HSBC graduate overdraft

[andyp10]

I'm one of the unlucky ones who bank with HSBC

Like others i was told this year that my graduate overdraft facility had run out and that i had to pay interest on the amount borrowed immediately. As far as i was aware, there was a year left to run on the interest free overdraft before i had to commence repayments. The terms and conditions must have changed without me even knowing - as with many other people.

 

The problem is is that i'm still a student with a typical students income i.e not much at all. I dont have a student loan whilst attending my latest course and i'm now being charged about £24 a month for the pleasure.

I cant obviously close my account with them because i owe them money and i'm presuming i cant open another graduate account to transfer the balance to because i dont have a full time job/regular income going into the new bank (i'm guessing that would be a requirement) - does anyone know what i can do regarding this problem as it is just escalating by the month??? :confused:

[reallymadwoman]

I would suggest that you get another account pretty pronto, even if it's just a basic one. That way anything that does go in is yours and HSBC will no longer be able to help themselves.

Once your incoming is transferred elsewhere, HSBC simply become an ordinary creditor and they'll just have to accept whatever you can afford, even if it's only £1 a month.

[andyp10]

Thanks for your reply reallymadwoman, fortunately i do have another account and all my money goes straight into that one!!

I have managed to stop all activity in and out of the HSBC account so the only thing that changes is when they charge me £23 a month for my overdraft interest.

You mention that HSBC become like an ordinary creditor and would have to accept £1 if that was all i had to offer but because they are charging interest at such a high rate surely i would have to pay in £23 a month just to remain at the balance i am at now - is that right? or could you come to some form of arrangement to lower the massive interest payments if you said you couldnt afford it? (sorry i'm a little clueless when it comes down to these sorts of things sometimes)

[reallymadwoman]

Hopefully within the next two weeks we should have the new template letters for reclaiming all these unfair charges.

 

In the meantime if you want to get them off your back, do an income/expenditure form (I believe there's one in the templates section) and work out what you can reasonably afford to pay, then write offering that amount subject to them freezing all further interest and charges.

[andyp10]

Thanks again!!

 

I was under the impression that all hope was lost with regard to claiming charges back due to the supreme court ruling the other day.

 

I will make sure that I fill out one of these forms as soon as possible to begin to get them off my back. I'll be glad to see the back of them but it may take a while haha.

 

I really appreciate your help - financial problems are tiresome and can be really stressful

[reallymadwoman]

Most of the people on this forum have been there and done that, Andy. It does take time but at the end of the day they can't have what you don't have. They know if they took it to court the worst that would happen is that you would be ordered to pay an amount that you can afford, so it's in their interests to accept anything reasonable. Unfortunately banks in general don't seem to have their own best interests at heart a lot of the time.

If you need help with anything, just ask.

[andyp10]

Sorry for resurrecting this thread but i'm still having problems with my student account. After several letters containing my income and expenses forms i still haven't come to an agreement with my bank.

I hand delivered the last of the letters about 2-3 weeks ago as i kept receiving the standard 'your acccount is overdrawn' letter despite several attempts to contact them via post.

In these letters I outlined my condition that all interest/charges would have to cease so i could start to make headway into my overdraft with a payment of £10 per month - its a start and something that will change as soon as i have graduated and actually have some money to pay in.

Having now been, in my latest letter from HSBC, given until the 19th to arrange repayments or face a demand for repayment in full I contacted them on the phone.

I was told as my overdraft was over the agreed amount by £98 they would not accept any other payments until i paid this amount - whereby i could then pay any amount i wished after that. It was suggested that i should do this by monday.

I explained to the gentleman in the call centre that there wasnt much chance of me being able to pay that much money by monday and he said that there wasn't anything he or my local branch could do about that. The fact that i'm still a student is the whole reason why i am in this mess and cant afford to keep up with the levels of interest they are placing on my graduate account.

Where do i stand with this? I'm genuinely trying to get this situation resolved and it seems to be being made incredibly difficult for me to do so.

 

Any help would be appreciated because i feel i'm getting caught in a catch 22 situation!

[andyp10]

can anyone help with the above please!!

[bach]

HI Andy,

 

What year did you start your graduate overdraft loan facility with HSBC ?

