Switching grad accounts, and other advice?

Paperfacedt2

1) I graduated in June, currently have Graduate a/c with HSBC and thinking of switching it to Lloyds TSB (using the extra overdraft to absorb my credit card debt). I have used pretty much all of the HSBC £1500 student overdraft and the £500 credit card, and also £600 Barclays current a/c overdraft. Haven't been in a position to pay anything off since finishing uni as I've been unemployed, and have gone over the limits a few time in the past. Starting a decent job next week, although payday is still nearly two months away.:rolleyes:

- Will I have a problem opening a new graduate account because of my credit history? It's not terrible, but it's not great.

- HSBC have stuck me with a £40 arrangement fee for going over my limit last month. I have no objection in paying it (although £40 for going £40 over... cheeky) but I'm pretty darn skint until mid-Jan so I was going to ask them nicely if they'd freeze it until Feb - do they do this?

2a) I have a friend who is pretty useless with money and has got herself into a fair amount of bank trouble in the past couple of years - court summons an' all. She has two accounts - NatWest Student and Lloyds TSB Platinum, both with credit cards that she has now paid off but both overdrafts still at the limit. She's now working, salary going into the Lloyds a/c. She also may or may not have a Lloyds loan that paid off her cards, I'm not sure. NatWest have demanded that she repay her full overdraft within 30 days, though that was about 2 weeks ago. She can't afford to pay any of it back at the moment. I don't think that she has done anything about this little problem so far... :eek: And her credit record is pretty horrendous. I know she's going to bury her head in the sand and end up doing something stupid that will cost her ten times as much in the long run. What would be her best option???

2b) Said friend was messed about a fair bit by her banks a couple of years ago - they stopped a direct debit that was paying a credit card minimum charge without informing her and she ended up with a TONNE of charges. In fact they never informed her of anything (apart from her court summons obviously...). Plus lots of other charges and issues that she never bothered to resolve and I'm sure has lost track of. I don't think she has internet banking (or kept any statements) so what would be the best way to get as much info as possible on her banking activity and charges in the last 4 years to see if there was anything unfair worth investigating?

Many thanks for any help and advice, I've done some reading around but it's all so mind-boggling...
xxx