URGENT! Please Help! Natwest Demanding I Repay Whole Overdraft!

whitfreak

I don't mean to be harsh, but you have been very lucky. If this was your sole current account and they demanded it back (which they can overdrafts are like that, you are a the whim of the bank even if you are using it sensibly) then you would have my sympathy. Overdrafts are not free money (deficit banking aside). Anyway everyone else has given you good advice, just dont forget to keep actively on your other student account overdraft (which is presumably close to being maxed) to reduce the risk of that bank calling in that loan as well.

birduk

Just wanted to add my 2p worth to this. Had exactly the same problem with Natwest in my placement year. They demanded all their overdraft back (I was paying my wages into another account for some reason that I don't remember), so they thought my account was innactive. It was my sole student account.

I went to Barclays and explained the situation, they immediately gave me a £2k overdraft interest free and I have been with them ever since. They have so far had 6 years of my custom and I still have the overdraft interest free! :money:

alice87

A couple of months ago I was contacted by Smile as in my first year I had STUPIDLY set up a second account and spent the £1000 overdraft, then ignored it.

I panicked as soon as I heard from them but they were really nice and helpful. I'm paying them back £25 a month which basically just covers the interest as they understood I was very tight for money and I need to ring them again in November to look at my situation again and see if I can pay anymore.

Not all banks are big meanies

AceCobra1

Ya I think my friend once had 2 accounts too - student accounts one of which is natwest. I think she basically maxed out the OD in the 1st month of getting it and then didn't bother using it at all until she got a phone call from the manager who demanded the payment back. Lucky she was not as stupid as most students are, including myself (although i only have 1 student account) and actually kept the money in a high interest account therefore could pay them back. And I also heard one of my other classmate had the same problem. It seems that Natwest are quite good at catching dodgy students lol. But saying that, they have been really nice to me and most of the people in my class but I am not sure if our then, potential income did entice them to be helpful.

But one of my mates recently quit the course which is really really stupid of him. I am not sure if you guys know about 'professional loans' offered by natwest. Well, basically he has 2 Proloans which is maxed out, one RBS and other one Natwest! which i don't understand how they would allow that since RBS owns natwest isn't ? I think his total debt. inc. student loans is about £70k as he told me. Basically he quit 6 months from graduating - he had resits which he failed blaming depression as the main problem. Prob. the most stupid decission of his life. I know OK, we all expected him to graduate as a dentist - thats why people offered to lend him so much money! I am just dreading the day natwest or whatever calls him because I have absolutely no idea where he is going to get the money! In fact, he has nothing to show for other than the 40" TV he has and the Audi TT (£20k) which he bought in 2nd year (which will prob. get repossed in a few months time)... In fact, he was so skint I needed to lend him some money for petrol to get to interviews! I just hope natwest will treat him as nice like before although this time i don't think it will be pretty. He is a mate but has an IQ of 0 when it came to money management.

Out of interest, a few of my friends recons natwest might try to declare him bankrupt... but i didn't think they would want to go down that route coz the bank wouldn't get a penny off him right?

PS. I would say to the OP just try to get a job and repay it bit by bit... or is there any chance u can maybe get some cash off your parents 1st? Or 0% credit card bank transfer might help if you can get one?

Night-owl_6

This might be best being posted/moved to

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=102

[Deleted User]

natwest pulled something similar with me except I was making regular payments, their defense was that the terms and conditions state that they can withdraw their services at anytime. The first I heard of it was when I was hounded by a debt recovery agency. I went to see CAB and now I pay £1 a month back.

merlinormartin

Hi Sub

Firstly can i say dont panic! i was in a similar situation to you; i opened a natwest student account but had my loan in a diff account. I spent the natwest over draft on living expenses etc then basically forgot about the account they sent a few letters requesting i make payments; but i didnt have any money to give them so i buried my head and ignored them then they started to phone, then i recieved a letter saying i had 7 days to repay the whole amount and the debit was in the process of being forward to a credit agency! i called the number on the final demand letter and spoke to some sort of "manager" i explained that i was having "finance troubles" and was not in full time employment but i could afford to pay £10per month untill i "found my feet" she was very helpful and understanding. i agreed to make a one off payment of £100 then £10 each month ... perhaps you can explain your situation and offer to pay a certain amount each month?

Blacksheep1979

alice87 wrote: »

A couple of months ago I was contacted by Smile as in my first year I had STUPIDLY set up a second account and spent the £1000 overdraft, then ignored it.

I panicked as soon as I heard from them but they were really nice and helpful. I'm paying them back £25 a month which basically just covers the interest as they understood I was very tight for money and I need to ring them again in November to look at my situation again and see if I can pay anymore.

Not all banks are big meanies

yeah that's really nice of them. I had a second account with HSBC which I'd dumped all the money out of and into a savings account. Recently they got a little miffed with this and demanded the money back but said that if I couldn't afford it all in one go we could come to an arrangement and pay in instalments but keep the same interest rate (0%) - I feel so hard done by now compared to what you have with Smile, those really nice guys

poppasmurf_2

subinagui wrote: »

Hi there,

I haven't visited for a while but I was contacted yesterday by Natwest and am in a pickle and don't know what to do about it! If anybody can offer suggestions or advice I would greatly appreciate it!

They called yesterday (22 / 05/ 08) asking that I repay around £1150 ish under their terms and conditions of a student bank account and 0% overdraft. I think they are right about this as it is a 2nd account and my Student Loan did not get paid into it for the past 3 years (I am weeks away from graduation).

I do not have money to pay for my Grad Ball ticket or graduation gown, let alone their whole overdraft and really don't know what I am going to say when this guy calls back at 4pm today (23 / 05/ 08).

When he called the first time he was telling me to ask family and friends for the money, and to put it on their credit cards, "...a good way of doing it...", and even asked if I had a credit card with another bank. He also advised me that If i could not pay the whole amount, and paid "...everything that could afford..." and they felt that it was everything I could afford then they could work out some sort of short timescale to repay the rest.

Pretty please can somebody advise me what I should tell him when he calls back? This was going to be the first thing I cleared this summer when I get a full time job!

thanks, Jason

Ask for a Statement of Affairs form, you dont need one to get them to accept a monthly payment via standing order or direct debit until the amount owed is payed.
I did this for FIRST DIRECT.
I said to the lady it was unfair to suddenly ask for the entire amount and to threaten court action wasnt to good either, she agreed and set up the £15 per month as it was all I could pay, the over draft was £500. Its one less debt I have so go on do it talk to them. Good Luck.