Newbie debt help!

Forsythia

Hi all, I've been searching through the forum and I feel kind of silly since my debt is nowhere near that of some of you but it's really upset me... It's a bit long winded, sorry!




I'm with HSBC, have been for the past 3 and a half years. I started with a student account which is now a graduate account...

I got a letter from them today basically demanding that I immediately repay an outstanding balance of £1570 - That's basically my overdraft. £1,250 of it authorised with no interest. The next £220 of it is unauthorised but from a temporary £250 extension I had back in November. I've barely used the account since - Haven't withdrawn any money, the only thing going out is a £10 Direct Debit every month (only 3 left to go on it) which they haven't thrown a hissy fit about until now... This has completely come out of the blue for me, since they haven't previously warned me at all! They're accusing me of ignoring demands they haven't even made!!

Background on the account - I have a Graduate Account and I'm in the first year of it. The overdraft is MEANT to be £1,500, but due to a return I had nearly TWO YEARS AGO they are still penalising me and it's stuck at £1,250 (apart from the temporary extension). SO basically my overdraft SHOULD be £1,500, I'm £72 over that in total... So surely all I REALLY owe them is £220 in total, right???

What it amounts to is that I have to pay it ALL within 7 days or they're taking me to court! I can't do that, I have no job at all, zero income, I can't ask relatives for that much money... What the hell do I do?!?! I'm trying to secure message them online at the moment about it... My bf keeps telling me to ring them but I really can't in this state.. It's really upset me because it's the latest in a looooooong line of BS I've had to put up with from them...


I sent this secure message online to them earlier in a state of panic and upset.. I really hope I haven't messed it up for myself, but I was in a real state at the time... Does it seem ok to you guys??

"I have recently recieved a letter from you concerning a final demand that I immediately repay an outstanding debt of £1572.74 - This is obviously my overdraft on my Graduate Account. Seeing as to my recollection I have recieved no previous warnings or demands, I feel that this is grossly unfair. I am currently unemployed and suffering severe financial hardships, as you will doubtless already know. I have absolutely no means of "immediate" repayment, nor any way of paying monthly due to unemployment.

I also feel this is completely unfair as my authorised overdraft in this first year of my Graduate Account is £1,250. As you aware this is usually £1,500 but I was penalised in my final year of a student account for a single return and have been unable to rectify the situation since. According to these figures in actuality I owe you only £220, but as I have made clear, I do not have the means to pay this to get within the boundaries of my authorised overdraft.

Seeing as there is absolutely no possibility of paying even a fraction of the £1572.74 in the next 7 days, as specified within your letter, I would appreciate advice on how this situation can be rectified. The reason I have not rung in person is because of the difficulty of explaining the situation and the fact that this letter has greatly upset me, due to it being the latest in a long line of trouble I have had with your bank. Please reply ASAP and advise, or I will have no choice but to seek legal advice on the matter. "





I posted this on another forum, and people there who have had similar situations have suggested a managed loan to pay off the entire overdraft and maybe pay around £100 a month at about 8% interest and have someone as a guarantor... I'm not sure if they'll offer this much and I am going down to the bank tomorrow to try to sort it, but I'm not sure if it's the right course of action???



I feel a bit like I'm throwing a hissy fit over very little but it has scared the bejesus out of me and I've been crying on and off for a few hours now... Any advice would be very appreciated

mrsmortenharket

bump

hope someone can help you

Lisa x

Daydreamer

My advice and I'm no expert but do bank with HSBC. I would go into a HSBC branch and talk face to face with some one in there. If you talk with them I very much doubt that they will insist that you pay all the money of the overdraft back in one go. The letters they send out are sometime only sent to scare people into action. You really need to talk to them though to stop this matter getting out of hand and effecting your crdit rating in the future. You really don't want a County Court Judgement against you.

Therefore go into your local branch either get an appointmen that day or make an appointment for another day. Don't get angry with the HSBC employee as they are just doing there job, but explain your situation. They will want to help you resolve this matter as it is in there interest, as all they really want is there money back.

YOu are going to have to however offer something such as making small payments ever week or month, in return for them stopping any action against you to reclaim the whole ammount.

SORRY to be harsh but you really are going to have to get a job, even if its just something like a bar one!!

I hope this helps a bit.

Remember you HAVE to talk to banks there is no getting away from it. It is better to do this face to face in a branch. Make sure you take the name of the person that you are talking to and if you make an agreement with them get them to put it on your account on there computer so the head office (the people that are probably sending you horrible letters) know that you have been in and spoke to someone about it.

Coz I bet if you honest you have just been ignoring the problem! Unfortunately thats what most people in debt do and it doesn't work, it won't go away!! YOu have got to face the problem.

If it helps you to know and make you feel and better about your situation, I was approx. £78,000 in debt and am now 18 months only in about £50,000. Things can be sorted but you have really got to face it.

Hope things go well GOOD LUCK!

Quincifer

Hey, first things first - do not worry too much! Many many companies/banks/whoever threaten with court action early on to scare people. I live with students and if our gas+electricity bill doesn't get paid within a week (usually takes us a month) they ALWAYS threaten with court action and cutting us off and it has never happened in the two years we have been here. Its a scare tactic to make you do something about it.

You are VERY unlikely to be able to get a loan if you are unemployed, unless you apply for a student loan (if you don't have one already). The best thing is definitely to speak to someone over the phone, or even better, in branch. Face to face will be the best option because you can't really relay your situation over the phone, and people are more likely to sympathise on your situation if they can see how it is affecting you.
I would plan what you are going to say and what you would like to happen before you do this, think about it for a while and work out exactly what you can afford to pay them regularly (if anything) and explain that you want to sort this out the quickest way possible and thats what you can offer. They are likely to barter with you but stick to your grounds, if you have genuinely not received any other warning of this then they can't take you to court just yet!!!
I hope this has helped a bit, good luck xxxx

Forsythia

Thanks people!


I AM on the verge of getting a job. I applied for Social Care work and am still waiting for my damn CRB check to go through.. So within a month I should hopefully be working and getting paid weekly to boot which is a huge bonus in this situation!! The job situation has been extremely tough so please don't think I've been lazy and not tried... I can't even get any benefits because I live with my boyfriend and we apparently have "enough" to both get by on his wage... We're scraping by in reality.. I'd KILL for bar work!!! I really really would!!!!

I will offer to pay them something, but they'll have to be patient because it won't be immediately.. £100 a month would be fine, but I can't do it straight away. There's just no possibility of that happening.

I haven't really been ignorning the problem though because for the past few months regarding the direct debit, they have been sending letters out saying "We are pleased to inform you that we have approved your informal request for an overdraft. Your balance is now £xxxx". They were PLEASED to give me money! Here ya go, unemployed graduate! Have MORE!! By the way, we'll be wanting all of that back next week... Mixed signals, I'm telling you!



Chances are there were other warnings, but our postie round here is a bit crap and we frequently get stuff meant for the next street.. Maybe I can get him to pay it




Thankyou for your advice (both of you!), it has helped a bit and I feel more confident now about things... I guess you just can't help but panic when that DEMAND!!1!1!! letter pops up on your doormat