said they dont know who it is only that it is a debit card payment, they think it is the payday loan people, i have made offers to pay whcih they have rejected.
Its not a guarantee its them they cant tell me till mondsay,
i need food
to pay council tax
travel costs to work
and general living costs
im worried sick as i am on my own they have left £35 in my bank x

climbgirl

Are you 100% sure it's them? Could you call and ask the payday company if they have taken payments? I just ask because you said you changed the account and they don't have the new details so if that is the case, it might be someone who isn't authorised to take the money - in which case, you need to report it to the bank as fraud.

If it is them, it will be difficult to get the money back. So you need to concentrate on what you need to get you through the month and how you get that.

When's your next payday?

Start with food, that's important! What do you have in the cupboards? How much cash do you have (take the £35 out now so they can't get that as well)? You can live perfectly well off baked beans and pot noodles for a few weeks, it won't hurt you. When I was a student I ate pot noodles every day for a summer, didn't do me any harm. Check what you already have in the cupboards and see how far you can make it last.

How much is your transport to work? Do you have any holiday you could take to avoid the need to go in? Can you work from home at all? Is your boss sympathetic and would understand if you explained the situation (a long shot maybe!). Sometimes workplaces will do a payroll advance - maybe you could ask about that to get a bit of money to tide you over (altho obviously you'll get less in your next payday)

When is the council tax actually due and when is your next payday? Can you delay for a little while?

2011Fairy

im not 100% but its all i can think of!
Im not worried about money im more worried about the fact that i am alone pregnant and need this money to live on and buy stuff for my child. i dont have any help.
I am already in trouble with council tax and they have taken me to courtt, i am struggling as it is.
I was advised by payplan to change my account details so they cant just take money, can they still do this?

climbgirl

Sorry, just spotted that you're pregnant so maybe living on student type food isn't an option.

Do you have family who could help with groceries, anything like that?

climbgirl

2011Fairy wrote: »

I was advised by payplan to change my account details so they cant just take money, can they still do this?

If you haven't given them the new account details, they can't have taken out the money. Is it a brand new account, new bank, completely unrelated to your old account?

RAS

Hi

If you have got payday loans, you need to take every penny out of that account now.

And you need to read saltnvinegar's excellent thread on dealing with them https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2735257

Do send a pm to snV, who will help you.

Then you need to open a new basic bank account with a bank that has no financial association with the old one.

climbgirl

What about food banks and local charities to get food parcels from? If there is really nobody at all you can ask for some help with food, then that's what places like that exist for.

I know it's not a nice thing to have to do, but it's an option.

2011Fairy

hi climbgirl,
not its the same account, i just changed the card so they wouldnt have my card details, no auth has been given on this new one so i just cant understand, but what makes me think its them as it looks like total amounts taken from a dd machine ie £5 £10 £20 etc, who else would have access to this?