Help! I need some serious advise, Please?? SOA added!

Bexylou22

I am in some serious need of advise at the moment. I have just, in the last couple of weeks, gone through the process of changing my bank account over from HSBC to A&L. In the process it messed up all my DD's and SO's so now I'm in a mess with my money. I'm not earning a lot as it is and now i'm in a worse state. I have 2 loans with HSBC, one personal loan and another loan. My salary was swapped over before my DD's and SO's and now I've incurred charges for them being refused. It's eaten up a lot of my money. I applied for a loan with A&L so I can close my HSBC account completely and start again. I have worked it out and I could be entitled to just over £1000 in bank charges but I can't claim till I've sorted my account out. I'm now £200 over my £100 overdraft and with my loans as well i can't see that they will even consider paying out till I've sorted it all out.

We'll as you can imagine, I got refused for the loan, and now I really don't know what to do. I just worry all the time and it's driving me mad. I know at the end of the day it's my own fault but I really really need some help.

Any advise??

Thanks

Becky

bargainbetty

I would go into a branch and ask if any of the charges could be waived due to the mix up over the account switching. Ask for a temporary extension to the overdraft to allow for anything else to come up.

Other than that, I'm sure others will be along to offer more soon.

Good luck x

Bexylou22

Thanks but I can't get a temporary overdraft to cover the amount, they won't give me anything. Seems no one seems to want to give me any help at all, banks I mean. Seem to be going round in circles. I will speak to them though and let you know what they say, Do you think they will freeze the account so I don't incurr anything else?

never_too_late_2

hey bexylou,

firstly, big hug - don't worry this will get sorted out one way or t'other.

secondly- i think your best chance is to call HSBC and/or A&L and explain the situation to them simply. they *should* be understanding about it all and in the past i've complained about bank charges for SO/DDs in writing and got them back. so maybe if they totally won't listen to reason write to them and say how disappointed you are after x years of being a customer etc.

thirdly - have you got a savings account anywhere or some money you could put into the HSBC account to get back in your allowed OD? otherwise you'll just incur more charges and interest.

And finally - if you want to pop your SOA up here for people to help with, that could help?

lots of luck,
ntl
-x-

Bexylou22

Thanks for your advise. I have no savings at all though bar about £50. I try to save some money every month but I can't, I always end up needing it for Petrol or something. I will go through my accounts and put a SOA on here tomorrow night. I need to consolidate all my debts with HSBC and move it to somewhere cheaper and more managable as at the moment it seems to be all over the place. Any ideas on who I could try to borrow some money from, then I can start looking at paying it all off. Don't get me wrong, that is my aim at the moment but over half my salary goes on debts at the moment and I end up with no money to live on as the rest goes on petrol, car insurance, my phone, a CC and then I have a little left for food.

Any other suggestions, please please help!!

Bexylou22

My SOA

Pay every month £950

£220 - bank of dad
£95 - Car insurance, due for renewal next month so fingers crossed will go down a lot.
£60 - monthly contract phone bill. Expencive as my fella is in the Army and this is our only means of contact really.
£115 - HSBC Loan a month (6018.30 currently still to pay)
£40 - HSBC Loan a month (1012.44 still to pay)
£50 - Nationwide savings account
£250 - Petrol a month
£60 - Smoking habit
This leaves me with roughly £110 to live on for the month.

I have spoken to HSBC this evening. I am currently £330.24 in the red on my current account, my overdraft is only £100. They want me to pay it all off in my next pay cheque and they have said they will reduce my £115 to £56 for the next 2 months then put it up to £167.45 for 4 months. I know they are trying to help but I really cannot afford to pay that to them. I really don't know what to do. They have made me promise to pay them £115 when I next get paid in a weeks time to clear half of the £230 over my overdraft but I still have to pay 2 lots of loan amounts to them for this month and next month. Has anyone please please please got any suggestions of ways I can deal with this or maybe consolidate my debt with them so I can close the account altogether. For the last month since I changed my account ove to A&L I have incurred so many charges to my account, it's all been for payment rejections due to the SO's and DDs not being transferred. This is a nightmare, I am literally pulling my hair out and I'm stuck for options now? PLEASE HELP!!!

anntics

Hi

just a thought -

did you use A&L's account switching service? This is supposed to make the whole process of switching painless. We'll take the hassle out of switching your current account with our Premier Switching Service

If you did and it has gone so badly wrong I would contact them and complain. Something along the lines 'I decided to switch accounts to your bank because (insert reason). A big factor in my decision was your advert offering an account switching service, as I was very worried about the transfer of so's and dd's and possible charges during the changeover period. I went ahead with the transfer and my worst fears were realised, the switch was anything but smooth and I have incurred charges of £xx.xx. I cannot afford to pay these charges and I am very disappointed with the whole process and the responses to my attempts to rectify the situation.'

I have been with A&L for 23 years and always found them helpful, especially when presented with a reasoned argument. Also using the w-o-m trump card, my brother/sister/daughter/neice/whoever/ was impressed when I told them about your accounts and services, but they are having second thoughts now because of the problems I have had switching my account.

good luck

HairyHandofDartmoor

Could your parents lend you any more money? Do you live at home as you don't mention rent or utility bills in your SOA?

Pooky

There's no point in putting money in a savings account when you need it to get yourself straight. Is there enough in the savings account to get you back on track?

I'd contact A&L as anntics says - I'm sure someone on here can help you write a suitable letter if you need help.

If you're still living at home then explain it all to your parents - I'm sure they'd take a reduced "bank of Dad" payment to help you out - if they can.

Seaxwyn

HI bexy, I also had problems when switching to A&L. They messed up the DDs and they said they'd pay me for any charges occurred by the switching errors. In the event I didn't actually incur any charges, however their offer sounded genuine. I recommend you ring A&L and tell them what happened and ask for a refund, as it was not your fault.

Jacks_xxx

Hiya sweetie,

You are in abit of a pickle huh?

Number 1) Go and see an actual person in your branches, explain your circumstances and ask for help. A&L should be paying your charges no? If it was their fault that you incurred them. and HSBC can be more help than they are being currently.

2) If you get no joy ring the CAB and get an appointemnet with a debt advisor. They can speak to your banks on your behalf and they kick !!!!!!

3) Parents. Ask for help chick, and just accept that you're going to have to take some grief about it as the trade off.

4) £250 a month is a heck of a lot of petrol. My hubby drives over 100 miles a day in a Nissan estate and it costs us less than that. Do you need the car? (Do you *really* need it more than you need to be out of debt????)

5) Savings accoount. Forget it cherub and just chuck the money at the debt instead. You can't afford to be saving at the expense of getting deeper into a mess every month.

That's all I've got honeybun. I really hope things come good for you soon.

Love Jacks xxx