I'm at the end of my tether.

I'm with Santander bank, have been for many years and had no problems.

I've had several loans with them over the years,

never defaulted,

always paid them off in time.

I took out a loan with them in 2015 for £6300.

Monthly repayments of £139.90.

Then 14 mths months ago, as many people were, I was called in for a face-to- face 'assessment' with ATOS re my PIP (been on high rate DLA for both Care and Mobility since 2003, changed to PIP in 2013 without any assessment).

My payments were downgraded to 'Basic' for both Mobility and Care. I therefore lost £250 per month.

Since then I have struggled financially and been having to use my overdraft to LIVE.

For over a year now, every month, I am getting to the top of my overdraft limit £1,400), never have enough money going in to pay it all off and am getting charged every month £31 for using it (£1 per day).

Charges which have now totalled £434, which I can ill afford.

I rang the loan dept at the bank to request that I pay my loan back at a lower rate each month.

Spent 45 mins on the phone listing my incomings and outgoings to be told at the end of it that he didn't think there was any point passing me on to the their Debt help dept to lower the loan repayments as it looked (on paper) that I have X amount of 'disposable income' each month !.

I pointed out that I have NO disposable income because I have been living on Santander's money-(the overdraft) for over a year, the overdraft which he could clearly see I have been 'stuck in' and cannot pay off and which they are still charging fees for every month. He said there was nothing he could do to help me.

the call was a waste of time.

Since then, I read on this forum about the fact that Banks shouldn't be taking charges from people's benefit money.

I am on PIP, ESA and have a smallish Occupational Pension from my previously employer.

My question : would the no charging of fees still be applicable in my case as I'm not soley on benefits with having the Occ Pension too ?. Would it be worth me asking for a suspension of the charges?.

Next question :

I am considering making an appointment and going into the bank to discuss these financial problems and ask can they add the overdraft I owe (£1,400) onto my existing loan and allow me to alter the repayments to a lower manageable rate. I would obviously take a list of my Incomings and Outgoings to the appointment. Last question, if the bank agreed to this, would it affect my Credit record which is good ?.

Has anyone on here been able to do the above successfully ?.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can assist and I'd like to say what an excellent forum this is, I've had some great advice previously and wish I had the funds to make a small donation (which I obviously haven't !).

PS. I should add that my bank loan is an unsecured one.

get you income out of their gubby hands

open a parachute account.

get you income out of their gubby hands

 

open a parachute account.

Hi dx100uk. I'd thought of opening a bank account elsewhere but wouldn't the new bank want to check whether I had debts with the old bank before accepting me?.

Also,

although with a new bank I could have the loan repayments transferred each month to Santander, it wouldn't solve the problem of the fact that I owe them a £1,400 overdraft, which they would obviously chase me for.

I've tried my best to not go down the route of ending up with a bad credit rating, as it's been good for 25 years.

It would affect me for things in the future, eg, I pay my car insurance monthly as I've not been able to pay it in a lump sum each year. So dunno what the answer is at the moment !.

Cheers anyway.

sadly I don't think you will avoid a screwed credit rating whichever way you go.

get your money out of their grubby hands

TAKE CONTROL OF IT..

its YOUR MONEY

co-op or the post office do on lime applications.

because you've been with them for ..XX yrs and you've let them mug you till now

satans bank wont give a monkey's about your problems.

there are letters in the debt collection forum of the library to

TELL THEM , they will only be getting £XX for xxMts

asking to freeze and stop penalty charges

if they don't then you sent the next letter giving them

they are duty bound to help you

but stay off the phone writing only

you need a papertrial.

dx

Hi again dx100uk. After reading up on the ramifications of going down the 'Bank please help me and lower my payments' route and the future problems this could cause for me, I've been on Martin Lewis 's debt advice site.

Just spent several hours on there and other sites, reading up on stuff (head's spinning) .

On Martin's site there are lists of other banks and organisations which do loans at MUCH better, lower interest rates and lower monthly repayments than my current one. It also gives your percentage chances of getting a loan, plus all of the APR's and terms.

I've therefore applied and should have an answer by tomorrow. I've applied for a more favourable loan at a far lower monthly rate I can manage, plus minimal interest (Sainsbury's Bank) and if successful, I'm going to pay off in full my current Santander loan PLUS the overdraft I owe. I'm then going to change to a different bank.

This will avoid the problem I didn't want to have in the future by NOT-buggerering (excuse the term) up my credit rating. Will get back to you when I hear about the loan. Cheers.

PS. With Sainsbury's you do not have to be in employment to secure a loan as long as your Income is above a certain amount.

UPDATE. Got the loan, will be in my bank in 4 days. Will then pay off the overdraft and the Santander loan . And will have a new loan at a much lower monthly rate and at less than a quarter of the interest Santander charge !. I will then be changing banks.

For anyone's information, First Direct do a standard account with an authorised overdraft of up to £250 with NO CHARGE for using it !.

Thanks again.