Please god help, 60k in debt and feeling suicidal

eleanorl89

Emmia said:

eleanorl89 said:

Emmia said:

eleanorl89 said:

Thanks guys, again much appreciated as always. Just had a default notice letter from Natwest so just want to check the wording from this please. They have also threatened court action, no threatening of selling the debt (only passing it on) and also threats of setting off funds from any accounts held with them

I know it was mentioned by several people in an earlier comment to change my bank accounts, who are currently with natwest. I have organised to switch to HSBC on the 20th January. The date on this letter has a deadline of 24th jan so should be fine?

however, as they have mentioned this as a threat, does it mean they are taking my case more seriously as i owe nearly 20k? Do they know I have personal accounts with them? (I Have a little over £900 total in my bank accounts). Or again do high street banks just include this as standard in their default notice letters? I’m expecting their actual default letter to sound scary too. Here’s what it said…..

“If the action required by this notice is taken before the date shown, the action below will not be taken in respect of the breach.

If you do not take the action required by this notice before the date Shown then the further action set out below may be taken against you.

Action to be taken if breach not remedied:

If you do not take the steps set out above to remedy the breach, we will terminate the Agreement and may demand immediate repayment of the monies due, plus any interest due. In addition, we may exercise our right of set off over any of your funds held elsewhere with us. We may also assign your account to a Debt Collection Agent or take Court action to recover the debt.

If you are not sure what to do, you should get help as soon as possible. The Government's Money Advice Service can help you find free debt advice and support, or you can contact the organisations listed in the Financial Conduct Authority's information sheet, which is provided alongside this letter. This information sheet also contains important intormation about your rights. If it is not included, you should contact us to get one.

If you have difficulty in paying any sum owed under this agreement, you can apply to the court for an order to give you more time to pay any sum owed or take any other action required by this notice. The free advice services referred to in this notice and in the Financial Conduct Authority's information sheet can help you explore this option.

We need to let you know that if we took legal action against you and a court decided you must pay us the money owend under the agreement, you may end up paying more than just the money owed under the agreement”

It does seem scarier than the other letters

Thank you!

Hi, I think the usual advice is to open a new basic bank account, not to switch your account(s).to another lender.

Opening a fresh account means you leave the debts with the previous bank who will then default you etc. and then you start afresh with a new bank where you don't have debts or a previous relationship. 

I just want to clarify (so you get the best advice) are you doing/trying to do a formal switch through the usual auto switching mechanism? Or just opening an additional account, and moving your essential direct debits manually?

I also expect banks will have linked your personal and business accounts they hold in some way, (at the back end) even if you have separate log ins for personal and business banking.

HSBC offered a switching service, so I chose fhat. Should I not have? Would it be too late to cancel fhis and just open a new basic account? Will Natwest decline the switch?

thank you

Hi, I think there's a risk HSBC might decline you as a customer by switching in this way. But NatWest might decline if you have debts with them.

As to whether you can cancel, I don't know (is there anything in communications you've received from HSBC on this?) as I've never personally used the switching service so I can't advise.

(Sorry if this has caused you more stress)

It hasn’t caused me more stress. I’ve actually literally just opened a Monzo account instead and transferred all my money over, so hopefully that’s that

Also the debts are personal debts, i don’t have a solo business account with natwest. The only other account i have with them is a joint business account with 2 other signatories, that doesn’t have anything in it at the moment

EssexHebridean

There should be an option to cancel the switch to HSBC I think - check back on the info they sent when you activated it and hopefully there should be info there. 

Sea_Shell

Again, see how many times they use the word MAY.

Grumpelstiltskin

Eleanor, you are doing what I told you yesterday not to do - you are panicking.

You didn't check about switching accounts when you should have done. Please stop panicking, as I said nothing is going to happen in a hurry, just slow down and think and check before you do anything.