 

Before we do anything do a request for a signed Consumer Credit Agreement

 

If you have'nt already done so ask them for a copy of the signed Consumer Credit Agreement , template available, enclosing a £1 00 Postal Order, and send it recorded and signed for.

 

When you receive it try and post it up on here and I will have a look at it for you.

 

When my Son received his consumer credit agreement it was a made up version, he found they did not have a true signed original agreement and have now been chasing him for the last 5 yrs.

 

But for us the good thing was they can,t find the original, they have had the in house Debt collectors on to it , also there own Solicitors and have now sold it back to a debt collector.

 

If the Soicitors can,t handle it then there is no way the debt collectors will get any money from my Son. In all this time they have nt even attempted to take him to Court

 

Please don,t worry, there are ways around this, I will try and help as much as possible, first thing request a Copy of your Consumer Cfredit Agreement.

 

Take care and do not worry

 

Mom of a very talented student for the last 11 yrs.

 

Regards Mom Lynn

Edited February 16, 2010 by bach

[reallymadwoman]

Hi Andy,

Sorry I couldn't reply sooner but I've not been online for a week or two.

 

Asking for a copy of your agreement would be pointless as it wouldn't apply to an overdraft.

 

I would write again to HSBC by recorded signed for and reiterate that you can't pay any more than you have offered and you are only willing to pay that if interest etc is stopped immediately. Put at the end that you are not willing to negotiate further and if your offer is not acceptable they should take whatever action they consider appropriate.

 

Chances are it will be passed to their in house collectors (Metropolitan) who will freeze the interest and accept whatever you offer.

[andyp10]

No problem RMW, thanks for your reply. Also thank you bach for your suggestion!

I actually made an appointment to see someone at a local branch and he was very unhelpful. I explained my situation thoroughly with him and all he said was that I had not attempted to resolve the problem until now (not true) and he couldnt help me. He said the only thing I could do was to ring HSBC and ask whether they could issue me a loan to cover the balance and then begin repayments on that - I said surely that would leave me in an identical situation to the one I am in now - he just reponded with 'there is nothing i can do'.

I am a bit annoyed with the way HSBC have handled this whole issue. I was even told by the guy in the appointment that it said on the system (after my latest phone call) that my behavioural rating was really bad. This score was made worse because I had apparently agreed and promised to pay the £98 pounds requested of me in my telephone conversation and that I hadn't done so. This might have been due to the fact that i catagorically explained to the call centre agent that this would be impossible.

I feel as though they have been lying about my actions on record and making it even more difficult for me to get anywhere!

 

RMW, would I write to the head office or my local branch?? I also feel like complaining about the handling of the whole thing, could i include this in my letter or would it not be worthwhile?

 

Thanks again for your help!

Andy

[reallymadwoman]

Suggesting you take a loan to pay a debt is absolutely against all guidelines, so of course it would only be suggested verbally - never in writing - and as you have discovered anything said face to face or over the phone is open to 'misinterpretation' - i.e. they can say what they like and it's very difficult to dispute.

 

Write to head office, ignore your local branch from now on. By all means complain, but it's probably not worth the hassle unless you really have nothing better to do.

[disgruntledofcornwall]

I have to ask the question - is any of the debt made up of bank charges? There is a great deal of uncertainty in the banks of their position at the moment- privately of course - and if you can reduce the debt by recovering some of these charges then there is some leeway for you to negotiate.

 

One peice of advise, don't talk to them, insist everything is in writing. This removes the ambiguity that so often clouds the issues.

 

Also consider asking your college for emergency loans or funding from the hardship money they hold. Also consider asking for help from your college with the debt handling, they can either help or put you in touch with a debt councilling charity who will help you negotiate.

 

The important thing is not to worry. Assuming you have no real assets like a house so they really will not get anything back if they sue you. They are just trying to belittle and intimidate you into paying up.

 

I actually laughed when you told us that they claimed to have a "behavior rating", what a load of cr@p.

 

Establish your rights, inisist on contact in writing only and stand your ground. I would also try to enforce the orignal agreement regarding the interest free status of the account, at least threaten to complain to the FSA about this as this costs them money and creates a lot of work for them.

