Refused Bank Credit - Advice Please

bigausk

Hi Money savers,

My brother is in a bit of a sticky situation at University. He has one student bank account with RBS with which he has an available overdraft of £1100. He has maxed that out and while away on a sport trip he missed a £10.50 payment to 02. He has since paid that to 02, but when he went to the bank to ask for his overdraft to be increased to tide him over they refused, sighting the black mark on his credit report (due to the missed payment) as the reason.

He's in this situation because SAAS (Student Awards Agency Scotland) have got such a backlog of forms they are only paying him £90 a month living allowance when he had budgeted for the expected £400 a month he should be getting.

Can anyone suggest what he can do to get himself through until the end of November when the SAAS back payment is due?

I have suggested asking the university if they have a hardship fund.
I've also told him to make sure he doesn't miss another payment to 02.

Should he try and get another student account with a different bank or is that illegal? What about applying for a credit card with another bank?
He has no savings and has never had a credit card so I suspect that's why his credit report looks so bad.

Anyway, any suggestions or ideas would be great. Thanks.

amiehall

Some kind of crisis loan from the uni is definitely his best bet. If he's clearly using ALL his available credit, especially with no/low income, mainstream finance such as credit cards are probably out of his reach. RBS would allow you to have another student account as long as they remain the "main account". You can use the guide to find another account that doesn't mind being a 2nd student account. Whether an application would be successful is anyone's guess.... I think some sort of crisis loan is definitely the first avenue to look at.

Aelius

Go to the university's finance department and ask about discretionary/crisis loans.

I find it odd for RBS to do that. I've just graduated, and I was wicked for doing that with bills, and they have never refused upping my student overdraft. Either they are tightening their rules, or your brother isn't being entirely truthful. Unfortunately, if RBS aren't willing to lend him more money, then I doubt any other banks will either.