Overdraft help please

[clueless24]

My Partner has had a £1k O/D on his Nat west account for around 5 years, he has never been able to reduce this and gets charged around £35 a month which just makes his situation worse. His only form of income is DLA and CA.
Can anyone suggest the best way to deal with this, he is worried that if he speaks to the bank that they demand immediate repayment of the o/s balance which he doesnt have. He knows that he will have to repay the money and he is not trying to get out of paying it back. He would just like to know the best way of dealing with it any suggestions would be appreciated. Many thanks

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Overdraft help please

Hi Clueless,
Unfortunately anything your partner does is likely to wake the sleeping dog and possibly trigger an OD recall. They could also recall it with 30 days notice at any time out of the blue. They may demand full repayment but on the plus side once the account is defaulted/terminated those charges will stop and allow him to negotiate a repayment plan.
Is he still using this as his main account? If so he should open a basic parachute account at an unconnected bank asap.

How's his credit file and how worried would he be about defaults/ AP markers?
If it's already shot then he's got nothing to lose by writing to them and asking them to remove / freeze the charges on hardship grounds and agree a low repayment plan, otherwise it's just going to go on for ever.
We're also experimenting on here with a CCA type request for OD's:
http://forums.all-about-debt.co.uk/s...ead.php?t=4904

Shep x

[clueless24]

Re: Overdraft help please

Thank you for your prompt response, his credit rating is shot to bits anyway so he is not worried about that. Can they take money from his benefit to repay the o/d given this is the only income he has?
Do you think that on a £1k o/d they would accept a £20pm payment which is about all he can afford and that would be a struggle?
Sorry for all the questions forearmed is forewarned.

[swanfan]

Re: Overdraft help please

Can they take money from his benefit to repay the o/d given this is the only income he has?

If you set up a new account as Shep indicated above there is no chance of that.

Get a new account first before doing anything else.

[Undercover Elsa]

Re: Overdraft help please

..Plus if they did do that, particularly as he's on benefits, he could send a notice of appropriation to state that his income is needed for essential bills..food, rent etc.
We'll deal with that if necessary...for now as Swanfan says another a/c is the priority.
£20 is too much in my view on his current income.

[clueless24]

Re: Overdraft help please

Thank you Swanny and Shep
I will get him on the case straight away, thank you for your time and help it is much appreciated. xxx

[nattie]

Re: Overdraft help please

Is the £35.00 all interest or does he have an account with so called "benefits"?

Current/current plus accounts are the ones that you should have but anything that is "advantage" is not one you need