Overdrafts and Charges

NachoBandit

Hi Everyone,

Wanted a bit of advice with regards to my overdraft.

Basically for a while I've been living in and near the limit of my overdraft. I have taken steps to close the account and moved most of my direct debits and bills etc. and signed up with Thinkmoney which has been a great help.

At the moment I am transferring money into my old account to cover a couple of direct debits (that I haven't had chance to change) as well as an extra £40 to try to lower the overdraft as this is all I can afford, however every month I get £45 worth of charges so I will never be any better off.

I contacted the bank today (Nationwide) to see if I could make an arrangement to pay it off like I have done with my credit card with them.

The lady I was speaking to wasn't really helpful and although I am willing to reduce the overdraft, because I'm not over my agreed overdraft they won't do anything/freeze interest etc. however my argument was because of the charges a direct debit ended up bouncing back as it had taken me over the overdraft limit. Now landing me with a £15 fine for unpaid direct debit!

I was then informed that even if they set up an arrangement they could not freeze any charges or interest so when I questioned how was I supposed to pay it back, I was only advised to speak to MAS to set up a personal budget. Again not answering the question and when I explained that I had already done that with themselves for the credit card she said that was all they could do.

So sorry for going on, but in short my question is basically what are my options to reduce the overdraft without paying out dead money just to cover the charges?

Thanks in advance

Tixy

How much is your overdraft?
Is £40 a month the maximum you can afford towards this debt?

You might look to see if you could get a cheaper overdraft with another bank, or possibly consider something like a credit card that allows money transfers with a 0% promo deal or even possibly consider a personal loan But these will depend on the size of the debt and what your credit file/affordability looks like as to whether you may be likely to get accepted for something new.