Hello, I hope someone can help. I have just been slapped with £40.00 in charges by my bank for going overdrawn by £4.00 over the £12.00 buffer for 2 days. I have called the bank to try and appeal to their better nature but they wouldn't help. They did then ask if I was suffering financial hardship and would I have trouble meeting my bills and necessities this month. The truthful answer is yes actually and the charges slapped on me today have taken me overdrawn which means more charges next month. My question Is if I take the call about being in financial hardship I believe one of the financial hardship questions is about being bankrupt / in an Iva / debt management. If I answer this question is there a chance that they will take my debit cards away. I took this account out before the Iva and had no debts with this bank hence able to have debit cards. We are in our last year of the Iva and really don't need the hassle of losing our debit cards but if I go down this route I may get some charges back from previous years. Any help / advice would be greatly appreciated.
Tough to give you a definitive answer but I think it is unlikely they will withdraw your banking facilities or your debit card. It is likely that they will however withdraw your overdraft over time.
Consider a pre paid account such as Think Banking, a set monthly fee but no further charges even if a DD is not paid
Thanks for the replies. I don't have an overdraft these charges were just for going in the red by a few days unfortunately. do you know if ti received a refund on bank charges would they need to be paid into the Iva even though it is money hat was taken from me and I had to pay out of my monthly expenditures. It would be a reversal of charges if you like. For example the charges that they have given me today, if I get them reversed I would not need to pay these over? I am feeling pretty miffed with the bank today and although I appreciate that they need to levy charges for overdrafts this does seem excessive. Do you get a debit card with Think banking? Hmmm think I'm going to have a look at that. Are they Iva friendly do you know? Thanks so much for the advice.
I had a £28 bank charge for being 22p overdrawn. I corrected this the next morning..This led to a further debit failing a few weeks later and another fine..Totally £56 altogether..all for a few pence..This was with Halifax in 2008 6 months into my IVA. They refuse to budge as they had refunded me one bank charge already...They are unfair and excessive at times. Now Halifax charge £5 a day which in many ways gives you chance to get the money back and not pay ridiculous amounts..
It is so annoying! My bank have said they have refunded me once and that is it not just once a year but once for life. Time to change banks I think! I would like to know if historic bank charges that are refunded do really need to be paid into the Iva. Not that I honestly think I have a chance of getting a refund...
Just to answer your earlier question. The thinkmoney account does come with a prepaid debit MasterCard which you can use in the majority of high street shops and online.
If you recieve a refunded bank charge while in an IVA, surely it does not have to be paid into the pot? if the charge was made while in the IVA? You only have a set amount anyway..Charges claimed back prior to the IVA commencing is different - surely? I know this would have to be paid in, no question about it.
Paid accounts like the Thinkmoney account will not allow you to go overdrawn - which is probably a good thing whilst in an IVA and living to a tight budget. You could also look at the Secure Trust account or there is another good one provided by ClearCash.
