£625 debt from £9.99 OD, please help!

dod929

Please help !
I know I have buried my head in the sand for a long time but I am slowly sorting it all out...

Originally I got the Santander acc from there £100 offer to switch accounts but never made the swap as I didn't have 2 DD at the time so wouldn't have got the money so opened the account and never used it.

In Oct 2011 I got a phone contract through Phones 4u, I was young and stupid and wanted a new phone knowing I had no money! They asked for a card for DD, I had lost my HSBC card that my wages went into and didn't know acc details so gave them this card knowing I would be paying the bill with the HSBC acc.

Long story short I moved house, forgot about the Santander acc thinking I had never used it, obviously I signed the 10000 signatures needed in the shop to set it up but didn't read all the small print.

So the first DD of £9.99 was accepted and every other one was declined, (if I can figure it out I will post a picture of the statement) but eventually due to returned DD fees and a daily unarranged overdraft fee of £100 (!!!) it got up to £624.99 before was sold to Hoist.

It is now with Robinson Way and they have sent me this statement and is the first time I have realised how much £9.99 (and head in sand issue) has gone to ruining my credit score !

Do I have a leg to stand on with the fact that I actually only owe £9.99 that they paid and the rest is fees, have I left it too late? I don't know what to do other than suck it up and take it as a life lesson!

TIA

dod929

Also this amount of interest was built up from Oct 2011 to March 2012 not many years? Am I being a wuss and thinking £100 a month on £10 is too much?

National_Debtline

Hi dod929,


I understand this is a difficult situation. I am afraid I don't quite understand from your post how you know how the debt is stopped accruing in March 2012 but you may still have some choices.

dod929 wrote: »

Long story short I moved house, forgot about the Santander acc thinking I had never used it, obviously I signed the 10000 signatures needed in the shop to set it up but didn't read all the small print.

So the first DD of £9.99 was accepted and every other one was declined, (if I can figure it out I will post a picture of the statement) but eventually due to returned DD fees and a daily unarranged overdraft fee of £100 (!!!) it got up to £624.99 before was sold to Hoist.

Firstly, I am assuming that the phone contract remained up to date and the issue here is the overdraft getting out of control because of the direct debit failing, resulted in a failed direct debit and this eventually pushed you into an unarranged overdraft. If I have understood that correctly then all you can do is make a complaint about unfair fees on the overdraft. That doesn't mean the fees are wrong, just that you believe they are unfair. Although you say a daily charge of £100 for an unarranged overdraft I assume you mean monthly as you believe this debt built up over 6 months?

You also mentioned that you moved house and nothing has been dealt with since 2012 so there could be other interest and charges that contributed to this debt. Request a breakdown of the debt to try and understand it better and then you can make a decision from there. If you believe the interest and charges are unfair you can complain and take the matter up to the FOS. I am afraid that if the charges are outlined in the contract they are likely to be enforceable through the courts. Good luck,


Laura
@natdebtline

dod929

Hi Laura, thanks, sorry am not very good at explaining, off on a tangent!

Yes the phone bill is over and up to date, There was the first DD payment of £9.99 that was successful and paid to O2, Im assuming this was for insurance or similar as there are 2 DD attempting each month, one for the same amount and one varying each time.

I can't post a link to the statement as a new member can not post links will type out balance and charges below, I queried the amount in March with Robinson Way who sent me a breakdown of the bank statement this week which starts at £0 in Oct 2011 to and ends in March 2012 at £624.99, this is the total amount they are chasing me for.

Transaction amount Balance
5/10/11 9.99 D 9.99 OD
7/10/11 38.19 D 48.18 OD
7/10/11 38.19 C 9.99 OD
25/10/11 9.99 D 19.98 OD
25/10/11 9.99 C 9.99 OD
07/11/11 42.20 D 52.19 OD
7/11/11 42.20 C 9.99 OD
8/11/11 25.00 D 39.99 OD (Unpaid DD charge)
8/11/11 25.00 D 59.99 OD (Unpaid DD charge)
8/11/11 65.00 D 124.99 OD (daily unarranged OD fee)
14/11/11 9.99 D 134.99 OD
14/11/11 9.99 C 124.99 OD
7/12/11 37.92 D 162.91 OD
7/12/11 37.92 C 124.99 OD
8/12/11 75.00 D 199.99 OD (Daily unarranged OD fee)
8/12/11 25.00 D 224.99 OD (Unpaid DD charge)
8/12/11 25.00 D 249.99 OD (unpaid DD charge)
6/1/12 76.82 D 351.81 OD
6/2/12 76.82 C 274.99 OD
7/1/12 25.00 D 299.99 OD (Unpaid DD charge)
7/1/12 100.00 D 399.99 OD (Daily unarranged OD fee)
7/2/12 25.00 D 424.99 OD (Unpaid DD charge)
7/2/12 100.00 D 524.99 OD (Daily unarranged OD fee)
9/3/12 100.00 D 634.99 OD (Daily unarranged OD fee)

I understand they would be enforceable in court but thought they may have a heart for a ridiculously naive 18yo who is now picking up the pieces... understand if I am still being naive !

Thought someone may have had something similar and there could possibly be something I could do to reduce it somewhat.

(I did post it with spaces to make it easier to read but won't post with them in, sorry!)