santander overdraft charges / account closure (URGENT HELP NEEDED)

rudy691

need some help with this.

my missus has a santander account, she got laid off couple of weeks ago.
account had an overdraft of 100 quid and she's been on it for a while. due to this she was being charged every now and then for arranged/unarranged overdraft and charge for no money coming into the account. now it's 159 overdrawn with probably more charges coming.

i want to close this account and work out a payment plan. dont want to call them, as after my fight with hsbc - i need everything on paper. is ther some kind of a letter template and address I can write to ? basically want to stop them adding charges, close the account and work out a payment plan to pay this off.

let me know guys, as this account will probably be charged again in a couple of days.

rudy691

bump. need to get it sorted.

FireWyrm

You cant 'stop' them adding charges as they have a perfect right to do so. Your best bet I think is to raise the £159 on the nose and pay it off before more charges come through. Once you have done that, go into the branch and close it once and for all but do keep an eye on the situation just to make sure it really is closed.

There's really no alternative but to either pay it off, or negotiate a settlement in writing with them. You dont need a template, just a common sense clear letter. Sit down and write something out and then post it here if you need it critiqued.

Gromitt

Indeed, you need to pay it off as quickly as possible. If you can't afford it, then you need to borrow money from elsewhere at a lower rate and pay it off using that. You can't close the account until the debt is paid.

psychic_teabag

FireWyrm wrote: »

You cant 'stop' them adding charges as they have a perfect right to do so. Your best bet I think is to raise the £159 on the nose and pay it off before more charges come through.

Or at least get it down below £100 so that you're only paying arranged, rather than unarranged, fees. What do they charge ? Perhaps even a cash advance from a credit card would be less than the charges ?)

rudy691

Gromitt wrote: »

Indeed, you need to pay it off as quickly as possible. If you can't afford it, then you need to borrow money from elsewhere at a lower rate and pay it off using that. You can't close the account until the debt is paid.

getting in to more debt is not really a 'get out of debt' solution you know...

YorkshireBoy

rudy691 wrote: »

getting in to more debt is not really a 'get out of debt' solution you know...

It's not "more debt"! It's the same debt, but at a cheaper cost of borrowing.

This means that for every pound you pay more will come off the capital (because there's less interest to pay), meaning the debt is repaid sooner.

Surely that makes sense?

rudy691

its spinning out of control now...this is what awaits me in 4 days

15/10/2012 DAILY UNARRANGED OVERDRAFT FEE £100.00
15/10/2012 UNDER FUNDING FEE £5.00
15/10/2012 DAILY ARRANGED OVERDRAFT FEE £8.00

innovate

rudy691 wrote: »

its spinning out of control now...this is what awaits me in 4 days

15/10/2012 DAILY UNARRANGED OVERDRAFT FEE £100.00
15/10/2012 UNDER FUNDING FEE £5.00
15/10/2012 DAILY ARRANGED OVERDRAFT FEE £8.00

You / your wife are the only ones who can take control.

You / your wife must talk to Santander now to limit the damage. And/or find an alternative loan, to contain the debts, as has been suggested by other posters.

rudy691

its not that simple to find a loan for 200 quid only.

dalesrider

rudy691 wrote: »

its spinning out of control now...this is what awaits me in 4 days

15/10/2012 DAILY UNARRANGED OVERDRAFT FEE £100.00
15/10/2012 UNDER FUNDING FEE £5.00
15/10/2012 DAILY ARRANGED OVERDRAFT FEE £8.00

Ring and talk to them NOW.......

If you explain the situation and what you can do to resolve it. Then you may find that the credit team may look at doing something about the pending charges.
I know you are not sticking your head in the sand, but by not contacting them ASAP then it appears that way to them.
You may even find that they are prepared to let a payment plan be set up to bring the account back in line with no extra charges.

Banks are not all heartless and will assist people who want to help themselves. You just have to prove that to them.

Forget about what happened with HSBC.