Please advise, re: letter from HSBC regarding overdraft

inthedeep

Hey folks,

Just looking for some help/advice really.

Stupidly, over a number of months, I took out an overdraft and have now maxed it out. The amount of the overdraft is £1,750.

Panicking thinking HSBC would take my wages I decided to open up a Current Account with Barclays and go without having an overdraft facility. For the past month, almost two, I've been paying in the debit interest applied (around £25pcm) and whatever else I can afford to pay towards the balance.

However I've received a letter from HSBC today advising I must ensure £690 is paid in to my account within the next month, otherwise I am breaching the terms and conditions.

My current state of affairs is this:-

Income = £1,200 after deductions however as currently off sick will be around £1,000 this month.

Expenditure = £440.00 (rent and house related bills), £400 (first instalment for my new car finance), £80.00 (two mobile contracts I can't get out of), £100 (credit card, paying back to my mum) and I've other costs, ie petrol costs to and from work.

I've been putting off contacting HSBC as I absolutely can't afford to pay it back in full. I've definitely missed off some commitments but I can't think at the moment, my head is a shed.

I work in the finance sector and so any ccj's or defaults would probably cost me my job.

Thanks for reading,

Lou x

matttye

Does the letter say they are intending to remove your overdraft facility?

I'm just wondering if, if you paid £690 into the account, would you be able to immediately withdraw it again or would they retain the funds to pay off the overdraft? It would be a bit of a gamble.

What kind of account do you have and do you know which term of condition they are referring to?

meer53

Don't put off calling them, thats the worst thing you can do. You need to contact them to discuss how much you can pay. If you don't you may find that they ask for the full amount as they can demand repayment of an overdraft at any time.

harrys_dad

It seems to me there are wider problems here that you need to address, and apologies if this sounds harsh. You "Stupidly, over a number of months, took out an overdraft and have now maxed it out. The amount of the overdraft is £1,750.".

Then bought your self a new car costing £400 a month "£400 (first instalment for my new car finance)" .

My reading of this is that despite already living beyond your means and maxing out your overdraft you still bought a new car for a significant sum with money you did not have.

I think you need to go back a step, realise that you do not have control over your spending, post a full SOA on here and let others advise on how to tackle the whole problem, rather than just the overdraft part.

Hatecreditors.com

£400 for car finance against a £1,200 income! That is one third of your income.

Unless the first payment is a lot more than your regular payment, this is ludicrous.

I would consider selling the car and buying something more affordable (albeit you'll probably lose out on depreciation by doing this).

gruffalosgirl

This happened to me, I had a £1,250 o/d with HSBC which I had for a number of years with no problems then late last year they wrote and said I had to put in £350 in by the end of the month, which I did. Then a couple of months later they wanted over £500 within the next month which I promptly ignored (as you do) anyway that carried on for a few months. I didn't use the account and only put in very small amounts. Anyway after a few months I received a letter demanding the full balance of the of the o/d with 14 days. I was lucky and was able to cover it. I received a letter to say that it was cleared and I couldn't have an overdraft with them for over a year.
So my advice is to contact them asap and trying to sort out some sort of payment plan with them and don't do what I did as they will demand full payment.

brokeinlondon

Write to HSBC and ask to do a repayment plan.

Most likely they will still default you, but I doubt a default will cost you your job. I've not heard of a CCJ costing someone their job either, only bankruptcy would do that, as far as i know.

I agree with the others that the car payment is far too high compared to your income, unless you're paying £400 over 3 months?!

chanz4

what car is £400 a month

notanewuser

Some more info from OP's previous posts.

inthedeep wrote: »

I'm ashamed to admit but I am and have always been shocking with my finances. But now it's getting to the point where, as an almost 30 year old, I've to start fending for myself; my mum has always helped me out but recently she's struggling herself and really feeling the crunch.

I get paid, after deductions, around £1,200 a month and my debts are as follows:-


Credit Card - £500
Overdraft - £1,750
Mum - £1,000

My commitments at the moment are as follows:-

£440.00 - living (inc, shared rent, all bills and council tax)
£100.00 - paid to my mum to pay off the debt I owe her
£115.00 - car insurance (cheapest I could get as I only passed my test in January 2013)
£42 - mobile phone bill (never exceeds as all inclusive)
£32 - another mobile phone bill I stupidly took on as I wanted an iPhone
£15 - debit interest to my bank for the O.D
£10 - spotify; I stream on my phone and can't afford to get internet extra to download music

My partner lives in Manchester and I live in Leeds, although I am moving there in July I'm spending around £150 a month on petrol.

inthedeep wrote: »

Although I owe money out I don't consider myself to be in serious debt; every month I am paying my debts off on time and I've currently put a budget plan in place to help me stick to it and pay more off.

Scenario for you; we're sat on the sofa and she is playing on her Xbox and I will get my phone out "Who are you texting", or I will get on my iPad "What are you doing, who are you talking to?". I've told her but she says it's who she is so I have to do my best to live with it...and, If I'm truthful I really am struggling.

inthedeep wrote: »

I would like to start by paying off what I owe my mum, which until the other day, stood at £1,600.

I made my first payment of £100.

£1,500 / £1,600

Small steps but worth it to stop the arguments x

inthedeep wrote: »

Hello,

First of all please excuse me if I'm writing In the wrong section; I'm new and still learning the basics of the forum.

My question is simple really; is it possible for a bank to mis-sell or mis-apply an overdraft facility?

My scenario is as follows:-

I earn 1.2k after tax, NI, Pension and student loan. Up until July 2012 I had no overdraft, however owing to moving house I decided to get a £500 limit to use as a buffer. Over Christmas and New Year, and through my own admission, I went a bit spend crazy and extended my limit a number of other times leaving me now with a limit of £1,750.

I only earn 1.2k per month after deductions; yet my OD is 1.75k and I have a suspicion I could increase again should I want to (FYI, I do not want to, lol).

Comments would be great thanks xx

So you've blown money you can't afford to pay back on iphones, ipads and brand new cars, but it's the bank's fault because they shouldn't have let you.

Sell the ipad and iphone, downgrade your contracts, find a way to give the car back and GROW UP.

beth3735

notanewuser you are exactly right there and i only know through experience.

When i was 18 and in the Navy i had a constant wage, so i would spend more than i earnt, thinking i will always be able to pay it back. I bought a car from Yes Car Credit (big mistake!) And spent loads on clothes and nights out (Ipads weren't out then and mobile phones were cheap and basic!) I then fell pregnant and my husband took out a bank loan to pay off my £6k debt. I remember sat in the bank with him and the banker and said it was the banks fault i was in debt as they let me take it all out. Husband was shamed!

Within 18 months of him paying it off for me i started spending mad again and in the end got myself into over £16k worth of debt. Husband left me to sort it out myself and its the best thing ever as it has made me grow up and realise its no ones fault but mine.

Then again after 11 yrs of debt you look back at how stupid you were to get into debt over cosmetic things!

OP I would call HSBC before it gets out of hand and then they want the full amount within 30 days!

FinallyFREE_4

It seems to me that you have lost your way.

On £1200.00 per month you have vastly overspent on all the wrong things. Why did you buy a car you really could not afford?
Your roof comes first, it would appear you can barely afford that!
You can not afford to be off work sick.....bite the bullet....return to work....you only have the one option, that is it.

Don't let your mum down. Don't let yourself down either.

You can choose the right or the wrong path...

A. go back to work pay off your debt.
B. Stay on the sick, take out a massive loan, have a great holiday, come back declare yourself bankrupt.

Choose the right path...Life is a garden, DIG IT.:beer: