Shock from HBOS this morning...

AlisonM

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Bank practice: Someone whose DD bounce regularly



will lose their overdraft PDQ and has his/her account downgraded to a basic one, if not closed for good.

Then I would expect a letter with advance warning...

I pay for the overdraft.

AlisonM

Thrugelmir wrote: »

The bank has had enough of managing your personal finances for you and called time. As every month your account has required personal overview and manual return of direct debits.

So nothing to with banking practice. With your account now over the overdraft limit. They've placed the matter finally in your court to deal with.

This could well be the case... however, a warning letter would perhaps have been expected.

pinkdalek

Simple response - if you want something done correctly do it yourself, cancel your direct debits, ask for your bills to be paid via a different method, then use your own time paying them when you have sufficient funds.

Whilst I have every sympathy for your personal situation, everyone else has their own traumas, stresses but yet manage to get on with it. If your situation had recently happened eg in the last month then speak to the bank who will no doubt be sympathetic and helpful, however you cannot use your personal situation as an excuse as to why you cannot pay your bills not can you rely on the fact that just because it bounced last time means it will bounce again. You seriously need to look at your outgoings, see what can be cancelled, re-adjusted and seek advice.

Oh and HBOS ceased to exist in September 2008, there is no such company. It is either Halifax or Bank of Scotland who trade on the FTSE under Lloyds Banking Group.

tagq2

AlisonM wrote: »

Then I would expect a letter with advance warning...

I pay for the overdraft.

If your arranged overdraft has been changed or the bank intend to change/close your account type then you should certainly be given advance warning. But the decision of whether to provide an unarranged overdraft is made each time you informally request it - it is not based on a pre-existing agreement.

Put another way, habit is typically not contract-forming: if someone's said "no" nine times they aren't required to inform in advance that they will probably say "yes" the tenth. There may be interesting circumstances where this isn't the case, but I don't think yours is one of them.

AlisonM

pinkdalek wrote: »

Simple response - if you want something done correctly do it yourself, cancel your direct debits, ask for your bills to be paid via a different method, then use your own time paying them when you have sufficient funds.

Whilst I have every sympathy for your personal situation, everyone else has their own traumas, stresses but yet manage to get on with it. If your situation had recently happened eg in the last month then speak to the bank who will no doubt be sympathetic and helpful, however you cannot use your personal situation as an excuse as to why you cannot pay your bills not can you rely on the fact that just because it bounced last time means it will bounce again. You seriously need to look at your outgoings, see what can be cancelled, re-adjusted and seek advice.

Sorry - appreciate that you want to be supportive, but I did not ask for advice on how to look at my outgoings.

I have everything calculated to the last penny, as long as nothing changes.

Thrugelmir

AlisonM wrote: »

This could well be the case... however, a warning letter would perhaps have been expected.

Why? You knew the direct debits would take your account over the facility limit. Rather than be pro-active yourself and try and address the situation. You've sat back and made it the banks problem for to long.

The overdraft appears to have become permanent. Rather than a temporary facility. Which I assume was arranged to assist you at an earlier date.

AlisonM

tagq2 wrote: »

If your arranged overdraft has been changed or the bank intend to change/close your account type then you should certainly be given advance warning. But the decision of whether to provide an unarranged overdraft is made each time you informally request it - it is not based on a pre-existing agreement.

Put another way, habit is typically not contract-forming: if someone's said "no" nine times they aren't required to inform in advance that they will probably say "yes" the tenth. There may be interesting circumstances where this isn't the case, but I don't think yours is one of them.

Thanks - this is the most helpful response so far.

AlisonM

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Why? You knew the direct debits would take your account over the facility limit. Rather than be pro-active yourself and try and address the situation. You've sat back and made it the banks problem for to long. .

Not necessarily - although I was perhaps lulled into a false sense of security. Which isn't quite the same as 'sitting back and making it the banks problem' - which I find to be an arrogant and judgemental statement.

moonrakerz

AlisonM wrote: »

Your response is a put down and unhelpful.

My response was quite truthful - your trying it to get sympathy for what you were doing by stating that you are a widow with three children was completely irrelevant.

You are complaining/querying the bank's "practice" - has it not occurred to you that they have have got sick and tired of your "practices" and decided to force the issue - which, reading between the lines, has been going on for some time.

It isn't the bank's money that we are talking about - it belongs to other people - why should they subsidize your "practices" ?

maninthestreet

AlisionM - you are in complete denial of your current financial situation. No matter how you this position came about, even if you are totally blameless, you need to start taking responsibility for improving it. Blaming the bank for unexpectedly paying your DDs because they previously bounced them isn't going to win you any friends on these boards, as you've discovered.