I'm £560 in debt to the bank, and at 21 I have debt collectors after me. Help!

jolo87

Its a long story, but here it goes. Around 2 years ago I had a current account with the Bank of Scotland.

I had never had an overdraft before but it got to a point in where I had absolutely no money, so I opted for a relatively small one at £350 to help me out. I thought I'd be able to pay this off in no time as I had a full-time job and making quite a good salary for my age. This ended up not being the case but anyway.

Almost a year later, around Christmas, I had a few problems with them failing to send me a new card on two occasions, when they finally did it ended up being a Visa Electron instead of my previous Visa. I was told that my account had been downgraded (without my knowledge due to a few previous charges). I ended up lodging a complaint as I was on a salary at the time I could not understand why they had downgraded my account especially without telling me!

Unfortunately I could not go elsewhere I'd tried, but failed to open another bank account somewhere else. A few months after the card fiasco, I had left it to the last minute before phoning the Bank of Scotland about extending my overdraft for another year as it was to expire the following day. I was then told that because of the account type I had (the downgraded account which apparently was not eligible for an overdraft) that I was unable to do so. I was livid, as this was THEIR fault for downgrading me. When I said I could not afford to pay off £350 in one day, the person on the phone just told me to withdraw my whole account. I did so and have never paid it off!

I am now with another bank which has been fine, but recently when back at my dads I received a call from a debt collector company informing me that I owed the Bank of Scotland £560. Luckily, they do not have my new address but, I just wanted to know if there was anything to do as I am starting uni in September and want to apply for a student account to get a large interest free overdraft to help consolidate my debts (I have a few) into my interest free overdraft - which I won't be able to do because of bad credit, mainly due to the bank debt. I can say with confidence that I have got alot better with money as I have grown up. I just wish I had the chance to sort it out.., Plus the thought of debt collectors looking for me doesn't exactly make me feel at ease.

Is there anything I can do?! Please help me...

Jo

splishsplash

Hi Jolo87,

I'm just bumping this up for you, it seems to have slipped a bit. I'm sure you'll get lots of replies shortly...

In the meantime, why not post up a quick SOA (Statement of Affairs) and include all your income/debts so that you can get the best advice possible.

Regarding the bank debt, the amount outstanding will be on your credit record for a while yet, so could interfere with your plans for getting further credit/overdrafts... you may want to start dealing with it sooner rather than later.

Consolidating debts onto an overdraft doesn't sound like the best plan in the world - you may find your finances spiralling even more if you don't get to grips with them now... especially as you're about to come out of a fulltime job and into a student lifestyle.

Best of luck:)

HHH_2

Bumping this up again. not sure consolidation is a good idea. go and see the student financial advisor at uni and see if they have any ideas. as a student you will be incurring debt anyway so best get your current debts properly sorted before you start uni.good luck

hbl_2

£530 isn't a massive amount of money, so you should be able to repay it without too much issue if you're single minded about it. Of course I don't know your circumstance, so I'm just speculating.

They have no doubt dumped a ton of fees and interest on top of the £350, which they're quite at liberty to do, especially if they have applied for a CCJ for the amount. Be careful, as ignoring these things can lead to judgment in default, where the Court just OKs their right to collect it from you and cements all the fees that they've added.

Might be a good idea to give them a call and see what they will settle for. You may find that you can haggle the amount down a bit and nip it in the bud before it gets any bigger.

jolo87

Cool thanks, but I'm a total newbie and don't know how to post up SOA's. Do I just do it here? And yes, now you mention it I do indeed have a few more debts... All silly things that I shouldn't have done. Lets just say I'm positive I have more than one debt collector after me.

Anyway, I'll post my stuff up as soon as I find out how and hopefully there'll be some sort of solution. Its just gonna be difficult as I have never not been in debt for the past like 4 years. It ain't a good way to start things! I have been to see student services at college but not gone into much detail about things. I have applied for a hardship fund each term and been awarded £400 but this just goes on living. Unless I have documents to prove my debts theres nothing more they can give me really. I only received £200 this term as I am living with my dad however I provide for myself entirely and am completely self sufficient - I just have no way of proving this. I have no family to go to to help me out as they are all skint themselves so can't help me with money. I am luckily starting a 2nd job tomorrow which will hopefully give me a bit more cash, but not much.

Thanks again in advance.

Jo