13 and overdrawn!!

SingleSue

Tremour-88 wrote: »

I would write an angry letter to Barclays, because they're at fault for allowing his account to go overdrawn.

At 13 your son can't be expected to know all the ins and outs of overdrafts etc. and he is at no fault for checking his balance and spending his money, Barlcays is at fault for allowing him to use money when a pre-auth on another payment is sitting there.

Mine do, as soon as they were old enough to run their own accounts (think it was 11), it was all explained to them.

Youngest is 13 (and complex autistic) and he knows to the penny how much money he should have in his account, including purchases pending. Mind you, he was also the one explaining to me about profit and loss, and goodness knows what other stuff to do with running your own company at age 11 :rotfl:

THEY run their accounts, not me...and they run them very responsibly with full knowledge of the ramifications for not doing so (because I am so OCD about it probably )

sharpy2010

happymoneysaver1 wrote: »

I'm playing devils advocate a bit here but what is the exact wording of the letter that has got you so upset?

Please understand I have a son myself and although he is yet to hit his school years, anyone or anything that makes him cry or upsets him, instantly makes me go into protective mode without question, regardless of who/what/why etc.

The phrase you have included in your post - "escalating debt can lead to financial difficulty" - is really not threatening but more of a guidance statement. Without knowing what else the letter contained or the exact factual background (minus the emotion) I don't think we can give a fair assesment of the situation.

Martin Lewis has long been campaigning for financial education at school and I think considering we do not have this yet, what you have done by letting your son open an account to teach him financial responsibilty is fantastic (I will be following your lead here!). However, financial responsibilty lies with us as the individual to manage our own account and know what money we have, what money we have spent and what money we have left. If we know we have spent £x on something by card but it has not came off our account, we cannot act ignorant to the fact the bank/retailer has not deducted it from our balance, we should know this - regardless of the timescales. I understand your son is still young in his years and this is something he is not used to and it is easy to see why he would forget/misjudge his balance and why you would look to the bank to be more of a guidance as to not to allow this to happen.

However, this is where I am playing devils advocate (I'm so sorry!)I think you have taken a motherly emotional response and have just wanted to protect your son instead of seeing the bigger picture. As I've said, i don't know the ins and out of the wording of the letter or the overdrawn situation so please don't think I am being negative or unhelpful - I'm just seeing it through my eyes and what my knee jerk reaction would have been.

I agree with some other posters on here (as well as you re taking responsibilty for the debt) but I would let him know that this is what happens in the big bad world of adult money. If he keeps himself up to date with his income/outgoings and keeps himself a wee bit knowledgeable in the world of finance and in the black - outwith a major error on the banks part - he will never receive a letter from the bank again.

I hope that is ok? x

This is an excellent, well written, considered, and thought out post!

lr1277

For those surprised about the time taken to apply the charge to the card, Burgerking took 6-8 weeks to apply a transaction to my card.

OP: if you want your child to learn money management, why don't you get them some software to track their bank account and expenditure? This is one method to ensure you stick to the money you have available.
That is what I did (and do), so know it took Burgerking 6-8 weeks to charge me for my purchase.

Spirit_2

I feel sorry for the lad as he must have had a bit of a jolt however I too think that this is a good lesson in learning how to handle personal finances.

He will get over it. He knows first hand that there are unpleasant consequences to losing track of your finances, overspending and solely relying on your bank balance as a statement of your 'wealth'.

Just support him to make a plan about getting it back into balance and in creating a sensible communication with the bank, not aggressive, taking ownership of the overdraft balance and need to repay. Then help him to create a spreadsheet to manage his 'real' financial transactions.

Good luck

pqrdef

If he's got a debit card, it should be an online (full-authorisation) card. In that case, the bank would normally put the money on hold at the time of the purchase and he wouldn't be able to draw out the cash.

But with a mail or phone order, if the firm haven't got the goods, they may just leave the order unprocessed. In that case, when the transaction is processed, the bank can simply decline it. If they let it through, they're doing it as a favour to the customer. Note that the customer, in that situation, is considered to be requesting the overdraft.

Obviously the bank wasn't doing anything wrong when he drew out the cash if the bank was unaware of the debit card payment at the time. It's not like the debit card is telepathically linked to the bank.

WhiteHorse

nitac wrote: »

... he went to the cash point a few weeks after making the payment but before it was processed, it said he had money so he spent it!

This is classic - it catches plenty of adults too.

Anyway, how does a minor get a credit account when he can't legally enter into a contract except for 'necessaries'?

happymoneysaver1

sharpy2010 wrote: »

This is an excellent, well written, considered, and thought out post!

don't mean to hijack the thread going off track but thank you for your kind comments sharpy2010.

Plxply

WhiteHorse wrote: »

This is classic - it catches plenty of adults too.

Anyway, how does a minor get a credit account when he can't legally enter into a contract except for 'necessaries'?

It happens when authorisations fall off the account, the only alternative would be to have the authorisation on the account for 6 months (the time they're allowed to take payment from the authorisation). This would be a problem as many places put authorisations on to test if the card is real, so you'll end up with loads of £1 test transactions floating on your account.

callum9999

duchesspink1 wrote: »

minors get debit cards these days, I personally think its crazy but its a fact.

I think i'd be speaking to the bank to see how they expect him to pay a charge as a minor, ask them to explain the charge and ask if its legal, then finally offer to put the account back into credit.

I'd be taking the debit card off my child if it were me as companies often don't take the money immediately and it is hard to keep track of.

What do you mean "these days"? I had one 10 years ago as a "minor" and I was under no impression that it was a new thing.

And I hardly see how it's "crazy" to give young people better access to their money just because they are young. Yes this issue occasionally pops up but so what. No offence intended to the OP but the vast majority of minors wouldn't "burst into tears" at receiving that letter (though I do agree the tone was completely off for a letter sent to a child) and I hardly see it as a major problem.

jonesMUFCforever

How much is the kid overdrawn?
Does the parent not feel any remorse that their kids are ordering stuff on the internet without any supervision by the looks of it.

My daughter had a debit card but it was in my possession until we went shopping.