urgent help required in reducing overdraft

Mr.Bean_2

hi all,

firstly, i would like to thank anyone who helps in advance for your time and effort.

I have a planned overdraft of £3,600 with Halifax, I have had this for around a year now and I want it gone. I have just made minimal reductions in the overdraft in that time and barely touched it.


I bring in around £1200 per month
I have total outgoing bills per month of £440
I can live on £500-£600 per month quite easily

This leaves me with £160

My problem is the fees of the overdraft (currently £93 per month)
I would want these fees waived if possible as I have already paid well in excess of £800 in fees alone.

I would be able to cope with paying off £60 per month, this would take me 60months (5 years!)
However, if the overdraft fees were waived, I could then pay off £160 a month from the overdraft and cut the 5 years to 22 months!!

So i have a question really, what are the chances of Halifax waiving the overdraft fees to enable me to clear the overdraft quicker. I'd also like them to set up a payment method whereby the money to pay the overdraft off comes from my main account and straight into the overdraft account each month.

Does anyone have any experience with removing fees or even reducing the fees? £1 a day I could cope with but not £3.
And also, do you think they would set up the money to go into the account with the overdraft for me?
Sort of like turning the overdraft into a loan and paying a set amount with no extra fees per month


If anyone can help, I would really appreciate it

Kind Regards

M. Bean

[Deleted User]

you would have known about the fees when you took th o/d i assume?
whilst its never a very good idea to borrow money to repay debt it may well be in this case

Mr.Bean_2

woodbine wrote: »

you would have known about the fees when you took th o/d i assume?
whilst its never a very good idea to borrow money to repay debt it may well be in this case

hi woodbine, yes, i was aware of the fees but alas i have struggled with them.
In regards to borrowing, I do not wish to borrow any further money to pay off this debt. I have a loan with Halifax already which should be cleared in around 7 months and I don't want to get another. Infact, I had looked into this before and Halifax said I couldn't until the current one was cleared. 7 months is another £651 in fees!!

AnnieBox

Halifax's overdraft fees are horrific and one of the main reasons why I paid it off and moved to a different bank. My overdraft was only £300, but at the time I couldn't pay even that small amount off due to long term unemployment. Thankfully my mum gave me the money to pay it off and when I was finally back in work, I paid her off £20 a month until she was paid back.

I think your first step should be calling Halifax or making an appointment to go through everything and see if they can reduce or freeze the fees. The worst that can happen is them saying no, it never hurts to ask.

Second step, I would suggest making and posting a statement of affairs. There are some really clever people here who will be able to offer you great advice on where savings and cut backs can be made. Sometimes we are so used to our routines that it takes outside eyes to make us see things differently.

I'm sorry I can't give more practical advice on this, its not my area of expertise but I didn't want to read and run. Let us know how you get on, I've got my fingers crossed for you.

timetogrowup89

I dont think banks stop fees until accounts are in serious default.

You can set up a standing order from your current account to go into your bank on a set date each month.

Also, do you pay your salary into the account with the overdraft?
I had an overdraft account with halifax and stopped having my regularly salary paid into it, they recalled the overdraft (£3000) which I could not afford to pay in a lump sum so they sold it to a debt collection agency. I think they only do this if there is not a regular monthly payment going into the account.

timetogrowup89

AnnieBox wrote: »

Second step, I would suggest making and posting a statement of affairs. There are some really clever people here who will be able to offer you great advice on where savings and cut backs can be made. Sometimes we are so used to our routines that it takes outside eyes to make us see things differently.

Here is the link to do this
http://www.stoozing.com/calculator/soa.php

Scritti

I know you don't want to "borrow any further" but is there any way you would be accepted for a 0% interest balance transfer credit card?

I was paying £170 per month in credit card interest (!) and transferred the lot over to a 0% card. The £170 now goes fully onto paying off the debt instead of going into the bank's coffers and I overpay on top of that by about £70 a month to help pay it all (or most of it) by the time the 0% period ends.

It was well worth paying the 2.7% fee in order to do this. Did it about a year ago and my CC balance is finally dropping quickly. It's a real boost to me to see the balance dropping so rapidly each month for the first time in many years.

A friend at work was in the same position as you so I gave her the same advice. She used her (then) current credit card for 2 months for all purchases (took 2 months because her rent & DD's still came out of the account) and left her wages in her account to clear the overdraft then transferred what was on her credit card to her new 0% interest card.

She said she is saving loads but also feels a lot better now her account is always in credit as it always used to feel like she was working for free as her account was always in overdraft, even the day she got paid.

There are also some cards which are 0% and will pay off your overdraft so that is another option.

So long as you will be accepted and won't use the new card for purchases (not difficult at 27% interest for purchases - no thanks!), it's one of your options perhaps.

Hope that helps - best of luck!!

ValHaller

Mr.Bean wrote: »

hi woodbine, yes, i was aware of the fees but alas i have struggled with them.
In regards to borrowing, I do not wish to borrow any further money to pay off this debt. I have a loan with Halifax already which should be cleared in around 7 months and I don't want to get another. Infact, I had looked into this before and Halifax said I couldn't until the current one was cleared. 7 months is another £651 in fees!!

But it would not be borrowing further money - it would be transferring a debt to a lower rate of interest. At the moment you are paying £1100/yr for a £3600 debt, which is crazy money and - more importantly - it is the reason why you will struggle for a long time to pay this debt off. Effectively you are saying 'I insist on doing this the hard way'.

Seriously, if you can borrow more cheaply, you need to do it.

The other thing is when your Halifax loan is paid off in 7 months, you should have more spare to pay down the overdraft.

bargainbetty

Mr.Bean wrote: »

I bring in around £1200 per month
I have total outgoing bills per month of £440
I can live on £500-£600 per month quite easily

This leaves me with £160

If your outgoings are £440 per month, can you not reduce your other outgoings to bring down the overdraft more rapidly? Say, live on £400 per month, and bring it down by £360 per month? Can you obtain a second income stream (bar work, deliveries, anything really).

You can ask Halifax, but you accepted a contractual agreement to pay the fees - they don't have to freeze them or reduce them at all. Still, it's worth a shot, but remember it is under their terms and discretion. Also check it won't be lodged as an 'arrangement to pay' or anything else on your credit report. No point scrapping it back if it stuffs you for the next six years.

ToyDuarte

Help. I live in Cap Verte. A spanish friend offered me a nokia lumia 520 buyed in Tenerife Spain (Vodafone), but he didnt gave me the unlock code. Someone can help me? Tank's.

pelirocco

ToyDuarte wrote: »

Help. I live in Cap Verte. A spanish friend offered me a nokia lumia 520 buyed in Tenerife Spain (Vodafone), but he didnt gave me the unlock code. Someone can help me? Tank's.

yes

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