RAS

eleanorl89 said:

Emmia said:

eleanorl89 said

HSBC offered a switching service, so I chose fhat. Should I not have? Would it be too late to cancel fhis and just open a new basic account? Will Natwest decline the switch?

thank you

Hi, I think there's a risk HSBC might decline you as a customer by switching in this way. But NatWest might decline if you have debts with them.

As to whether you can cancel, I don't know (is there anything in communications you've received from HSBC on this?) as I've never personally used the switching service so I can't advise.

(Sorry if this has caused you more stress)

It hasn’t caused me more stress. I’ve actually literally just opened a Monzo account instead and transferred all my money over, so hopefully that’s that

Also the debts are personal debts, i don’t have a solo business account with natwest. The only other account i have with them is a joint business account with 2 other signatories, that doesn’t have anything in it at the moment

Good on the Monzo front. Cancel the HSBC bank account. No need to go into massive explanations to them. 

You now need to set up any essential DDs and SOs with Monzo.

The other issue is the joint business account. Does this have any debts attached to it? Have you and the other joint account holders spoken about this?

eleanorl89

Grumpelstiltskin said:

Eleanor, you are doing what I told you yesterday not to do - you are panicking.

You didn't check about switching accounts when you should have done. Please stop panicking, as I said nothing is going to happen in a hurry, just slow down and think and check before you do anything.

I thought I was just opening a new account in all honesty, I didn’t think them switching the DD’s & stuff would make a difference got the Monzo account now though

in regards to the Natwest letter, does it sound bad like they’re leaning towards legal or again just standard wording etc

elsien

If you do not take the steps set out above to remedy the breach, we will terminate the Agreement and may demand immediate repayment of the monies due, plus any interest due. In addition, we may exercise our right of set off over any of your funds held elsewhere with us. We may also assign your account to a Debt Collection Agent or take Court action to recover


Note the use of the word may in all but the one place. It is not worth their while to take you to court if you have no money to give them.

RAS

That's just standard wording.

What you are waiting for is the letter they are required to send you by law.

That's the letter when they demand that you repay the entire sum or they will register the default. Even then it might take 3 months for the default to appear on the credit record.

eleanorl89

RAS said:

eleanorl89 said:

Emmia said:

eleanorl89 said

HSBC offered a switching service, so I chose fhat. Should I not have? Would it be too late to cancel fhis and just open a new basic account? Will Natwest decline the switch?

thank you

Hi, I think there's a risk HSBC might decline you as a customer by switching in this way. But NatWest might decline if you have debts with them.

As to whether you can cancel, I don't know (is there anything in communications you've received from HSBC on this?) as I've never personally used the switching service so I can't advise.

(Sorry if this has caused you more stress)

It hasn’t caused me more stress. I’ve actually literally just opened a Monzo account instead and transferred all my money over, so hopefully that’s that

Also the debts are personal debts, i don’t have a solo business account with natwest. The only other account i have with them is a joint business account with 2 other signatories, that doesn’t have anything in it at the moment

Good on the Monzo front. Cancel the HSBC bank account. No need to go into massive explanations to them. 

You now need to set up any essential DDs and SOs with Monzo.

The other issue is the joint business account. Does this have any debts attached to it? Have you and the other joint account holders spoken about this?

No debts attached to the business account at all, no overdraft or anything, there’s just £40 in there atm until i start to build the business again. yes the other holders are my parents and the first people I told

should i be looking to move business banks too?

i do also have a bounce back loan from 2020 with natwest but am dealing with the bounce back collections team directly about that & have been for a while. So i just assumed all of that would be kept separate to my credit cards

I’m in communication with a specific member of the team via email, they’ve been amazingly helpful & have put a hold on that account for 6 months & have said they will only ever ask me to pay what’s affordable, which at the moment is nothing. Have said the loan will stay with Natwest

Now i’m doubting that too, although the natwest credit card letter didn’t mention the BBL. And i’ve never had any letters about my BBL (only the emails i’ve mentiomed). 

what a mess

RAS

You do not want your parents' credit records wrecked by your financial association. So close that account immediately.