Halifax Student Account Overdraft

dakaix

Hello,

I have today received a letter from Halifax advising me that my overdraft ends on the 13th August '07. Having contacted Halifax, they have said they only ever apply an overdraft for 12 months. Considering I opened the account in September, and applied for the overdraft in October - this doesnt seem to add up. Their letter also states that I must pay in my "grant cheque" - presumably the student loan, before I can apply for another overdraft.

Considering that every student in England & Wales, doesnt receive their first Student Finance Payment until the 3rd week of September - how can Halifax simply withdraw their student overdraft (giving only 21 days notice), and then insist on the student loan being present before restoring it?

How can a student be expected to find say £2750 to repay the student overdraft... considering they are a student and on a very tight budget?

Has anyone else received a similar letter? Because I for one am fuming at Halifax's treatment of an up till now loyal customer.

-Dakaix

Edit: I have contacted Halifax, who as usual cannot help regarding a student overdraft - and have sent an Appeal form over to the student overdraft department. Apparently they are quite backed up at the moment, due to every other student in the country sending in their appeals, for the same reason?

Cos2k3

I was in the same situation last year, so I changed to Lloyds TSB. They offer graduate accounts where the overdraft limit decreased over 3 years.

I was with the Halifax for about 6 years, who cares about loyalty?

Mr._Bombastic

Dakaix, have you spoken to the Citizen's Advice Bureau about your situation? They are normally very helpful and can put pressure on Halifax to fix your situation. I'd advise to do it as soon as you can.

Cos2k3 wrote: »

I was with the Halifax for about 6 years, who cares about loyalty?

So true. I've been with the Halifax for 25 years (mother created an account for me before I was born). Last year I found out they had been charging me interest on my student overdraft.

They couldn't tell me when they had begun doing this, and just said that I needed to send them my student certificate to get the interest reversed. They lost the copy of my certificate twice and I still don't have the interest back.

Now I'm getting daily calls from their thug department (collections) about my overdraft. They really don't like to be told it's none of their business and that it's their own employers incompetence which has resulted in the charges.

A few months ago they froze my account for a week and didn't give me access. They didn't relent even when I tried to explain to them it was their system's error and I hadn't eaten in 24 hours because I couldn't take any money out.

Change banks as soon as possible. Halifax don't care about their customers at all.

Nixay

dakaix wrote: »

Hello,

I have today received a letter from Halifax advising me that my overdraft ends on the 13th August '07. Having contacted Halifax, they have said they only ever apply an overdraft for 12 months. Considering I opened the account in September, and applied for the overdraft in October - this doesnt seem to add up. Their letter also states that I must pay in my "grant cheque" - presumably the student loan, before I can apply for another overdraft.

Considering that every student in England & Wales, doesnt receive their first Student Finance Payment until the 3rd week of September - how can Halifax simply withdraw their student overdraft (giving only 21 days notice), and then insist on the student loan being present before restoring it?

How can a student be expected to find say £2750 to repay the student overdraft... considering they are a student and on a very tight budget?

Has anyone else received a similar letter? Because I for one am fuming at Halifax's treatment of an up till now loyal customer.

-Dakaix

Edit: I have contacted Halifax, who as usual cannot help regarding a student overdraft - and have sent an Appeal form over to the student overdraft department. Apparently they are quite backed up at the moment, due to every other student in the country sending in their appeals, for the same reason?

I was going to set up my student account with them this week, I don't think I'll bother, that is appaling...

Edit - Does this mean every student HBOS account holder has the same problem?

Compound_2

dakaix wrote: »

How can a student be expected to find say £2750 to repay the student overdraft...

A £2750 limit is rarely given. More like £500. How much did you get?

You were mis-advised about overdrafts being given only for exactly 12 months. They can be given for shorter periods, or indefinitely. Did your overdraft agreement or statements specify a review/expiry date?

The point about the 'grant cheque': I think you can be deemed to have complied with this if your April student loan payment went into the account. However, the gap between the April and September payments is very long, and the account can be flagged if you don't pay in any cash over the summer (just withdraw and pay back in).

Ask at a branch what's the maximum overdraft they can give you now. This will be based on the conduct of the account, and may be less than your original limit. It certainly won't be £2750.

b33r

I've had this every year since second year from Halifax (ive just finished a 4 year degree) all you need to do is go in and sign something to say you are still a student and show your student card and WILL pay in the grant cheque/loan/money from parents/however your degree is funded, it doesnt mean you have to pay it in that second or they take away your over-draft. They just do it to catch the ppl who drop out of uni/finish and "forget" to tell the bank and keep the overdraft.

Someone i lived with dropped out after first year and didnt bother telling the bank he was no longer a student, but because it was with a bank who don't check they just assumed he was and so didnt remove overdraft, infact they made it bigger every year.

Compound, my overdraft from halifax was 2750 and it seemed very easy to get, there was a box asking how much i wanted on the re-newel form and i just put maximum. I didn't need it all at all, i lived right at the o/d limit though and kept money in ISA's and websavers.

b33r

This was the letter i received every year (this was last years)


****************************************************************************

Just signed and dated it and then got this...

Notice the particular wording that you *WILL* pay into it, it doesnt mean you have to that second. Mine is in march cus thats just when I opened the account.

Katmc2k

I must admit I was worried when I got the same letter this year, especially as I was in America at the time and didn't know where my nearest branch was :rolleyes: But I phoned them up and (after spending blooming ages registering me for telephone banking) I said-I'm still gonna be a student next year, and they said OK, you're overdraft is now extended. This is despite the fact that my degree has finished and its a PG I'm doing next year, and also that it isn't funded so there ain gonna be a student loan cheque going into the account...

I've got to stick up for Halifax and say they've always been OK with me and happily increased my overdraft to £2100 which was much needed

Cos2k3

Barmy! Halifax are ripping grads off! 24.2%!?

If any Uni students are starting in September dont bother with the Halifax. As I mentioned earlier, if you got the letter, just switch!

b33r

Cos2k3 wrote: »

Barmy! Halifax are ripping grads off! 24.2%!?

If any Uni students are starting in September dont bother with the Halifax. As I mentioned earlier, if you got the letter, just switch!

It's only that on unauthorised overdraft, which considering Halifax offers the highest overdraft no-one should really wander into that.

I got the letter and just replied and they extended my overdraft... bit easier than switching i would say.

Daeheryn

Yep I'm with bank of scotland and i got the exact same letter. As I was only in 2nd year at the time I was only authorised for £1500, but the bank were very good when I went in to the branch, and just pushed the end date back a year.

That said, as soon as I can get my overdraft above zero I'm shifting banks, mainly because they've been rubbish recently (which is a shame as I've been a customer there since I was 2!)