Santander Overdraft Manager

rozmister

izools wrote: »

I understand how you feel, and unfortunately you will feel this way about certain financial institutions all the way throughout your life.

I would however suggest an alternative approach - using their rules against them - always having a fallback - never having to depend solely on the facility they have offered you - never having a single point of failure.

Also using their complaints procedure and the Financial Ombudsman's complaints procedures to the full applicable extent when things go awry, use the law to your advantage, hit them where it hurts.

But certainly don't leave yourself in a vulnerable position again like you have with Santander whereby they stand to do far more damage to you than you have a hope in heck doing to them.

One thing to consider is that if you currently have a good creditworthiness is an MBNA card - whereby you can do a "Super balance transfer" - e.g. pay off your overdraft with the credit card - and pay no interest for however long.

MBNA are the best provider to go to for a SBT - a balance transfer to a bank account instead of another credit card - most card providers don't offer this facility.

Good luck!

Taking my overdraft, and spending it all, has been a huge regret of mine since I did it. I am not good with money in general and really struggle to manage my finances and, if I'm honest, an overdraft of any real size is probably not appropriate for someone like me. Once I have cleared what I currently owe I will not be taking another one putting myself in this position with any bank again!!

I'm a bit clueless about finance and things and am still learning so when I made my complaint to the Ombudsman I didn't request anything in writing from Santander when it was closed which I should have because the problem wasn't actually resolved at all! Retrospectively I shouldn't have accepted their resolution but I just wanted it all to be over so I didn't have to deal with it.

I did look into balance transfers or taking a loan about six months ago but I couldn't get anything with a low APR or 0% APR for a set period because my credit rating isn't good enough (I'm at the end of my overdraft and am in the process of paying off a store card so it's good enough to be allowed credit on some things but not others). The best I could get was 19.9% APR and my overdraft was currently at 0% so I didn't think it made sense. This offer Santander have made me includes no interest either but I am apprehensive as to why they would give me a 0% interest payment plan and not wreck my credit rating for the privilege!

Thank you very much for your help

izools

Well it's very big of you to admit you aren't so great with money, it takes a lot to admit that, so well done.

Just remember that no financial institution is out to help you, they are out there to make money. It is possible for the savvy to make money off them but for those in your position unfortunately there is potential for very big holes to be dug.

I do hope over the coming months and years you get better, as (whilst it may be judgmental for me to say) an attitude shift to more personal accountability will bode you very well indeed. It is all your responsibility :beer:

Good luck

rozmister

I have just spoken to Santander and accepted their offer of a payment plan at £100 per month for 20 months. It will have no adverse impact on my credit rating as it is set up as a temporary overdraft that reduces by £100 per month. This means as long as I make my £100 payment so it can reduce it will appear on my credit file as I have an overdraft that I am within the limit of, albeit at the very end of. They did however explain that I cannot default and if I do they may take this option away and ask for all the money back/register it as a default.

I think I need to just get really strict with myself about budgetting. I am also planning to sell my car when I start my new job which will save me £300 a month (loan, petrol, insurance, repairs/tax/MOT) because I can walk to work and this should relieve some of the current pressure on my purse strings!! I have been trying to be more responsible with my money progressively as I got older but it's a very slow learning curve for me!!

izools

rozmister wrote: »

I have been trying to be more responsible with my money progressively as I got older but it's a very slow learning curve for me!!

Well done.

And you needn't feel alone, it's a very slow learning curve for many - myself included.

InkZ

Make sure you have two bank accounts. One for putting your salary in and the payments / bills to come out of with a small amount extra, and then standing order the rest to another account. Spend what you like out of the second account..

Don't get a credit card or overdraft if you are no good with money.

simples

rozmister

InkZ wrote: »

Make sure you have two bank accounts. One for putting your salary in and the payments / bills to come out of with a small amount extra, and then standing order the rest to another account. Spend what you like out of the second account..

Don't get a credit card or overdraft if you are no good with money.

simples

I've already got a separate account set up for my payments/bills because a very nice lady in Lloyds TSB bank recommended this to me a few years ago. My salary goes into one which has a cash card and then my bills go into one with a visa card that I use to pay all d/d and also any online shopping (transfer the money over especially).

