Thanks for the help, guys. I'll contact them and let you know the results! I will probably be back on to discuss any charges that I can appeal against. Thanks again!

Sorry! To clarify... - I was unaware that I had to keep the account as a main account and therefore it went inactive for 18 months, I have an account with nationwide which deals with all of my current finance, student loan, job payments etc, my Natwest student account was used specifically for the overdraft (which I have later realised needed to have money going into it as opposed to being treated like a loan. - My address was not correct as after frequent moves, I failed to send a notification of moving. I can see I've made a huge error with it, but I was ill-informed and no-one rectified my perception of overdraft as a short term loan with no interest until education was complete.

Hello, nice site! I wanted to ask you guys for some help, I've just moved house and wanted to extend my overdraft so I went in to see the folks at Natwest in my local branch. I wasn't allowed to extend my overdraft due to it being 'dormant', I was unaware you had to put money in within every six days or what not to keep it active, and treated it (foolishly in retrospect) as a loan of £1250 that I spent in the first year of study and snapped the card then and there. Having moved frequently, I have had no correspondence with Natwest for around a year and a half (maybe a little shy of 2 years), so it came as quite a shock when they told me the money was now being handled by 'EXTERNAL DEBT COLLECTORS' These three words brought fear to my soul, as I instantly imagined my house being raided by Ross Kemp lookalikes at any minute. So... 1. Why is it being handled by aforementioned debt collectors? The woman asked if I was still in education, which I am, going into a 3rd year, which is an optional top-up and therefore maybe some confusion arose as to my deadline of payment? 2. What charges/fees am I facing over a period of 18+ months? 3. Being a student and having moved house I have precisely £0 at the moment, but am anticipating another year of student loan through in September - what kind of repayment scheme will they allow me? Will I have to pay back the entire 1250 by a certain date or is there some kind of monthly rate of repayment (and how small can I get this to go?) 4. In the meantime, whilst I need to pay money for a deposit, what is the most forgiving loan for a student in my position? (throughout all banks) Many thanks for any and all help offered, one thing growing up has taught me is that childhood was seriously underrated when I was young!!