Please, please advise me on bank account debt

fridayfeeling

Hi,

I really hope someone can give me some advice, as I'm in a total panic. 4 years ago I moved to Spain with my then boyfriend, now husband. We sold our house in England & bought a property outright here. We now earn enough to get by, but with no savings/spare cash.

I left behind a bank current account I had had for about 25 years, with an overdraft facility of £600 - at that time the account was about £400 overdrawn. I wrote to the bank with my parent's address for statements etc & asked my mum to open them & let me know of any problems. Stupidly, I then completely forgot about the account - until now. My mum has now told me she never received any statements - Barclays can never have received/acted on my letter.

Although I haven't used this account since being in Spain, I've just been reading about interest/service charges the big banks have been charging & I'm terrified about how much I might now owe & what I should do about it. I'm very scared about ringing the bank, in case they find me in Spain & take my flat. I cannot tell my husband, as I know he will leave me - he has very strong views about debt & worked for years to make us debt & mortgage free. Sorry to sound so dramatic, but it's how I'm feeling at the moment.

I just keep thinking about all the terrible things that could happen & cannot clear my mind. I would be really grateful if someone could give me a step-by-step list of the things I should do. Thank you.

FF

poppy10_2

First of all, there is no way they will take your house in Spain, for many reasons:
1: It is in Spain!
2: Noone will order a repossession over a mere £400 debt, the legal fees alone for a repossession would cost more than this
3: The current account overdraft is an unsecured loan, it's not secured against the value of your home, so they have no rights over your home.

So relax first of all, take some deep breaths and go and have a nice long bath. :A

OK, now the thing to do is write to the bank, explain the situation, and ask how much they think you owe them. Make sure not to admit to any liability at this stage, just ask how much they say you owe them.

Do keep us updated.

Tustastic

Hello fridayfeeling, poppy1 has given you great advice. Stay calm and enjoy what I hope is a lovely afternoon in Spain where you and your husband are living your dream.
You could also look at your credit report to see what it says, if anything, about this old account. You would be PAID £6 to do this if you registered with and applied through the quidco.com cashback site; http://www.quidco.com/free-experian-credit-report/
Information is power. HTH

fridayfeeling

Thank you both so much for your wise words. I will follow both pieces of advice - and try to stay calm...