I've got a credit card and an overdraft but I'm going to aim to pay them off over the next two years and won't be having anymore!! When I was at uni I found it easier because the money came in dribs and drabs all the time but now I'm a graduate I have to make my wages last a month and I'm still grasping how to do this.

I've gone through all our cupboards and freezer and made a list so we will use up what we have instead of buying more and I'm going to get back to using a budgeting spreadsheet to calculate my spending.

simeyb

I can give you some first hand experience of the way in which Santander deal with overdrafts. I had wanted also to reduce my overdraft in lumps as and when I could, but Santander's systems are so awful it was a case of all or nothing, not reducing it in bits - when eventually we agreed to a repayment schedule, it was on the basis that it was over 20 months. Obviously they have said to you it will be over a maximum of 3 years BUT they will only allow it to go to three years if your income and expenditure suggests that's all you can afford - when you call them to arrange to repay, they will go through all your in's and out's and there's a number left which is what they will want. At £60 a month, that's 25 months so you may get away with that.
When it comes to how they will mark your credit file - depends if they have marked it already if you haven't been playing ball with them, but if they haven't and you get into an agreed reduction plan with them, they will not mark your credit file, no Default and no Arrangement to Pay as they see it as an internal arrangement - the only issue you may have is that you haven't got a salary going into the account so they may force it closed as you are in the o/draft and so have broken the t's and c's. You need to call them and ask to be put through to Collections and be very very explicit about the CRA piece and be firm about them being fair to you. £1,500 isn't alot of money so they shouldn't be too harsh - what's done is done and hopefully, like the rest of us, you have learned your lesson.

My other half works for a well known building society and in the trade they call Santander "Banco El Gringo", Barclays "Sharklays", ShatWest etc etc you get the gist!

rozmister

simeyb wrote: »

I can give you some first hand experience of the way in which Santander deal with overdrafts. I had wanted also to reduce my overdraft in lumps as and when I could, but Santander's systems are so awful it was a case of all or nothing, not reducing it in bits - when eventually we agreed to a repayment schedule, it was on the basis that it was over 20 months. Obviously they have said to you it will be over a maximum of 3 years BUT they will only allow it to go to three years if your income and expenditure suggests that's all you can afford - when you call them to arrange to repay, they will go through all your in's and out's and there's a number left which is what they will want. At £60 a month, that's 25 months so you may get away with that.
When it comes to how they will mark your credit file - depends if they have marked it already if you haven't been playing ball with them, but if they haven't and you get into an agreed reduction plan with them, they will not mark your credit file, no Default and no Arrangement to Pay as they see it as an internal arrangement - the only issue you may have is that you haven't got a salary going into the account so they may force it closed as you are in the o/draft and so have broken the t's and c's. You need to call them and ask to be put through to Collections and be very very explicit about the CRA piece and be firm about them being fair to you. £1,500 isn't alot of money so they shouldn't be too harsh - what's done is done and hopefully, like the rest of us, you have learned your lesson.

My other half works for a well known building society and in the trade they call Santander "Banco El Gringo", Barclays "Sharklays", ShatWest etc etc you get the gist!

I had exactly the same problem with Santander! I tried to give them back bits and bobs of money but they said I either had to give them back the full overdraft or nothing. I've never had this problem with other banks; when I had an overdraft with Natwest a few years back they let me give it back bit by bit.

I'm paying them back over 20 months, despite sending me a letter saying "up to 3 years" they said that in my case there was no 3 year option regardless of my income and if I didn't pay it in 20 monthly installments my account would be frozen and marked as a default until such time I was in a financial position to agree a 20 month payment plan!

I went through Collections yesterday when I accepted their 20 month payment plan. I was also very honest with the lady on the phone and said I know I haven't followed your T & Cs exactly but I don't trust Santander with my money because of the ongoing issues I've had with you and I would be anxious you would take my rent and bills money without consent. She was really nice about that actually and said she hoped the agreement we came to would help me to feel better about Santander and I could use the account while my arranged reducing overdraft was on there or I could just pay in enough to cover the reduction each month and that would also be fine.

The only thing was they made me consent to give the full overdraft back under the deal which is £2,000 but as it's a 20 month plan it would all have become interest free by the end of my payment plan anyway so it's for the best to give it back.

I've always been really cooperative with them in the past (except for about giving them my money since the Ombudsman episode), I'm not the kind of person who ignores letters and puts them in a drawer so I don't know why they would have marked my credit file in the past.