I'm not paying!

walter100

Hi I'm new and don't even know if I am posting in the correct forum so please goes easy

but anyway's....here goes....

I have recently left the army and have been lucky enough to find a job straight away.

The issue is upon leaving I opened a new bank account with Santander to have my new wage paid in.

My old bank account had next to nothing in it when i left the army this account, managed by Holts (Military RBS) decided to send me a letter today stating i am £673 in the red.

I had a Direct Debit set up and basically a payment was rejected and the changes started topping up.

My admin has't been great as finding a new house/job and just generally settling back into civilian life has not been as easy as I thought.

I want some feedback on me not paying this back...ever! I will refuse as I believe what RBS has done is shocking, how can a bank carry on charging me I mean is there not a cap?

We all know the banks are the biggest crooks and to be honest I own my car/phone and don't ever want to buy a house in this country as I would t give a bank the satisfaction of ever having a mortgage so don't really care about my credit rating.

But would i go to prison for this? Or would a debt collector ever come to my house?

I'm sorry this probably does't make sense I'm just so angry a bank can just decide to hound me for money I have never had!

And too be honest if prison was an option i would choose it before ever ever paying a penny.

cheers
W

wiseshark

You will not go to prison for refusing to pay this debt. People could end up in prison for not paying their taxes, television license or council tax etc.

A default will be placed on your credit file with the CRA and likely the debt will be sold to to a debt collection agency who will hound you for the money and likely a CCJ will also be registered.

Your account with Santander might be closed and you will find it very difficult to get credit in the future for six years. You may need a loan at some stage for a new car or emergency, in which case you can kiss that goodbye.

You say that the banks are, "the biggest crooks", but two wrongs don't make a right.

What you are doing is irresponsible. If you don't want to pay, then don't pay. To be honest, you will find little sympathy from the posters here.

opinions4u

My guess? You never told them you changed address.

If so, it's your error.

Talk to them. Explain you thought the DD had been cancelled and you were unaware of the charges. They might write the debt off.

Be nice. Not aggressive or stubborn.

Lomcevak

Talk to them. Explain you thought the DD had been cancelled and you were unaware of the charges. They might write the debt off.

Be nice. Not aggressive or stubborn.

Agree complete. Call, be polite, and discuss. If they don't offer anything follow the complaints procedure on the grounds that applying charges on top of charges to inflate the debt wasn't reasonable. If the complaints procedure doesn't work, take it further. I'd bet that approach will get the charges greatly reduced or written off.

You might feel you don't care about your credit rating and don't care getting a default, debt collection agency hassle, and a CCJ on your record, but you're lining yourself up for years of potential problems for a relatively small amount - it'll take at least six years for a CCJ to drop off your credit record, and who knows what you'll want then? Strong feelings like "don't ever want to buy a house in this country" change over time, and what if you want a job that requires you to have a credit check? Much better to sort it out now and keep your options open in the future.

pmduk

As said above, you'll get little sympathy here for your error. You didn't do the basics, ie notify the bank of your new address, close your account or cancel the direct debit. Who did you think was paying the direct debit for you? Just as in the military, in civilian life prior planning prevents !!!!-poor performance.

Talk to the bank, move on and learn from the experience.

Hominu

You can refuse to pay, but the charges may increase further, and yes, a debt collector may knock on your door (but you don't have to let them in)

However, Santander may then consider you "high risk" and decide to tell you to take your business elsewhere. You'll then have to open a cash account with no overdraft facilities and possibly change your debit card to a more restricted one (it'll most likely be declined at most Pay@Pump services, planes, trains, etc)

Or you can sort out the confusion and carry on with your life. Maybe the bank will reduce the charges after having a little chat with them.

It's really your choice.

eskbanker

Obviously we don't know all the details about this situation, in terms of why a DD was rejected, how long ago, exactly what the charges represent, etc.

To me the first place to start is reading up on the Ts & Cs of the account in question, to ascertain exactly how they handle rejected DDs and to understand the basis of their imposing additional charges.

If the bank is charging exactly as they say they would, then there isn't really much of a case for arguing with that and you can just try negotiating some sort of settlement, but this will undoubtedly be easier if you go into this with the attitude of accepting that they're in the right!

If, on the other hand, they've imposed charges that they weren't entitled to, then you have a much stronger case to complain.

Tempting though it is to get worked up and angry about this sort of thing, you really need to take the emotion out of this - it's not an issue of morals and ethics and opinions about banks being crooks, etc, but of terms and conditions, so it's best to establish the facts before deciding what to do next!

redcard

walter100 wrote: »

We all know the banks are the biggest crooks..

Bigger crooks than the military? That's some accusation.

xylophone

It was your error, not the bank's - military or civilian, you need to take responsibility for your own financial affairs.

Write a letter of explanation and ask if under the circumstances ( return from assignment, leaving the army, moving house etc) the debt can be written off - if they won't agree, ask if you can repay over a year?

dotdash79

You might not pay any money for this debt, but you will be paying the price at some point.

Dunroamin

Welcome back to the real world!