Unaffordable Lending - Autism - FOS

itchysheep

Hello everyone.

Barclays are writing off the credit card debt, but they are also closing my current account (I am currently 400 pounds into my 1000 pound overdraft) They told me that I will need to find somewhere else to bank as relations have broken down and I have 3 months to do this.  After ringing them up to confirm the call was real my dad spoke with them on my behalf and they are also writing off the overdraft debt and will be sending out a letter to confirm this. 
1) Will I need to do anything else in the future?  I am never planning on getting into debt again.  But still want to one day save for a mortgage
2) Do you think Barclays saw my post on here and that made them make the decision to write off the debt or do you think the Financial omburdsman made them do it?

3)  I am planning to open a first direct account as they offer a 175 pound switching bonus if I do this, can I do this if they are closing my account and will I be able to get the 175 pounds if I pay the 1000 in?

4) I raised a complaint about the inappropriate things the Bank worker said yesterday after my lunch, do I need to tell Barclays not to look at this complaint?

5) shall I tell the financial omburdsman my complaint has been resolved regarding the unaffordable lending and they can stop investigating or shall I let them continue investigating?

6) is there a way for me to build up my credit score without using credit cards and getting into debt.

7) will my credit file be ruined if barclays write off the debt,  I checked today and it just shows as paid, do credit files update quickly

8) will my card continue to work until the 3 months or I switch my account?

Thank you for the help everyone, It was super stressful being in debt but i'm glad it has all been resolved.

itchysheep

I think it was strange how fast Barclays got back to me.  I will probably ring the omburdsman and thank them first, for their help if they did sort it.

sourcrates

The ombudsman won`t have been involved at this very early stage, they will just have told Barclays to deal with the matter, which apparently they now have.

Barclays will have taken what`s known as a "commercial decision" and written off the debts.

You post on this forum anonymously, so no they did not read this post.

You won`t be able to switch accounts as you have an unpaid overdraft debt which Barclays are writing off, you would complicate matters by switching, so just open a new, basic bank account, with another bank, no offers, no frills.

Your credit file will not be affected, paying your bills on time is all that you need to focus on, you don`t need to do, or tell anyone, anything else.

Don`t use your old account again, concentrate on opening a new one.

DullGreyGuy

itchysheep said:

Hello everyone.

Barclays are writing off the credit card debt, but they are also closing my current account (I am currently 400 pounds into my 1000 pound overdraft) They told me that I will need to find somewhere else to bank as relations have broken down and I have 3 months to do this.  After ringing them up to confirm the call was real my dad spoke with them on my behalf and they are also writing off the overdraft debt and will be sending out a letter to confirm this. 
1) Will I need to do anything else in the future?  I am never planning on getting into debt again.  But still want to one day save for a mortgage
2) Do you think Barclays saw my post on here and that made them make the decision to write off the debt or do you think the Financial omburdsman made them do it?

3)  I am planning to open a first direct account as they offer a 175 pound switching bonus if I do this, can I do this if they are closing my account and will I be able to get the 175 pounds if I pay the 1000 in?

4) I raised a complaint about the inappropriate things the Bank worker said yesterday after my lunch, do I need to tell Barclays not to look at this complaint?

5) shall I tell the financial omburdsman my complaint has been resolved regarding the unaffordable lending and they can stop investigating or shall I let them continue investigating?

6) is there a way for me to build up my credit score without using credit cards and getting into debt.

7) will my credit file be ruined if barclays write off the debt,  I checked today and it just shows as paid, do credit files update quickly

8) will my card continue to work until the 3 months or I switch my account?

Thank you for the help everyone, It was super stressful being in debt but i'm glad it has all been resolved.