 

As you have found, they are not interested in being reasonable.

[andyp10]

Thank you both for your responses!

Believe it or not DOC the guy showed me my score on screen - they really have these ratings for all their customers!

 

I have received yet another letter today about the repayment of my outstanding balance. I presume that it is a standard letter sent out automatically but I have still had no acknowledgement of my attempts to sort my problem. Each letter suggests that I have made no effort at all and they are suggesting my future credit rating will be affected by all this.

I'm in the process of getting my letter together and shall try and post a draft if that is ok? i'm really busy at the moment out on clinical placement so will try to do it over the weekend.

 

Andy

[reallymadwoman]

It sounds like an automatic threatogram, so don't worry too much about it. The important thing is for you to create a 'paper trail' which proves you have made an effort.

I'm happy to proof read anything you post up.

[andyp10]

Finally managed to get something together! Was thiniking something along the lines of this. Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I am writing this letter to explain my unfortunate set of circumstances that have caused me to become over my arranged overdraft. My number one goal is to keep my relationship with you a good one and I would really appreciate the opportunity to do that.

 

The main reason that caused me to be to fall behind in my graduate bank account overdraft is because I am still an undergraduate student and not a graduate as your records will indicate. Due to not having a regular income from a graduate job and my income not being nearly enough, I have consequently fallen further and further behind. It is my full intention to pay what I owe, but at this time I have exhausted all of my limited income and resources so I am turning to you for assistance.

 

I am fully qualified from my current university course in summer 2011 and I believe I will be in permanent hardship up until that date.

 

I am fully willing to make some regular payments into my account to begin to lower the total amount of arrears owed, unfortunately this will only be what I can afford at the present time. I have enclosed an income and expenditure form for your information and have indicated that I am able to pay £10 a month up until my situation changes, after which I will gladly continue with a normal payment schedule.

Unfortunately due to the interest payments alone I will still not be making any headway into the debt owed to you, I therefore ask a condition of my repayments be that the interest and penalty charges can be halted on my account, so I can to begin to repay what is owed.

 

I feel that a regular payment into my account would benefit us both. I would appreciate if you can work with me to lower the amount owed so I can keep my account open and afford to make amends with you.

 

I truly hope that you will consider working with me and I am anxious to get this settled.

 

Sincerely and Respectfully,

 

 

[reallymadwoman]

I think that's actually an excellent approach.

 

Ask nicely first, and only if that doesn't work get stroppy with them.

 

I wouldn't amend anything, but make sure you at least get a certificate of posting (free) so they can't deny receiving it.

[andyp10]

I'm getting worried now!

 

I have sent the above letter last week (recorded delivery) and have received another letter from HSBC following through with what they suggested they would do.

 

FINAL DEMAND

 

Despite our previous communication concerning your debt, we have to date received no satisfactory response.

 

We now DEMAND immediate repayment of xxxx

 

Interest will be added on the same basis as presently applies

 

Any current account facilities including cards, cheque books and overdrafts that you currently hold have now been cancelled.

 

YOU HAVE EIGHTEEN DAYS TO REPAY IN FULL

 

ACTION may be taken against you through DEBT COLLECTORS or SOLICITORS if you fail to comply with this demand withing 18 days. You may also be taken to COURT.

 

They then go on to say that my name and address will be given to the credit reference agencies Experian, Equifax and Callcredit.

 

I cannot allow this to happen because not only does it scupper my opportunity for future credit it also sounds like it is going to affect my mother's address which is grossly unfair.

 

I dont understand why they will not be reasonable or even acknowledge my attempts to come to an agreement. I am seriously worried and just dont know what to do any more

[Snefclarb]

You say that you had their normal student account, which they then changed to a graduate account. Did you tell them you were still a student in the first place?

 

I had their normal student account for the normal 3 years. They said that it would change to a graduate account, I told them that I was continuing to be a student, they told me to bring them some proof and I did. I got to continue with a student account and got a further £250 of interest free overdraft facility, taking it to £1750 in my postgraduate course (£1000 in my first year, £1250 in second, £1500 in third). So all of my overdraft facility was interest free.