Started another 3 year course/student bank account?

Lady_K

My daughter finished a 3 year course in June, she has a student bank account with Halifax now at £1600 overdraft and all of it is used. She has just recieved a letter from Halifax saying her overdraft will end and she will get charged interest as of 29th September but if she is still a Student she can have £2000 overdraft just to let them know. I thought they were supposed to stagger the overdraft payments once you graduated rather than lob on high charges straight away for the whole lot?

When she tells them about her new 3 year nursing course how will that effect her overdraft? Would they reset it as her first year Student account and reduce her overdraft or give her the £2000 as a 4th year Student? What I wondered is if they say shes a 4th year Student then next year a 5 year what would happen in her 6th year which would actually be the 3rd year of this new course as it says on the site the Student accounts only go up to 5 years. As it would be a huge problem if in her final year she suddenly got high charges on a big overdraft

memo_2

Hi Lady_K,

I am in a similar position to your daughter and have a student account with HSBC. I enquired about my overdraft as they had decreased it after I graduated and they immediately changed it back.

Your daughter should speak to the bank and tell them this will be her 4th year of study. She should also tell them when the course will end - this should allow her to keep her student status til then. The bank then should treat her as a 4th year student rather than a 1st year. Therefore she will get the £2000 overdraft. Her 5th year should also be the same.

I only have experience with HSBC but after my 5th year, my student account will remain open til the end of my course. (They have a 5+ category). As far as I was able to understand, the account should allow all the same privileges with overdraft, etc as the 5th year.

It's worth asking the bank so you know in advance - if all else fails your daughter could close her current student account and open one at another bank?

With regards to the graded overdraft charges - I thought this was a standard feature of all student accounts. I kept my graduate account for one year with HSBC (before changing back to student account) and they decreased my overdraft limit in the meanwhile. I was not charged any interest. It's best to talk to someone at the bank to clarify their position as all banks will have slightly different policies.

Hope the info has helped a little,

Memo