Bank given me 2 weeks to pay off my overdraft - don't have the casj

TheSpade

Nationwide have out the blue told me I've to the end of the month to pay off my £1500 overdraft with little explanation as to why. They simply say they've reviewed it as well as my wider finanicial management and that it isn't sustainable. If I don't pay it I'm charged 18.90% interest plus unathorised overdraft fee.

I'm never missed a payment, I'm working and have a wage going into my account + other credits, my credit rating is 'very good', it's a fully working bank account, there's already been over £800 go into my account this month alone, will be over £1k by the end of the month.

I can't afford to pay off £1500 by the end of the month, is there anything I can do to make them reconsider or even reduce the amount? What are the likely possible outcomes? Can I negotiate this with them?

Any advice welcome.

pmduk

Of course you can try to negotiate it, that doesn't mean they'll necessarily take any notice. Try asking them to allow a gradually reducing overdraft at a rate that you can afford.

wales2309

I had a letter today saying they would be reducing my o/d. I struggle at the moment to keep to budget but I'm getting there. not anymore though. I've done a money tfr from a credid card with luckily I can do a bal tfr from another to reduce my rate.

Doesn't help my husband is also off sick so I'm covering the bills.

TheSpade

I was hoping I could get them to re-review the account and reconsider. I've only been working again for about 7 weeks so if they reviewed it a few weeks back it probably didn't look fantastic, but there was still money going in and the payments were always met. My thinking was now that they see I have a regular steady wage going in it'll put me in a stronger position, there's no chance of me not making payments and surely now they can see that. It benefits them more in the long run to let me have the overdraft than if I pay it all off. They're obviously banking on me not being able to so they can rape me with interest charges though. If they think I'll stick around with them after doing that they are mistaken, i'll pay this overdraft off and move banks.

YorkshireBoy

This should answer most of your concerns...

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/search/DisplayArticle.aspx?article=1239

Some comments (from the above):

They should have given you 3 weeks notice, so ask for additional time to sort things out with them.
Ask them what "alternatives" they can offer you.
Pick up an "appeals form" from branch, complete, and submit ASAP.

teeni

When this happened to me a year or so ago I rang them and they agreed to a monthly reduction in the overdraft limit, but said it would show as an arrangement to pay on my credit report. It never has shown up as an arrangement to pay however but does show the monthly reduction and states satisfied so unsure why that was.

I have just made the last payment and have reduced the £1000 overdraft to nil at £50 per month, phone them to discuss it and hopefuly you will come to an arrangement you are both happy with.

fozmcfc

Not wishing to lecture, but the position you find yourself in, means you are not managing to live within your means and need to take this as a wake up call.

If you are happy to be living this way, where a loss of income means you basically will have no money then fine, but if not why not try the debt free wanabee section of the board for advice/support on cutting down spending and upping income.

Many people (including myself a few years back) are just a job loss or a cut in wages away from complete financial meltdown.

Thankfully I had my wake up call in 2009, when I got knocked back for credit and am so much happier now I know that even if the worse happens I can still afford to live for up to a year without employment.

hcb42

if you are only earning £1K a month and have a £1500 overdraft, it is way too high, you will need to negotiate with them but I would have thought a third of that was a reasonable OD

TheSpade

but said it would show as an arrangement to pay on my credit report. It never has shown up as an arrangement to pay however but does show the monthly reduction and states satisfied so unsure why that was.

So I'm guessing this is not a good thing to be showing on your credit rating, will it actively affect my rating and lower it? Didn't realise it would have any bearing on it which is annoying!

if you are only earning £1K a month and have a £1500 overdraft, it is way too high, you will need to negotiate with them but I would have thought a third of that was a reasonable OD

I'll be the judge of what is 'too high' for my own personal circumstances / finances thanks very much. It's absolutely fine, I've got another £2k overdraft with another bank, a loan and a credit card and have no problem making the payments. Even when unemployed I could pay the minimum with ease.

And FYI I was earning less when they gave me this overdraft limit. So now that I'm earning more where's the logic in taking my o/d away?

why not try the debt free wanabee section of the board for advice/support on cutting down spending and upping income.

My weekly and monthly spending is as low as it could be, I don't buy 'things', I spend the bare minimum on transport and food and live pretty frugally.

Will this reduction in overdraft effect my ability to get credit / a loan etc in the future?

As I've got different debts coming out at different times of the month from different banks and so on as well as a credit card interest rate that's far too high I was thinking in a few months time I'd take out a low interest rate loan, pay all my current debts off and it would mean I've just got one monthly payment on the same date every month, wouldn't be paying anymore than I pay at the moment anyway AND I'd not be getting raped for interest on my credit card like I do now.

premierfella

TheSpade wrote: »

...I'll be the judge of what is 'too high' for my own personal circumstances / finances thanks very much.

Unfortunately for you, the bank lending you the money is ultimately in the position of judging whether the overdraft is too high. It is probable that they would have taken the fact that you have an overdraft elsewhere into account when deciding to change their position on how much they wish to lend you via overdraft in the future.

noh

TheSpade wrote: »

...I'll be the judge of what is 'too high' for my own personal circumstances / finances thanks very much. It's absolutely fine, I've got another £2k overdraft with another bank, a loan and a credit card................................................

It's the banks who make the judgement about what is too high for your circumstances.
The fact that you have a £2000 overdraft from another bank is probably one of the major factors influencing Nationwide when they decided to wirhdraw your facility with them.