1) It would be useful to know how they are going to record it on the CRA, presumably as a Partial and Final settlement? A Mortgage is debt

2) Neither, the Ombudsman would have discussed their proposal with your before ordering Barclays to do it. Barclays dont try to find random posts that may or may not be their customer to influence their decisions... dont even know if their front line staff would have internet access to do such a search even if they wanted to, we didnt give our staff such access 

3) Probably, no idea if the original bank can somehow block a requested switch

4) Thats up to you, they are separate matters and it will have its own resolution 

5) Are you wanting a different outcome other than it being written off? Assuming you dont why waste someone's time? They may even come back and say Barclays shouldn't have to write it off which could be messy

6) You could have credit products, like a credit card, and not actually use them but that would leave a very thin credit history and you may be tempted to use them despite the idea not to use them

7) Depends how they mark it, full or partial (and final settlement)

8) Yes unless they told you otherwise.

itchysheep

Thanks for the help all.  After can they mark it as partially settled.  I was up to date on payments for the account so it be settled surely?

enthusiasticsaver

You won’t be able to switch as you had an overdraft. 

As you have had the debt written off I would just open a basic bank account and focus on budgeting and saving. I don’t know how your credit file will be affected but for now I wouldn’t worry about it. As you presumably don’t have savings getting a mortgage is a long way off so I would not bother with credit cards. I think given you say your disability affects your ability to manage money (I assume this is why Barclays have written it off) you need to be careful in the future taking on credit cards and overdrafts. Just focus on living within a budget and saving. Are you renting or living with parents? 

Do you know how you got into debt in the first place? 

itchysheep

enthusiasticsaver said:

You won’t be able to switch as you had an overdraft. 

As you have had the debt written off I would just open a basic bank account and focus on budgeting and saving. I don’t know how your credit file will be affected but for now I wouldn’t worry about it. As you presumably don’t have savings getting a mortgage is a long way off so I would not bother with credit cards. I think given you say your disability affects your ability to manage money (I assume this is why Barclays have written it off) you need to be careful in the future taking on credit cards and overdrafts. Just focus on living within a budget and saving. Are you renting or living with parents? 

Do you know how you got into debt in the first place? 

to answer the above questions.  I live on my own but my dad sends me money monthly to help me live. (500 pounds) and the reason I got into debt was because my oven and the hobs on top of the oven broke and I contacted the landlord but they didn't replace it (it took around 12-14 months) it was only after the council got involved it was sorted.

during this time I ordered a take away using just eat pretty much every day.

i've spoken to my dad and he is grateful for all the help i've had on here.  I'm also going to open a basic bank account online on Monday, maybe using Halifax as there is 1 local, will they offer similar featuresto the barclays one I had?

itchysheep

Hello everyone - I thought I would post an update - I closed down my account and opened a new one.with Santander, I wasn't eligible for the switching bonus unfortunately, but I rang up the bank and asked for special circumstances sending over all the evidence of how Barclays had treated me and they agreed as a one off gesture of good will to pay me the switching bonus.  

Barclays also got back to me and offered me £50 to apologise for how the rude agent spoke to me, this seemed a little low but I guess it is a good enough outcome even though they did really upset me.

I wanted to thank everyone on here for helping me sort out my debt problems quickly as otherwise I would probably still be paying Barclays now.  
I have also promised not to get any more debt out and am now going to be focusing on saving up for a mortgage but I will need to increase my earning buts am not sure how to do this.

many thanks for the help all.

itchysheep

I think Santander will be a much better bank than Barclays as they seemed happy to pay me the switching incentice without switching, all I did was ring them up and speak to them, they asked me to send evidence in but the day after rang me up and offered to pay the money.

final 3 questions
was there a reason santander said they would pay it or was it just to be nice?

  Also how do I cash my cheque from Barclays when it arrives, it will be from barclays bank so will santander take it or will i have to go into barclays with it?

I told the FOS to close the complaint against Barclays, do I need to do anything further?

sourcrates

(1) A gesture of goodwill most likely.
(2) A cheque can be paid into any bank account.
(3) No.

Good luck.