Overdraft - defaulted

Willing2Learn

icklesurfer wrote: »

I have no dispute over the amount, or that it was owed. I just feel like I haven't done anything particularly wrong here that warrants a 6 year black mark but I guess that's subjective.

You could complain to your bank about unfair charges, clearly stating that this was the reason for the account defaulting.

You may stand a chance of having your complaint upheld if you can provide evidence that

• You were in real financial hardship. For example, if you were struggling to buy necessities and pay bills, or you’ve lost your job.
• The charges were unfair compared to what you did. For example, if you went overdrawn £1 and were charged £35.
• You were stuck in a spiral of charges. This might have happened if the charges kept putting you into the red, and the overdraft kept costing you more in charges.

It costs you nothing to complain. The only downside would be the time spent writing letters.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges/

icklesurfer

!!! wrote: »

Apart from not paying it off?

I have paid it off. I just couldn’t pay it off as quick as they wanted me to.

icklesurfer

Willing2Learn wrote: »

You could complain to your bank about unfair charges, clearly stating that this was the reason for the account defaulting.

You may stand a chance of having your complaint upheld if you can provide evidence that

• You were in real financial hardship. For example, if you were struggling to buy necessities and pay bills, or you’ve lost your job.
• The charges were unfair compared to what you did. For example, if you went overdrawn £1 and were charged £35.
• You were stuck in a spiral of charges. This might have happened if the charges kept putting you into the red, and the overdraft kept costing you more in charges.

It costs you nothing to complain. The only downside would be the time spent writing letters.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges/

This is really helpful. I did fill out a budget for them which showed I wasn’t in a great financial position and I have letters etc with the details of the equipment, including statement from the electricity company that prove it was only during the time that the machines were in the house that the price went up. They put me on a repayment plan that they knew I couldn’t afford because I told them. I did continue to pay down the debt but not to the amount they wanted. Anyway, it’s worth a go. Thank you.

Ben8282

Just how much was this massive electricity bill?

icklesurfer

Ben8282 wrote: »

Just how much was this massive electricity bill?

Not sure why the bill amount is important to my original query but it was more than the salary I was bringing in a month at the time - £785

The company that provide the equipment do provide rebates but that takes time. They service the equipment after 6 months and take a meter reading. The cheque comes roughly 3 months after that and then every 3 months you have the equipment. It’s a great system but it takes time.

In the meantime NatWest put me on a repayment plan that I couldn’t afford (and they knew I couldn’t based on my detailed budget). I did continue to repay them but not to the amount on the agreement because I didn’t have the money there to pay it. The outstanding amount was repaid in full once my rebate came. In all it was about 9 months after the default before they had their money back.

Ben8282

Not trying to sound harsh but the time to have sorted this out was when you received the original bill and became aware that you would be unable to pay it. You should have called the electricity company immediately and explained the situation.

Not sure why you refuse to disclose the amount of the bill but it must have been massive if with £785 per-month being paid into the account the overdraft was not cleared and it got to a default position in three months. Yet when you received this massive bill you did nothing ….

I also fail to understand why you did not discuss the problem with the provider of the equipment who give the rebate. They must be aware of how much electricity their equipment uses and must therefore be aware most people may have difficulty in initially paying their electricity bills until the rebates are received. Yet they offered no advice or guidance or assistance …? Also most equipment is provided directly by the NHS. Why was yours provided by this company whoever they are?

Natwest did you a favour by allowing the direct debit to be paid as the result could have been non-payment and you having your electricity supply cut off when you needed to use the medical equipment, although personally I am surprised considering your obvious very low income if your salary is £785 per-month that they did do you this favour. Yet you seem to be intent on blaming Natwest, the only organisation that actually helped you out, rather than blaming the NHS or the supplier of the equipment who must have known the amount of electricity it would use and must have known that you may well experience difficulty in paying for this quantity of electricity yet did nothing whatsoever to help or, as far as I can make out, even inform you in advance of this potential problem.

