Want to close Halifax current account

noh

You will not have a successful claim based on hardship in the past.
Financial institutions are obliged to consider your claim fairly if you are currently in financial hardship.
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/financial-hardship-unaffordable-lending.htm#2

Fishingtime

The Halifax were charging me £30 a month for using my £500 overdraft.
I took £500 out in cash from my HX CC and paid my OD off.
I am now paying £10 a month interest on the £500till I pay it back,

lancunian

Thank you noh, I will continue researching other avenues.

lancunian

Yoxford2008
Putting the overdraft onto my Hfx credit card was an alternative I put forward, they weren't interested.

212

It may be worth a try, to apply for a Nationwide FlexDirect account. Their Overdraft charges are £1 a day capped at £20 a month. Interest Free for 3 months from account opening too (well depending on which member of staff you speak to, but I haven't been charged yet).

Credit score may be an issue, but it may well be worth an application just incase - worst that can happen is they say no, and it doesn't sound like you want to apply for any other credit products in the short-term anyway

If you get the account open then try and get an overdraft. I tried for 3k and it told me my limit was £2,350 so I took that, then a few days later it let me take £3,500 (although I'm now blocked from doing anything!).

£20 a month (if you get enough to transfer your entire Halifax balance) isn't the best situation, but better than £90+.

You haven't said what your balance is but you could try to bring your balance down to 1p below the threshold, that would save you a third each month. Even if you only got given a small overdraft at Nationwide and used that to take Halifax down to £2,999.99, that would save £10~ a month (£20 capped at NW, compared to the extra £30~ at Halifax for the higher tier)

Do you have any other credit cards to balance transfer some/all of it to?

theposhbint

I was in a very similar situation about a year ago with Halifax but had a 1k overdraft, and not being able to pay it off very quickly with the £30 a month fees.

I wrote to them with all our income/expenditure and they did agree to the account being frozen (not being able to get any money out but I could pay in) and me paying back £50 a month til I was back on my feet to start to clear it properly.

I moved all my banking to an account without an overdraft and paid in at least £50 a month to bring the balance down.

They were very helpful both over the phone and letter had no problems at all, even deferred a payment when I had a tough month. But I was warned, if I missed a payment with no word that was it, they wouldn't be prepared to set up another agreement.

lancunian

212:
I have already opened another bank account elswhere.
Poshbint:
I tried all that with their money management, they were not interested.

212

lancunian wrote: »

212:
I have already opened another bank account elswhere.
Poshbint:
I tried all that with their money management, they were not interestes.

Out of interest which account and who with? I'm assuming they won't give you an overdraft then?

You could always try Nationwide just in case - you certainly shouldn't be trying things willy nilly, but you seem to discount a loan option (I got rejected for loans in the same situation too), so reducing the interest payable is your only option - personally I'd consider it worth a shot going for a capped £20/month account just incase, but that's up to you. I thought I'd be declined but somehow got it.

If your credit rating is so poor you won't get accepted for anything else you have nothing to lose anyway - within 6 months the effect of the search will wear off (along with the others, so then you can try for it again), and after 12 it disappears from your file.

A credit card (for day to day spending, so you can have a breather and pay the minimum and focus most of your money on getting below the halifax threshold) is unlikely. You could try Capital One's 0% for 6 months, designed for poor credit, but make sure you pay the minimum every month without fail, and you must be in a position to repay in full within 6 months or the interest will be just as bad as the Halifax fees.

Best of luck anyway, these changes are a nightmare. It's a shame they don't have to let you repay at the old rate (like Credit Cards).

lancunian

I resurrected an old Santander bank account and just use that now.
I have looked into opening another account but all that is available is a basic account.
What annoys me is the fact that Halifax seem perfectly happy to let me pay off the overdraft in a way that could take 10+ years, yet won't entertain any alternatives.

CW123

I'm in the same situation, I have a £750 odraft and pay in £45pm (£30 in daily charges and £15 monthly fee) and I'm just managing to pay that each month but unable to pay much more on top so the balance is just not going down but is still taking up £45 a month of my money for nothing. I've not got great credit history so would probably be refused a loan etc. Any ideas how I can start paying it off???

Also I have considered removing the monthly fee by downgrading the account but I do actually use the aa cover and home emergency cover that comes with it.