HSBC Managed loan - ethical?!

JAM_london

January 2004 - After too much spending over Christmas my account was in a grim situation. I had gone over my agreed overdraft amount by around £200 - something I was not aware of as my debit card continued to be accepted - and had been charged a fortune in charges consequently. I knew that I needed help so that I wouldn't default on my monthly graduate loan repayment of £168 etc, so I visited HSBC, explained the situation and asked for either a temporary increase in my overdraft until I was paid, an extension of my graduate loan or to move the loan repayment date to the day I was paid. They refused all three - and with no other means of financial help I faulted on a loan repayment for the first time in 32 months.

HSBC then charged me £75 for someone to come to my flat and take my switch card off me and then froze my account. Distressed, I went into see one of their advisors who then forced me onto a managed loan, even though I was in full time employment, had a salary cheque clearing of over £1400 and an overtime cheque of over £1000 clearing - more than enough to clear any unauthorized overdraft etc.

Even though the advsior could see this money going into my account on her computer she still insisted I had to go onto a managed loan, even with my pleading with her not to. So, I was forced.

Then, after consolidating my £1000 overdraft with my £200 credit card balance she said that she had to round the managed loan figure up to the nearest thousand - this increased my managed loan by nearly £800. WHY could they loan me more money now, but not two weeks ago when I was asking I wonder? Maybe because of those heafty interest rates that also came with my new loan hey. Oh, and after 32 months paying off my graduate loan I went back to 60 months and the amount I was paying back each month went up by £50.

When I took out my graduate loan (which they threw at me) I had no idea defaulting once would lead to this.

A year or so later they took me off the managed loan and one of their advisors who did this said 'I should never have been put on it in the first place'. She put me back onto a graduate loan, but yet again my loan figure had to be rounded up to the nearest thousand and I was back onto 60 months (so, for an initial 60 month loan I was now on 110).

The repayments of my 60 month graduate loan would mean I would have repaid around £10,000 in total. That was scheduled to finish last July. To date I have paid over £14,000 - and I have 30 months left. So in 30 months time I would have paid HSBC around £19,000 for a £10,000 loan - take off my overdraft (which was at a student rate of 0%) and credit card balances, and HSBC have made the tidy sum of around £8000 - and I will have lost the tidy sum of £8000.

This might be legal but this is not ethical. Can anyone offer any advise on how I can fight this? I'm useless with figures, but not stupid enough to know that this is wrong. I've talked to HSBC and they have said that I 'agreed' to go on this loan and it was 'to help me' - I certainly did not and it did not.

Not only have I suffered financially, but my credit rating has been affected, and mentally it's exahusting and very stressful. I have read other threads on this problem so if anyone has had any luck claiming money back I would love to hear from you.