I am a keyworker and Hsbc have left me penniless

robbiec4

I am a key worker. I switched banks after organising a debt management plan with a debt charity and on the day my wage went into the bank HSBC took away my overdraft which I had already set up to pay off with the plan. Now I am £800 down out of my wage and will be struggling soon to get to work and Hsbc will not give me the £800 back 

mwarby

That’s not good. It does highlight why in the bankruptcy forums I urge a new bank account early

might be worth googling ‘first right of appropriation’ this basically means you have some rights in how your income is used, the bank can’t just take it all and leave you to starve. You almost certainly don’t have the right to the full £800

its definitely worth talking to your debt charity, they maybe able to help you deal with the bank

you have an account with a bank you don’t owe money to right ? If not do this ASAP (so there is somewhere to transfer what your living on)

mwarby

Your day to day current account from now on should have no overdraft, nor should you have any debts with the bank or it’s subsidiaries 

robbiec4

mwarby said:

That’s not good. It does highlight why in the bankruptcy forums I urge a new bank account early

might be worth googling ‘first right of appropriation’ this basically means you have some rights in how your income is used, the bank can’t just take it all and leave you to starve. You almost certainly don’t have the right to the full £800

its definitely worth talking to your debt charity, they maybe able to help you deal with the bank

you have an account with a bank you don’t owe money to right ? If not do this ASAP (so there is somewhere to transfer what your living on)

Yes my debt charity advised me create an account with another bank which I did with Santander. Step change (debt charity) sent all the relevant paperwork to hsbc a week before my bank switch. Due to this virus my Santander appt got cancelled so it was all last minute and the bank switch was completed on the day my wage got payed but was too late to go into my new Santander account. Once it went it to my hsbc account the closed my overdraft swiping £800 of my wage and sent over the remaining 200 credit to Santander. When I contacted hsbc they said they never received paperwork but when I asked step change about this they said hsbc are lying because it’s all digital and hsbc viewed my debt management plan to pay off my overdraft on the a week before my wage went in, cancelled my overdraft Taking the £800 and then declined the dmp offer the day after 

robbiec4

Now I don’t know what to do. I have lodged a complaint with hsbc as Step change have told me what they have done is against the law but I don’t know if I will get the £800 back or not? 

mwarby

First thing I’d do is call stepchange, see what they say. I suspect many in HSBC lake the authority to do much, hopefully stepchange have contacts in the financial difficulties department who can actually help

mwarby

I know I had issues with Santander during my IVA when my employer paid a substantial expense claim into my pre IVA account, Within the space of about an hour the IVA firm had arranged for one access to the money and directed me to a contact in the right team. 

robbiec4

mwarby said:

First thing I’d do is call stepchange, see what they say. I suspect many in HSBC lake the authority to do much, hopefully stepchange have contacts in the financial difficulties department who can actually help

Already have done and they said they cannot speak to Hsbc directly it has to be who in theory is the messenger. Forgot to add many thanks for your advice btw. I just need someone with a bit of clout who can speak to hsbc directly as I feel that they will just hoodwink little old me 

robbiec4

If not down to this virus my Santander appt would have gone ahead and the switch would have happened early enough for my wage to go into my Santander account 

D3xt3r5L4b

How is it “against the law” for HSBC to withdraw your overdraft?
Im pretty sure any bank can do that at any time, with out without notice. 

eskbanker

robbiec4 said:
the bank switch was completed on the day my wage got payed but was too late to go into my new Santander account. Once it went it to my hsbc account the closed my overdraft swiping £800 of my wage and sent over the remaining 200 credit to Santander. When I contacted hsbc they said they never received paperwork but when I asked step change about this they said hsbc are lying because it’s all digital and hsbc viewed my debt management plan to pay off my overdraft on the a week before my wage went in, cancelled my overdraft Taking the £800 and then declined the dmp offer the day after 

So because of the timing issue, your wage (which you presumably hadn't asked your payroll department to start sending to Santander?) went to HSBC, thereby putting your account in credit, and shortly thereafter they transferred the residual £200 balance to Santander and closed your account as an inherent part of the switching process (which they couldn't do if it was overdrawn)?  If that was the sequence of events then it's not clear to me that HSBC have done anything wrong, unless there was a clear agreement between you and/or Step Change and HSBC as to how and when your overdraft debt to HSBC was going to be repaid?