Also curious as to how you managed to pay your other bills, eat etc after this occurred.

boo_star

Willing2Learn wrote: »

You could complain to your bank about unfair charges, clearly stating that this was the reason for the account defaulting.

You may stand a chance of having your complaint upheld if you can provide evidence that

• You were in real financial hardship. For example, if you were struggling to buy necessities and pay bills, or you’ve lost your job.
• The charges were unfair compared to what you did. For example, if you went overdrawn £1 and were charged £35.
• You were stuck in a spiral of charges. This might have happened if the charges kept putting you into the red, and the overdraft kept costing you more in charges.

It costs you nothing to complain. The only downside would be the time spent writing letters.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges/

I don't see how charges caused this situation, and while the OP might be able to claim hardship and get the charges back it doesn't seem to me that they defaulted because of the charges. Maybe I'm missing something.

icklesurfer

Ben8282 wrote: »

Not sure why you refuse to disclose the amount of the bill but it must have been massive if with £785 per-month being paid into the account the overdraft was not cleared and it got to a default position in three months. Yet when you received this massive bill you did nothing ….

I also fail to understand why you did not discuss the problem with the provider of the equipment who give the rebate.

Yet you seem to be intent on blaming Natwest,

Also curious as to how you managed to pay your other bills, eat etc after this occurred.

1. The bill was £785. My salary at the time was £720. I'm not hiding it - It's just not relevant to my query.
2. I had been given information by the company contracted to supply the equipment explaining the rebate process. I thought there would be slight increase, but not this much. There are other costs associated with treatment that don't necessarily relate to the equipment itself. For example feeling the cold far greater than normal during treatment and living in a flat without gas means that you use more electricity to heat. Again, how the bill got to where it was is not relevant.
3. I'm not 'blaming' NatWest for the bill... or the NHS or electric company for that matter. I know I incurred that bill and it needed paying. The issue I have is that given the fact that I'd submitted a detailed budget they still set my repayment plan higher than I could afford.
4. The reason I continued to pay other bills and eat (although again I'm not sure why it's relevant) is that Natwest set up a repayment plan via a separate portal which you pay into monthly and it reduces the debt. The amount they asked me to pay monthly was more than I could afford. I did pay them the amount I told them I could afford.

You seem to be fixated on the equipment and the bill. I mentioned those for context but I don't believe that either are relevant to my query.The problem here is an unaffordable repayment plan causing a default.

The facts are what they are... I can't go back in time and change what I did and didn't do. I would politely ask that you focus your comments advice, if you have any.

boo_star

icklesurfer wrote: »

1. The bill was £785. My salary at the time was £720. I'm not hiding it - It's just not relevant to my query.
2. I had been given information by the company contracted to supply the equipment explaining the rebate process. I thought there would be slight increase, but not this much. There are other costs associated with treatment that don't necessarily relate to the equipment itself. For example feeling the cold far greater than normal during treatment and living in a flat without gas means that you use more electricity to heat. Again, how the bill got to where it was is not relevant.
3. I'm not 'blaming' NatWest for the bill... or the NHS or electric company for that matter. I know I incurred that bill and it needed paying. The issue I have is that given the fact that I'd submitted a detailed budget they still set my repayment plan higher than I could afford.
4. The reason I continued to pay other bills and eat (although again I'm not sure why it's relevant) is that Natwest set up a repayment plan via a separate portal which you pay into monthly and it reduces the debt. The amount they asked me to pay monthly was more than I could afford. I did pay them the amount I told them I could afford.

You seem to be fixated on the equipment and the bill. I mentioned those for context but I don't believe that either are relevant to my query.The problem here is an unaffordable repayment plan causing a default.

The facts are what they are... I can't go back in time and change what I did and didn't do. I would politely ask that you focus your comments advice, if you have any.

What about the bill you would have received for the energy usage? Why did you not, after receiving this bill, negotiate with your creditor?

[Deleted User]

£785 for electric!?

I don't even spend that annually on gas and electric combined on a 4 bed house with 4 people in it...