Sudden Overdraft Removal?

Lex224

Hi all. I really need some help / advice understanding what's happening to me.

I have a student account with Santander which has an overdraft of £1500. It is my main account and it's almost always at it's limit.

I found out the other night that the whole overdraft has been removed, ALL £1500 of it! I just had my rent money in the account left, which was £300 so my account is now apparently -£1200.

I went into a branch the day after it happened and they said it had been a mistake and that they would get it sorted, as they had given me NO notice, and apparently aren't allowed to take the whole thing off in one swoop anyways. They said it would take about 48 hours to reinstate it.

It's now the following week and I've been in again to find that the appeal for my overdraft has been declined. I got a call from the manager today to say that she can't find out why it's happened and she directed me to the complaints department. I called them up and they said they'd see what they can do and will call me in the next 2 days.

It's not looking likely that it will be given back. Are they allowed to do that? I'm totally screwed for money now!

I've Googled about and found Ts&Cs regarding an overdraft on a current account and could only find this wee bit which seems to regard what's happened:

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3.4.1 We have the right to change your overdraft limit at any time. We can also require you to repay the whole or any part of your overdraft at any time. We will usually give you 30 days' notice of our intention to change your overdraft limit or repay the whole or any part of your overdraft, however we may do either of these things without advance notice to you where it would be reasonable for us to do so.

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So, they CAN take it away with no notice but 'where it would be reasonable for us to do so'. Is it reasonable to leave a person with literally no money to pay rent, bills, and even to live with?

I called the Money Advice Service today and they've given me a plan to use if the bank doesn't give the overdraft back, but I'd just like to know if anybody knows if the bank can actually do this to me in the first place?

Thanks in advance for any help!

lizzywig

That's appauling. Sorry no advice really here I just didn't want to read and run. I would be inclined to ask them WHY they withdrew it in the first place. The first part of the story made it all sound like an error, even the manager doesn't know why it's happened. Not giving it back seems like a cheap excuse for not sorting the problem out!! Forget the complaints dept, you need to book a meeting with the manager and talk them through the whole thing.

Lex224

The manager doesn't seem to have a clue though. She doesn't seem to have any influence on the decision either so there's not much point in talking to her any more.

I can't even think to why they would do such a thing!

NeverEnough

Unfortunately, it IS Santander we are talking about here, so there doesn't need to be a valid reason or a logical explanation as most of their behaviour defies logic anyway. Their resolution of complaints is also pretty dire, although you could put it in writing, but I wouldn't hold out much for a sensible or decent response, sadly. They are just the worst of the worst.

opinions4u

Lex224 wrote: »

The manager doesn't seem to have a clue though. She doesn't seem to have any influence on the decision either so there's not much point in talking to her any more.

I can't even think to why they would do such a thing!

A typical bank manager is responsible for managing the sales performance of the branch.

They tend to have little to no influence over lending decisions.

Don't expect her to wave a magic wand. She needs to escalate your problem to somebody who can resolve it.

wildheart83

The only thing I can suggest is that you make a formal complaint and have it escalated to stage 2. They might not be able to put your overdraft back on, or even tell you why it happened but it sounds like they can't be any worse than the branch manager.

bunbun2

Lex224 that is terrible. I happened to check our Santander account online last night and noticed that they have reduced our overdraft by £600. that is no way as bad as your situation as we do still have money but we will most probably go over our overdraft limit and therefore incur charges. We are slowly reducing out o/d but this will just lead to a vicious circle of o/d and charges. OH is off to the branch now but I don't hold out much hope:mad:

Lex224

It is terrible. I've been on the phone to money advice people, the university about potential loans, the letting agency about delaying payment for the rent and lots of other people that will need to be notified of this situation. I feel so hopeless! I just can't understand why this has happened... It's my main account with all my DD's and such so I am totally screwed. Also, I got paid today and because it's all gone into that account, I will see nothing from it. I have enough food for a few days but what happens after that?

Does anybody know of anything that I can do to get some money? Somebody mentioned a crisis loan at the Job Center but I dunno if it's right for me?

qpop

I'm not sure how relevant this will be but check out: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_income/DG_10018856

What Santander is done is unforgivable really and I'd write a letter outlining the above, address it to their UK CEO's office (Ana Bot!n) - it won't be read by the CEO but it will be dealt with promptly. e-mail will work just as well as the FSA dictates financial establishments must deal with complaints on the same timescales regardless of the media they're received on. Still address the e-mail to the CEO.

Borrow off friends and family until the complaint gets suitably senior that they'll fix the screw-up they've made. It's terrible really and you have my sympathies.

Finally, move to a decent bank, or at least a competent one.

barrychoc

I had to deal with something like this about a year ago with Satander, it took them about a week but they eventually sorted it :beer:

Lex224

I really appreciate the advice. I'm still yet to get a call back from the complaints department though so I'm feeling as if I can't move on with anything until I hear what they can (or most likely cannot) do.

I am going to try and open another simple current account, so that I can at least access some money that I pay in. Might borrow off as many people as I can and then transfer my DD's etc to the new account and try to work my way back to normality. If I need to actually pay off this overdraft, I can make a plan up with the bank and will manage it eventually.

Life sometimes, eh? Let's hope my application for another account else where gets accepted. If not, I'm screwed.