Student in a hole

Harry_Fox

Hi everyone, I wondered if anyone could help me with a predicament. I'm a mature student (36) in my third year now of studying and I'm having a big problem with my debt. My bank won't allow me a student account and have been charging me around £50 a month in overdraft fees. The charges mean that I am never able to get out of my overdraft, and there has been a few occasions where I have had to resort to food banks or charitable organisations to get by. I am a STEM student and my course is pretty full on and I am determined to do well so I have very little time to work. I have a £3,000 overdraft which is full, and a £1,000 credit card which is also full. As soon as my loan comes in, it pays some of the debt, but not all, and I have to pay £404 in rent, which I am currently 2 months in arrears of. Is there anything I can do to fix this situation? I obviously can't change banks as I am tied to their debt. I have previously complained about the charges and have made a claim through the ombudsman that gave me a few hundred pounds back. Just before I started uni, a lodger I was sharing with disappeared leaving me £1,000 out of pocket, this is kind of when the spiral began, and I've been in this situation now for three years. I'm trying to get a job, but for the moment is there anything that I can do?

tomtontom

A new lodger, sell things on ebay?

Lots of retailers are looking for Christmas staff at the moment, along with Royal Mail, bars etc. Hopefully you'll find work soon.

agrinnall

RM's Christmas vacancies was mentioned on the radio this morning, there's information here https://jobs.royalmailgroup.com/go/Christmas-Casuals/698901/

Voyager2002

I must say, I cannot understand why you didn't get a student account with a different bank at the beginning of your course.

Does your credit rating matter to you? If not, you could let your bank know that you are unable to make any further payments until the end of your course and invite them to take you to court. That would at least stop the monthly fees (you could open a basic bank account elsewhere to hold your loan cheque) but then you would not be able to borrow if, for example, you needed to relocate to start work after graduation.

[Deleted User]

unis sometime have funds that might be able to help,speak to student services,for debt problems speak to one of the debt charities like step change for advice going forward

LeahKStewart

There's help for students who are struggling financially; Universities would generally rather assist with some cash than see people leave the course. If you take your bank statements to the university student finance place I'm sure they'll either help or point you towards a place that can. All the best Harry.