Coop bank closed student account whilst still a student and sold debt

big5824

My girlfriend recently discovered that her Coop student account has been closed, with the overdraft debt sold to a debt collector. She discovered this when trying to update her address following a move, during which she realised she had forgot to inform them of her previous move, leaving a one year gap during which the bank tried to contact her by letter.

The bank have acted rather odd as to why the account was closed. They first said it was because her student status had expired, but after proving the documents we had provided them years ago confirmed she would still have been a student at the time of the close, they then started simply saying she had breached the T&Cs of the account, without indicating which part in particular.

We can easily pay the debt, we are more annoyed in that we now likely won't be able to include her on a mortgage in a years time when she starts work, but the Coop are refusing to talk with us.

Is there anything we can do to avoid the credit history hit? I'm sure there must be thousands of students out there who forget to update an address, while she is technically in the wrong I feel this is a bit of an overreaction on the banks part.

jonesMUFCforever

Did she use the account at all or was it left in an overdrawn state?
Not the bank's fault if they have tried to contact her and she did not update her address.
No there is nothing that can be done - she can deal with the collection agency and pay the amount off which will then show the account as settled.

big5824

The account was left in an agreed overdraft for a few years, unused.

Am I best off simply paying the debt sharpish and moving on?

bigadaj

big5824 wrote: »

The account was left in an agreed overdraft for a few years, unused.

Am I best off simply paying the debt sharpish and moving on?

Yes, precisely.

jonesMUFCforever

Yes pronto - it is normal to have student account terms to the effect that you have to credit funds at least once per term.

dunstonh

which she realised she had forgot to inform them of her previous move, leaving a one year gap during which the bank tried to contact her by letter.

That at least tells us why they took that action.

The bank have acted rather odd as to why the account was closed. They first said it was because her student status had expired, but after proving the documents we had provided them years ago confirmed she would still have been a student at the time of the close, they then started simply saying she had breached the T&Cs of the account, without indicating which part in particular.

General bank clerks are not trained to a high standard any more. Those days have gone. So, when it comes to corporate decision making, you should not expect the average bank clerk to know the reasoning. However, in this case, it does seem pretty obvious why.

We can easily pay the debt, we are more annoyed in that we now likely won't be able to include her on a mortgage in a years time when she starts work, but the Coop are refusing to talk with us.

That is not the fault of co-op. Maybe channel that annoyance to realise that money management should be treated with more respect in future and that there are consequences to your actions. The debt is no longer with Coop. So, they have nothing further to say.

Is there anything we can do to avoid the credit history hit? I'm sure there must be thousands of students out there who forget to update an address, while she is technically in the wrong I feel this is a bit of an overreaction on the banks part.

Dont try and blame that bank. They have no fault here whatsoever. The event has happened and it is recorded on her file and that will not be changed. However, clearing the debt now will reduce the impact and may have little impact on a mortgage decision as long as you were not trying to push limits on borrowing and the mortgage was not required in the short term.

jumperabv3

I am trying to understand something. His complaint is as follows:

big5824 wrote: »

The bank have acted rather odd as to why the account was closed. They first said it was because her student status had expired, but after proving the documents we had provided them years ago confirmed she would still have been a student at the time of the close, they then started simply saying she had breached the T&Cs of the account, without indicating which part in particular.

And you say that's small potatoes:

dunstonh wrote: »

General bank clerks are not trained to a high standard any more. Those days have gone. So, when it comes to corporate decision making, you should not expect the average bank clerk to know the reasoning. However, in this case, it does seem pretty obvious why.

I'm just wondering:

• Was it a bank clerk who gave that reason, or was it someone over the phone from the account closure department etc.?
• Why companies allow themselves to lie to people? It's a lie, doesn't matter if it's small or big, what's the problem to look at the records and give the best answer to the one seeking it?
• And worse - why waste people's time? Yours and theirs? Why cause so much inconvenience for nothing?

It sounds to me like the OP had hard time preparing and sending out documents, proving the account is a student account, and doing all this was for nothing, it was completely irrelevant as the account was meant to be closed, period.

It seems like companies allow themselves to waste people's time, I'm not justifying the OP here but I don't think saying "days of high standard are gone" is justified neither. Such attitude definitely won't take the UK out of the mess it's in that's for sure.

dunstonh

It seems like companies allow themselves to waste people's time, I'm not justifying the OP here but I don't think saying "days of high standard are gone" is justified neither. Such attitude definitely won't take the UK out of the mess it's in that's for sure.

It isnt justification. It is just reality. I used to work in a bank in the days when every job was graded and every clerk would have to progress through the roles. You couldnt progress past a given point without studying the banking exams. Then they abolished all of that and now you have general clerks being required to answer questions on things they they know little or nothing about. Some may have knowledge, some may find someone else who has knowledge and some may guess.

The problem is that people are not willing to pay for the quality. So, something has to give and in this case, quality of service has been the thing lost. The public is getting the service it is paying for.

jumperabv3

dunstonh wrote: »

The problem is that people are not willing to pay for the quality. So, something has to give and in this case, quality of service has been the thing lost. The public is getting the service it is paying for.

Yes, that explains the brexit situation as well.
No money = quality of life reduced.