Coop Bank Charges to create charges

Pixie5740

Was it part of the T&C for this student account with 0% overdraft that you paid in your main source of funding into the account each term?


Edit: If so did you do this?

ArnNIA

Yeah its turns out while they provide an overdraft you have to basically not use it, i paid in most of my payments into the account but money got tight and i ended up putting 2 payments into my santander current account to even things out. I called co-op to make sure that was OK and the adviser said it shouldn't be a problem as long as i pay my next payment in.....but i never got chance to do that because they converted my account.

I wish i could warn other student about this account because its literally a con, all banks know that the main feature of a student account is an overdraft and that 99.9% of students will use that overdraft while their studying.

So it basically works out like this. As long as your in the black with the co-op they don't care what you do. I made 2 payments into my santander account BEFORE i even touched my co-op overdraft and they couldn't care less.

As soon as i use the co-op overdraft they make their move and cry foul play. All because now they know they can hold you dead to rights and begin the interest overdraft charges because lets face it why let a student pay back a 0% overdraft, when you could just change it to a current account then hold them accountable for the overdraft they were going to have to pay anyway but now with the added benefit of all the interest charges that come with a current account overdraft. There gonna get a good 12-18 months of charges off me before there any hope of clearing this overdraft.

All im working on now is getting the money together to pay off the overdraft so i can clear my credit history. Opening this account with the co-op was the worst financial mistake ive ever made and i cant exaggerate enough how far clear all students must stay away from this bank.

BrassicWoman

You breached the T&Cs; they are quite correct to convert your account. You moved your funding becaue of money mismanagement; it's fair to not want to lend to you under those circumstances.

Otherwise what is to stop you running up a dozen student overdafts with dfferent banks?

Pixie5740

You need to take responsibility for this. Co-op did offer you a 0% overdraft which you were able to use providing you paid your main source of funding into the account each term which you didn't. You didn't stick to your end of the bargain so Co-op are sticking to theirs.


Have you checked your files with the 3 CRA to see what's on there? Any defaults from Co-op may scupper your chances of obtaining any more credit. However , with limited income I think you'll struggle to get a 0% credit card anyway. How would you make the monthly repayments?


Your student union should be able to offer you some financial advice. There might even be some kind of hardship fund that you can tap. Another option is to negotiate with Co-op and come up with a repayment plan.

Candyapple

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Your student union should be able to offer you some financial advice. There might even be some kind of hardship fund that you can tap. Another option is to negotiate with Co-op and come up with a repayment plan.

I doubt the uni hardship fund will be available in this instance as they are usually only given in exceptional circumstances in any event, not because someone can't manage their overdraft properly.

OP you need to obtain copies of all 3 of your credit reports to see what the damage is.

Can you ask your family to help with clearing the overdraft/charges? If no, then you will need to contact Co-op to freeze the charges/close the account and work out a repayment plan.

If your credit file is trashed there is no chance of you getting a 0% balance transfer card, or any other student accounts as you have found out.

Also, stop wasting money on calls. Download the app 'Weq4u' and all your calls to the bank are free. What a waste of money, £250 in calls :doh:

Pixie5740

You'd be surprised what you can get a hardship fund for. A lot of universities operate a use-it-or-lose-it hardship fund so if the student loan don't use all the fund they get less the following year. If you time it right you can get a few hundred quid fairly easily.

ArnNIA

Thanks for all the reply's and advice, just wanted to let you guys know that the case is now "resolved" after i got into contact with the ombudsman. I pretty much sent them every little bit of information i could.

They decided that the Co-Op had taken far too long to respond to the initial complaint, and that because of this my debt to the co-op had had a substantial amount added to it through charges and interest charges. (charges from when to account was first converted up to now)

They also concluded that, because of me paying 2 payments into my santander account, the account should of been converted in that time period and not months after citing that as the reason for it being converted.

They commented that from an analytic standpoint given the time frame it does seem as if there intention was to wait for me to use the overdraft. Although the co-op responded to this by saying the delay was due to there systems being fixed.

(I personally feel that if the overdraft had never been used, they would of never converted the account in the first place, even though the TC i broke would of been in place.)

Co-op responded with the findings by offering me the student account perk of not being accountable for any overdraft charges until a year after i graduate (still gotta pay interest charges though but I'm fine with that, after all i did use the money.) The account is still classed as current not student and all charges up to December have been refunded.

So the plan is back to the original plan i made when first opening the account, too pay any overdraft i had off between graduating and the deadline a year after i graduate.)

Thanks for all the help guys, you really did give me some really good pointers :beer:

Oh and my advice to any students thinking of using a co-op student account, would be to stay the hell away, their opportunists trying to make money of people in tight financial spots (aka students).

CHR15

Great that you are making progress but I'm left puzzled why, as a student with little money, you had two bank accounts.
even more so that you decided to redirect funds into another account.

It would have been better (hindsight eh!) To let the money go into your co-op account then simply transfer it over to santander from there.

don't waste any more money on calls, just write letters. they are more formal, more productive and significantly cheaper

Candyapple

Pleased you got a result from the Ombudsman, however have you obtained copies of your credit files to see what damage Co-op have done to your rating? Also did the Ombudsman rule that they have to remove any credit damaging data?