Help - OD with HSBC + £30 a month

top_drawer_2

Hello,

Unsure where to post this, long time member and my issue has been ongoing with me always hoping that things will sort themselves out ....

I carefully budgeted to move into a flat on my own in March as I could no longer cope with my nightmare LL and the tenants from hell. It then turns out that I was lied to throughout the viewing and I am actually responsible for the council tax, this is despite having been reassured that this was the case at least once during the viewing and again when signing the contract.

In part as a result of this I have been living in my £1500 OD with HSBC since I can remember - I chip away at it but I just cant earn enough to pay it off and pay bills/rent etc etc. Today it stands at £900 but then on the 15th of each month my rent will go out and I am back where I started - I havent dealt with the council tax as I just cant face it as its £90 a month I just dont have.

At the end of this month the account becomes a standard a/c and the OD is charged at 19.? APR/approx £30.

I tried to speak to HSBC who sent me to their Money Advice Line who were worse than useless (and very patronising about it too) and they then sent me on to CCCS and they couldnt really give me any useful advice beyond to continue doing what I am doing now - they calculate that I have around £57 a month available after I have paid out on bills etc and by the time I pay of the OD fee and chip away at the debt it will take me around 16 months to pay this debt off. I honestlyfeel like topping myself as I have no life at the moment and havent had for months as I put everything I have towards looking for better prospects (i.e voluntary work which I have now given up as I cant afford it and it was going nowhere beneficial for me, or networking - again no results as yet, doing activities/courses etc that could have a benefit to the area I want to work in - again nothing).

I feel reallydown in the dumps and am terrified that I will sink again to the depths I have been in the past when I was unable to cope at all - I am currently taking on a lot of extra work to try to work things out and am struggling for time/energy plus everything seems to go wrong when Im around.

I am a Support Worker (Care Assistant basically, which I absolutely hate at the moment due to issue with staff and !!!!!iness at work) with disabled people and earn £6.96 an hour including my holiday pay because I am on a zero hour contract. I average around £800 a month generally and I just cant see any resolution.

Help me please.

Bosniavet96

OK, I have to say that £90pcm council tax for a flat seems high, but I am unaware of the size/quality of the place (as a guide, my housing assn one bed flat is £64pcm in Essex). There are a number of things you can do with regards to HSBC:-
1. Ask them to transfer the current overdraft to a "loan account" with an agreed repayment each month, leaving you to live on your current income.
2. If they remain unhelpful, open a "basic bank account" elsewhere (Co-Op are good, based on personal experience), get your wages & any other payments paid to this account, & then negotiate a repayment plan with HSBC, maybe using the services of CCCs, PayPlan or the CAB to help fight your corner.

Are you currently receiving any "top-up" benefits? I may be wrong, but I imagine you would be eligible for Working Tax Credits, if not Housing or Council Tax Benefit based on your monthly income. Your hourly rate of pay seems exceptionally low, but not being an expert on pay rates in your area, I cannot be sure, I am aware that in Essex, Lidl & Aldi are paying more than you are currently receiving.
I wish you luck.

Mach4

Hi

Ok your financial position sounds like it really isnt so bad. I'm assuming your OD is your only debt?

If so your overall debt is small. The reason you feel you have no life is because you have no money. You have no money not because of this debt but because your salary is low and you are living on your own.

You dont have a debt problem HSBC cant help you. You need to up your income or drop your expenses. So change job or move back to a shared place. I know probably both sound either hard or unachievable but those are the two things that can help your life.

InsertWittyName

Hi.

First of all, don't panic

top_drawer wrote: »

I havent dealt with the council tax as I just cant face it as its £90 a month I just dont have.

You need to treat this as a priority debt, as the rules for not paying council tax are different than a 'regular' debt such as an overdraft.

top_drawer wrote: »

I honestly feel like topping myself as I have no life at the moment and havent had for months as I put everything I have towards looking for better prospects

Post up an SOA so the other forum experts can help you save money where possible. Link is at the top of the forum.

And remember that it's only money - if you don't have it then you can't pay them. There's nothing they can do to you that should make you consider 'escaping' from it all.

top_drawer_2

Thank you everyone for all the advice - I haven’t been able to get back online sooner due to work. I'm still feeling very down in the dumps particularly since my neighbour woke me up last night with his dreadful music, then when I complained as I had to be up at 5.30 for work retaliated by saying I had a nerve as he claims I was moving furniture around at 3am (some months ago he agrees - I dispute this obviously).

BosniaVet - Anyway, the CT does seem high to me too – its a tiny one bed flat in a block and its a dump. I’m in Preston and in Band A = £1060.36 - 1 person discount at 25% = 795.27
Paid (I calculate at)
=12 months - £68.
=10 months - £81.60
Although they calculate £90.78 to be paid this month and £87 until next month.
HSBC Moneyline sent me to CCCS who basically said that I cant do anything more than I am doing – on my current average wage of £800 + monthly overdraft charges at 19% (£30) it will take me around 16 months. They couldn’t suggest much to cut down on even as I live on nothing as it is and each month I hope I might have some money spare to do something with.
I have an appointment with someone at HSBC to discuss financial issues and also another at Co-op because I haven’t been too happy with HSBC for awhile now.
I am in the process of applying for WTC.
My SOA is:
Monthly Incomings:

My salary – averages at around £800 a month though just got my payslip for 1356.25 this month. I earned so much that the Student Loans Company took £50 from me ;(
Partners salary – N/A
Benefits – Applied for WTC as tend to average around 30 hours a week overall.

Total - ?

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £360 pcm
Council Tax - £90
Gas – £75/3=£25
Electric –N/A
TV License – N/A
Phone - £15 Pm (02 payg)
Internet - £15 rolling contract at £15 pm
Food – 25 a week = 100 a month
Car Insurance – NA
Petrol – N/A
Life Insurance – N/A
Travel/buses for work -£3.20 a day (4 buses a day to travel to and from work)

Total: £603.00

Make sure you include EVERYTHING you can think of!

Also give us as much detail about your debts as you can especially with the APR’s. If you don’t know them, phone the credit companies up and get them to tell you.


I have no credit cards/loans etc.

Overdraft - £1,400 (limit £1,500) until end of this month – upto 1,000 APR 0%, upto 1,500 19%
At the end of this month the whole overdraft becomes chargeable at 19% APR.

Jenny

Toomuchdebt

Ok so taking into account your usual wage of 800, that leaves you 197 to use for the council tax/overdraft.And this month you have a lot more than 800 so I'm sorry if I'm being thick but I can't see the problem? Sorry just seen you already had the CT in the list-so that leaves 197 to put into the overdraft plus the extra from this month and a big chunk will be paid off.