Warning - Nationwide - overdraft - maternity leave!

Babylonian_2

Had a letter this week from Nationwide (been with them 12 years) reducing my £2500 overdraft to £2000 from 29 November.

I've been on unpaid maternity leave for the last 6 months (which they've based this decision on) and return to payroll on 3 December.

So having carefully saved during my pregnancy to enable me to take my unpaid maternity leave I now have to find £500 just before Xmas.

:beer: Nationwide - I'll be leaving you as soon as i can

Other pregnant women beware !

Dylanwing

Presumably the reduced income has alerted Nationwide to a potential problem, and they may not be aware of the full facts. Have you tried talking to them, as I have found them less inflexible than most Banks? I really hope that you can get it sorted - One option may be to look for a £2,500 personal loan to be overdraft free, and Merry at Christmas.

morg_monster

There have been threads about this before, and in general the consensus was that these decisions are made automatically by a machine based on some criteria or other. So really, do ring them up and explain what is going on. They may well reinstate your level. Don't just write them off without even fighting! (poor choice of words probably - try not to be confrontational when you talk to them)

fsdss

i had he same letter, but had an agreed overdraft for 10k (set up in late summer) to cover me whilst we had building work done .
i only used 3k then suddenly they asked for it back, with no warning and stating that my overdraft will be reduced to 3k. fortunately i was able to pay it back immediately (with a couple of maturing policies which were with Nationwide) but i rang them and told them that they were out of order, as i had been completely honest with them from day one, had proof that i could repay at least 10,000 with other Nationwide policies should i need to use the overdraft.
i dont know what's been going on with them recently - i've never had a problem with them before then suddenly this, fortunately for me though i had the money in another account, but if i had to wait for a couple of months, i would have been in a bit of a panic.

Babylonian_2

Thanks for your replies - that makes me feel a bit better.
I did call them and got the "computer says no" response - that the decision had already been made by the underwriters.

The woman on the phone did say that she could take a card payment from me though!

I just feel very let down that having saved and saved to finance my leave I've been caught out like this.

I'm just hoping that they don't come after me for the whole lot!

Dylanwing

Interesting, when Sainsburys removed my credit card limit it was 'underwriters' and I could not talk to them. I am sure that a Banker could explain, but to a pleb like me it just sounds like a cop-out to avoid any human intervention and application of common sense. I think the message is - Never trust a Bank.