Please help, we have no money

[lem]

I am sitting here crying my eyes out now as our IVA was supposed to be a new start and I am sick to death of things going wrong.

I check my online banking every day without fail and know to within 50p of how much money we have throughout the month so I can budget carefully, this morning I have checked our account and noticed a large discrepancy, this has meant I have had to remove what was our last £50 in savings into our current account to cover it.

I have called the bank and they have told me that a pending transaction of £88 has been actioned today which I have no idea what it is for and they can't tell me nor stop it.

I have called my husband who is furious, it turns out that we had car breakdown cover last year that was due for renewal this month, he called Kwik fit earlier in the month to reject the renewal as it was too much and we would seek it elsewhere at the end of this month when we got paid but this is what the transaction is for. He's going to ring them now to try to get it stopped and returned but in the meantime it means we are going to go overdrawn and incur charges for that, I need to buy food for our dog as we only have enough to feed him today but now i can't as I have nothing at all.

We have enough food to last us until I get paid on Friday fortunately but I was going to take my kids to see my sister today but can't now as I can't afford to put any fuel in my car, I don't know what to say to her as we only arranged it yesterday. My daughter is at the dentist this afternoon but I can't take her now as I have no petrol and I am worried about all the charges we are going to be stung with.

I have noone to ask to lend us any money as we have no close family.

I feel so down and can't believe we are in this state.

[Michael Peoples]

Hi Lem. This is awful and hopefully your husband can get something resolved with KwikFit. Speak urgently to your bank who have an obligation to help where there is a disputed transaction. Your IP would help if they could so if you do incur any charges ask to miss a payment while you sort this mess out.

[Ivoryfalcon]

If it's a Direct Debit then the bank have to refund you for an incorrect debit under the Direct debit guarantee.

Hope you get this sorted Lem.

[GilliB]

Morning lem. What a dreadful set of affairs - I'm so sorry to hear this. It's weird as I've just had a furious bust up with Paypal who have taken money from my account even though they said the payment had been rejected twice. I then used my debit card, and then Paypal sent an email confirming my payment. The bank confirmed I now have 2 pending payments for the same amount and nothing can be done whilst they are pending. Paypal were worse than useless, and I've just fired off an email of formal complaint. I contacted the company whose goods I purchased, and they said the debit card payment has gone through, but the Paypal one is still pending so he would be able to send them a message to cancel the payment so it won't go through my account. I hope this info might help you in some way, as it's Kwik Fit's fault, so they should be able to cancel it if it's still in the pending stage their end or refund it back to your account. Also, I'm with Lloyds and when Apple took money from my account they credited it back almost immediately and said they would investigate and then refund the charge on my account. However, they refunded that straight away too. Hope you get a speedy response with your money back. Are you able to share what's happened to you with your sister? If she can't help money-wise, maybe she can be a shoulder to lean on. x

[Shining]

Lem that is bad, I've texted you, please reply xx

[lem]

Thank you everyone and thanks Lesley, I've replied to your text.

no it wasn't a direct debit unfortunately, I checked our DD's on our account only yesterday, hubby paid by his card last year, he has called Kwik fit again and they have listened to the transcript of the conversation he had with them a couple of weeks ago and have admitted it is their mistake, they have cancelled it now but as the payment has been called they can't stop it and can only action the refund which they say will take 3-7 days. The bank have been great, they have said the money is due to leave our account tonight and they can't stop it as it was a card transaction although they have said Kwik fit are in the wrong for using a card transaction which was last used over a year ago, they have said if we call tomorrow once the payment has left the account then they have a special telephone number to call a team which deals with disputed card transactions and they will be able to refund the money quicker so he is going to call them tomorrow.

Hubby put another £20 of fuel into his car yesterday by visa so this is why I am worried as there is not enough money left to cover that once this £88 leaves our account tonight, I'm not sure when that will clear but if it clears before we get this refund then we are going to go overdrawn and get stung with charges. The bank have so far said that we won't be charged as none of this is our fault and offered us an overdraft but of course we had to decline that as we're not allowed.

I have text my sister to say we can't come as I can't face calling her I'm too upset. There is no way I could explain what the problem is, my sister has always been careful with money and has a comfortable life, she thinks we are, and always have been, the same, there is no way I could talk to her about any of this.

[Shining]

Lem you know where I am if you want to talk and I hope you are reimbursed very soon. x

[GilliB]

Hi lem. Under such circumstances could your IP allow you to have a temp overdraft for a week or. 2 until the refund is sorted?

[miak]

Lem, I hope it gets sorted soon. Keep strong OK? These things happen to test us... we just need to kick them in the backside.
I have £2.50 and no food.... thankfully we get paid tomorrow. I think.

Grab a cuppa and a choc bar or a biscui, put Jeremy Kyle on and have a good giggle.

lots of hugs. xx

[Pandy]

Lem,
I am sure if you spoke to your Ip they might authorise you to use an overdraft facility for the £20 as a one off. I believe they are allowed to sanction some credit up to a certain amount. You can but ask and it would take the immediate worry away

[Michael Peoples]

You can have an overdraft so no problem in accepting a small short term one. You can normally have credit up to £500 without permission but regardless your IP will certainly have no objection.

Do not leave yourself short as it is not your fault.

[MelanieGiles]

Lem

If there is anything I can do to help please contact me. Within the firm we keep a small emergency fund to assist clients in extreme cases of hardship, so if this would assist you in the short-term please let me know. I hate it when things like this happen to clients which are completely out of their control.

[Tina Shortland]

Hi Lem - hope you manage to get things sorted and do take Melanie up on her offer if you need to.

[GilliB]

Melanie you are AMAZING and an absolute credit to your industry. You provide invaluable information, guidance and support to so many of us, who would be none the wiser regarding so many issues with IVA's, and this offer to lem proves how much you continue to go the extra mile to help people, on top of posting late a night after a full days' work. RESPECT!! X

[lem]

Thank you thank you to everyone, I'm a little calmer now and to be honest, we will just deal with it, I have resigned myself to the fact that we are stuck today but we have food in the house and the sun is shining , tomorrow hubby is off so he can hopefully speak to the bank and ensure that the money is returned and we won't be charged if our account goes overdrawn because of this before I am paid on Friday.

I am very grateful and humbled for everyones offers of help, I have had to cancel the dentist appt for my daughter, the worst part of all this is the shame I feel for being in this position in front of my wonderful kids who have been so loving and reassuring this morning when I feel such a bad example to them, even though I know this situation is temporary.

It's just so awful when you both work hard and have always worked hard and have professional careers to end up in such a state that you can't even scrape £10 together.

It's a huge learning curve for me.