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Barclays

NosmoKing
NosmoKing Posts: 9 Forumite
Third Anniversary
edited 24 August 2019 pm31 8:38PM in Budgeting & bank accounts
New to MSE (posting wise)


I'll condense this as best as I can as it could go on.


My partner:



Bank Account with Barclays....
Account opened in 1995 .....
Account still open today 2019

Overdrawn from 1997 -

Not been in credit since 1997..


Original arrange overdraft £250
Had a business account with them also, but the business seized trading in 2000


Barclays offered them an overdraft of £1000 on the account, account at the time was known
as 'Executive Overdraft O/D (FLEX)' the account no longer exists as a product.


Eventually through business and other bits and pieces the overdraft eventually ended up in/around 2003 at £7000 and that is where it has stayed in all that time.


A couple of years later 2005 they fell ill, had to give up work and since 2009 have been registered disabled with no chance of returning to work


Since Sep 2009 (10 years next month) they have not used the account by way of withdrawing/paying anything. The only activity on the account has been for them to meet the overdraft fee for the account each month, the payments depended on the interest rate Barclays applied to the account at the time, sometimes it was a fixed rate, other times on a daily rate...but on average they have been paying £100+ each and every month since 2009 (prior to 2009 they made significantly more payments on the account
but this was from savings and juggling with accounts)


In 2009 the account balance was overdrawn to the tune of £7800 (approx)
In 2019 the account balance is ovedrawn by £7770



The account balance in the last 10 years has reduced by £30

The amount paid back in the same period is £14000 (approx)



In 2012 they called into the branch for help but they were told that nobody in the branch
was able to deal with the account now as the 'small business team' no longer existed at
branch level


in 2013 they approached the bank again, gave the circumstances to a member of staff who
took it on board, they then made an call on the phone in front of them, explained the circumstances
to those on the other end of the phone...then put the phone to my partner and the other party introduced
themselves as being from 'The Woolwich' and where they could not help with a loan as they were already
in hock to Barclays --go figure!



Since that time they have periodically been into the branch for help, but nobody understands the account
and nobody seems to want to deal with it. my partner is no longer able to visit the branch.


I have now compiled a letter for them but do not want to send it to customer services as they do not
appear to have the authority to shut the account down/remove the balance.


What I am keen to do is not have my partners credit record stained/marked for when Barclays call
in the overdraft and quote the 'we can recall an overdraft at any time and you must pay the balance
back in 30 days...


I think they've paid enough, they'd asked for help but not got it. The account states it has an annual review but for me it cannot have been reviewed in a responsible manner or they'd have seen the same
payment record as stated above and realised something was amiss.


All figures quote are approx....but they're pretty close.


Not a clue what to do next, some say stop paying...it's getting to the point where they may have to
as the money each month servicing this account could be better spent on appliances for their disability etc.


Any clues as to who to send the letter to?
«134

Comments

  • Long story short please?
  • DCFC79
    DCFC79 Posts: 40,611 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    !!! wrote: »
    Long story short please?


    A very short version


    2003 through business and other bits and pieces the overdraft eventually ended up around £7000


    In 2009 the account balance was overdrawn to the tune of £7800 (approx)
    In 2019 the account balance is ovedrawn by £777
    Balance in last 10 yrs has reduced by £30
    Amount paid back in same period is £14k


    Help has been asked for but no 1 from the bank wants to help/deal with it.
  • DrSyn
    DrSyn Posts: 897 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts
    Try sending a later explaining this to the radio 4, BBC Money Box program.
  • So what help are you looking for here OP?
  • SnowTiger
    SnowTiger Posts: 4,461 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    NosmoKing wrote: »
    Any clues as to who to send the letter to?

    What resolution do you want?

    The debt written off?

    The monthly fee waived so you partner can pay it off at £100 a month?

    Something else?

    You mention your partner had a business, however the overdraft appears to be unrelated to it and is a personal debt.

    I'd send the letter to Barclays' customer service address. According to the back of my recently statement that's:

    Barclays
    Leicester
    LE87 2BB


    If you don't get the response you want, you can follow it up with a letter to their complaints department:

    Freepost
    Barclays Customer Relations


    I think you have to be clear about what the issue is and what resolution you're looking for.

    If your letter is anything like the message you posted here it's too long and rambles too much.

    Your partner owes Barclays £7,000 and has done so since 2009. I think any accommodation Barclays makes about repayment will be reflected on his credit reports.

    Don't use the term 'registered disabled'. There isn't a registry of disabled people. I think you should, however, mention your partner is disabled, on a low fixed income and struggling to pay the account's monthly fee, let alone reduce the debt. Also mention this situation is permanent and your partner now cannot pay for essential items to help him cope with his disability.
  • xlnc99
    xlnc99 Posts: 1,673 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    how did barclays let you go 7k overdraft if they only agreed 1k limit.

    That is bonkers, i would have thought they would cut it off long before then. Never heard this before
  • xlnc99 wrote: »
    how did barclays let you go 7k overdraft if they only agreed 1k limit.

    That is bonkers, i would have thought they would cut it off long before then. Never heard this before

    Interest and charges, it quickly adds up if not dealt with.
    Mortgage started 2020, aiming to clear it in 2026.
  • xlnc99
    xlnc99 Posts: 1,673 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    That is absurd. I had an overdraft around about the same time for £500 with a bank. I fell in some hardship and was around about £500 into my OD for a long time. They would not let me spend anything above it, but did carry on charging me for fees and interest. However. they stopped it after 40 days or something.

    Apparantly if the account is in OD (past the OD limit) for a certain amount of time and not paid back then the bank will close your account and stop/freeze all charges.

    So for me it got to around 700 800 and they cut it off. Shut my account unfortantely but i understood why so had no issues with their reason

    I cant belive they would let this get up to 7000, i cant belive it
  • I'd like a figurehead and address I can write to, I have the letter to go, it's concise enough, there is an additional page that bullet points the time line and various charges/payments/overdraft letters etc.

    The last 120 months have simply been Barclays adding the monthly o/d interest and my partner via me paying £100+ in each month to cover it, no gaps, no missed payments and 14.4k to the good. If they stop the account/freeze the interest but keep the amount at 7k it would mean they would recoup the overdraft money & double the original overdraft limit.

    In regards to the comment re business/personal account not related, I have a feeling it was a business account that when the business partnership terminated the account was transferred to this account as my partner continued to trade but the original partnership was dissolved etc, he took on the other partners indebtness ...there is some paperwork on the file that 'sort of' backs that up.

    From my own digging I think personal accounts with Barclays at the time had a limit of 5k overdraft, any more than that and it became a business accoun, maybe someone a little more knowledgeable would know. I also thought (rightly or wrongly) that business accounts do not figure on an individuals credit file.

    Ideally i'd like someone within Barclays that has the power to strike a pen through the account and for it to close with no further payment, the o/d borrow total has long since been paid.


    From experience sending a letter to Barclays customer services and you become a simple statistic and into the system you go, Barclays also tend to write off their liabilities in a very short space of time and pass them on the Debt Collection agents and down that route you go also.



    Personally I feel the unusual circumstances surrounding the account warrants a different approach than standard procedure, it's not like my partner has refused to pay/not paid and payments are continuing to be made in the hope that someone picks it up and sees it for what it is
  • xlnc99
    xlnc99 Posts: 1,673 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fourth Anniversary Name Dropper
    send emails to barclays including the CEO. When ive had issues with them ive done that previously and its dealt with imeddiately and from people higher up.

    A google search will give you the names of the executive management team. Positions change all the time as people come and go so i doubt the same people are there who i emailed a few years ago. Should be around 10-12 people. Find their names, including the CEO and write their full name in this order like this for example if the name was john smith you would write your email to

    jonh.smith@barclays.com

    In the subject matter write, urgent issue needs addressing or something like that

    Most will respond and get this matter looked it. if not send a follow up email 24 hours later, dont include weekends as its bank holiday i would send the first emails on monday night so its looked at tuesday morning first thing
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