Phone call from hsbc Collections!

[island44]

Collections are like a dodgy loan shark I think theyre comming to break my legs

 

I have a hsbc student account where the overdraft limit is -1500, and its maxed out.

 

Ive been letting it sit there for a while until im ready to pay it.

 

Infact it was -1560 (i thought i was under the limit) and i received a call from collections asking for a payment, they were very pushy and kept asking me the same question "HOW MUCH ARE YOU ABLE TO PUT IN" I kept saying 60, but she kept asking for more. Eventually my battery ran out on my phone so I just paid the £60 and thought that would be the end of the persistent calls every 10 seconds...

 

interestigly, today I was phoned again, saying they had received the payment and were wondering when I would put more in. I said whats the problem since I am within my allowed limit now. He kept asking how I plan to pay it off and when. I told him not to worry and said i will. He then asked why my student loan handnt gone in so i told him I dont have one anymore.

 

He kept probing further into how i support myself etc but I was evasive because I didnt want to get onto the subject, since I have a job. Also The account was set up for a 4year period since i was planning on a masters but I cut it short after 3 so im no longer a student.

 

The result of it was he probably thought i was some kind of drug lord since when he asked who supports me I just said I didnt want to discuss it and he was very suspicious. I also toyed with the idea of telling him id won the lottery(hah)

He was then asking about my other accounts and I just said I dont need to tell you that.

 

So my question is what can they do? I feel like have probably flagged me up for investigation haha will they try and find out that I have a job? And is it illegal of me to have said i dont have a job to them?

 

Also if i did pay a bit into the account ,say to make me -1000 in credit, are they within their rights to reduce the overdraft to 1000? effectivly not allowing me to use those funds if need be?

 

Thanks for your time!

[bank destroyer]

See how twitchy they are, the buggers are worried. What people do not realise is at no time has it been easier to bring down the Central banking system as it is and stop all this brainwashing and theft from the slaves.

 

Start learning now1

[johnnymitch]

Hi Island 44 , welcome to the forum

So my question is what can they do? I feel like have probably flagged me up for investigation haha will they try and find out that I have a job? And is it illegal of me to have said i dont have a job to them?

 

It's none of their business where your money comes from, but if your employer pays it into your account they'll know the source ..... if you're paid in cash , let them wonder ........

 

Also if i did pay a bit into the account ,say to make me -1000 in credit, are they within their rights to reduce the overdraft to 1000? effectivly not allowing me to use those funds if need be?

 

Have you considered opening an account with a completely different bank for your everyday income & expenses, without going overdrawn ... that way HSBC can't use any money coming in towards the O/D if they arbitrarily reduced the amount , as they have been known to do .....

this link might help:

 

Parachute Account

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/13832-do-you-need-parachute.html

 

 

Then you can just pay them what you can afford to reduce the O/D at your convenience ....... if you can demonstrate that you are reducing it systematically , then they can't chase you too hard for it .... although they'll probably try ......... ,

You also don't have to deal with them over the phone if you don't want to - they just use it to bully people.... tell them to put everything in writing and make sure you keep the correspondence safe, with copies of your letters to them .........

If you need more info just come back and ask , someone will answer , and we're a friendly lot on here

[island44]

Thanks, thats very helpful.

 

Yes, I have a different account where all my money goes (non-HSBC), I was going to pay it off at my convienience but they began to phone me and talk quite agressivly down the phone.

 

I could put a fair amount of money in right now, but if they suddenly reduced the overdraft amount it would mean I'd "lose" the ability to use that money if an emergency came up. That is why I feel safer when it is in credit on my non-HSBC account (naturally).

 

My aim was to save up and pay it off in one lump. However they told me I must make payments every 90 days to keep it active, but how much we would not disclose. I suggested I make £1 deposit every 90days to test him a bit, he said it was un acceptable, but he then cut off the conversation quickly when I began probing what the minimum I could do was to get them off my back.

 

The only remaining issue is that im currently entitled to another year interst free OD , since they think im still a student, but im not, can they "get" me for this? hah

[vimto1]

I have to say HSBC seem to be good at this 'harrassment' issue. I have been keeping a diary as suggested on here and then I will write to them to tell them to communicate by letter only. Not really sure how you stand with a student account, but I would imagine that even if you pay a large sum of money to the account, they will probably notify you that you can't use the account anymore. Don't take my word for it, but they seem to be able to do whatever they want atm!

Also another suggestion is to go down the Citizens Advice route and sort a payment plan, eke the payments out.

[island44]

I have to say HSBC seem to be good at this ' if you pay a large sum of money to the account, they will probably notify you that you can't use the account anymore.

 

Really would they do this? I didnt think they would since they want me to use the account it seems, "There must be Regular activity" i think the term was. Or has the fact its gone to collections mean my account is flagged as "lets screw this guy over"?

[vimto1]

Again, I'm no expert as I am having troubles with said bank... ours is in dispute due to separation so it might be completely different. Hopefully someone else on here with wider knowledge can help:confused: