HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

[superlite]

nevermind

[labman]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

It would seem to me you should perhaps sign over a power of attorney to your guardian while you make efforts to overcome your gambling addiction. The bank cannot be blamed for you spending money on gambling you do not have. You are lucky they capped it at £500.00.

Can I suggest you visit the following who may be able to offer help with your gambling addiction:

http://www.gamcare.org.uk/

http://www.addictionrecovery.org.uk/

http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk..._gambling.aspx

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/gambling_addiction.php

[superlite]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Thanks for the response labman and your concern. :santa_wink:


My issue is not with my gambling problem which I believe to be under control but in how I acquired money I did not have.
If I attempt to deposit money into the site now it says "Your bank has declined the transaction. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide you with more information."
This always happened until one day when suddenly I was granted £500. Why would they authorise requested payments from the site when previously they never would...
In other threads I have seen they should do some checks to ensure they are lending responsibly.
I never requested for an overdraft facility to be set up and since I am using a debit card as opposed to a credit card I thought I don't get credit? When did they make a debit card into a credit card?

Without informing me and with access to my account activity it seems wholly irresponsible to grant an informal loan which I have not agreed to. Are they willing to grant it regardless of situation or purpose? The two charges so far are £50 and £100 for a total of £750 of which £150 is charges. So for £600 borrowed I am charged 25% which seems unreasonable. On a loan for less than 30 days (I can look up the exact amount of time if it helps) a 25% charge seems ludicrous.

I always gambled what I could afford to lose and was not aware how much money was in my account at the time (whether payday had been or not). I can cover the £250 debt but am unwilling to do so since I don't think I owe that much. My main concern is the rest of my pay from the temp job will be going into that bank and I can't stop it and will end up paying the charges.

I have just got back to the UK after a holiday and will be calling them on Monday to sort it out. I have very little experience in dealing with banks so was wondering if there was anyone who could shed some light on the situation.


I have a guardian who receives cash from me and puts it in her bank. She has a direct debit into my account and I never pay money in or out myself. I didn't gamble money I can't afford, just that I didn't have it in my account. So I am angry that me spending £600 on my choice of entertainment has resulted in a charge of £150 despite how frivolous my gambling habits may be.




(To explain the seemingly large loss over christmas - I am usually drunk when I gamble for fun hence I have a debit account so I don't go crazy. I am not always aware how much I am spending but the extra money in that account is all disposable so I have no worries - I can just keep hitting deposit. A few days passed maybe a week or so until I realised £500 was debt and I wasn't paid from the job yet so I got my guardian to transfer the money to cover it, then I got paid. I had a day out with work which involved drinking from 8am till 5pm and we ended up in a strip club at 3am. I then foolishly spent about £300 which annoyed me greatly so the next day I was hoping for a bit of luck with the £500 which had been paid into my account. But without keeping track completely of the account they allowed me to go overdrawn again which I should have expected but realised sooner. The way I see it now they are down £100 and they are billing me for £150 hence the £250 debt. I am not willing to pay £150 so I came on here for advice but I am worried the company I worked for is going to pay it against my will)

[wales01man]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Please get help with your gambling problem its a losing mugs game only one winner the gambling site om not judging you but you problem can be sorted if you want to get the help thats out there

[superlite]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Just read this from Amethyst's thread:

In any event the vast majority of account holders opt not to use the service of consideration anyway. The OFT PCA Market Study puts the figure at some 80%. Of the remaining 20% who do use it - unknowingly, unwillingly or otherwise - only a very small proportion actually want it. A large poll conducted by MoneySavingExpert of 5952 people found that 92% of people would prefer a payment instruction to be refused without charge than for it to be considered for payment for a fee


I have never heard of this and it sounds to me like they are just trying to catch people out who are unaware of it. I will most likely just complain about the points I made but if anyone can help me with who I should ask to talk to or best way to contact HSBC and deal with this it would be much appreciated.

[superlite]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Please get help with your gambling problem its a losing mugs game only one winner the gambling site om not judging you but you problem can be sorted if you want to get the help thats out there

You seem to be missing the point of my complaint.

I have money elsewhere.

The set up HSBC can be aware of is my guardian's direct debit into my account £100 per month.
Transactions almost exclusively to a website run by a gambling company (and some online purchases)
Occasionally large payments from companies I work for but usually only 3 or 4 times a year.

£10,000 in 7 years equates to £3.90 a day, so there is not much to worry about. What is worrying is that suddenly my bank account I use to gamble online with decided to authorise payments to a gambling site up to £500 when it usually declined it (for the past 6 years and 10 months) and then charge me for it.

[jon1965]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Superlite I think there are several issues here

You say you have money elsewhere, is that within HSBC?
You say that the only money that goes into your account is from your guardian about £100 per month and occasionally some wages. Would I be correct in saying you have some "issues" that require you to have a guardian?

First off can I talk about your gambling. You admit that at times you can not stop it , however you never gamble money you do not have
I can talk from some experience here, I am a gambling addict and over the last 30 years I could not even begin to guess how much money I have lost to fruit machines , but in the last 10 years i have racked up debts of 40000 and lost my job and narrowly escaped prison largely due to my gambling. Until now only 2 people on this site knew the full details , rather more than that now and I know there are several members who will know exactly who I am ( I am just an average person who frequents another site)

From what you said it seems to me you really need to ask yourself some hard questions, are you an addict..look it up, the mere fact that you admit that sometimes you can not stop ticks one box for having a problem habit.
There is help out there, G.A. gamcare, there is another one that I can ask my probation officer about if you like (I should remember as I signed up for it but I have forgotten)

Now for the bank, there is allegedly something called BCOBS that basically says the banks should treat you fairly and if not you can take them to court, however to my knowledge it has never been tested in court. However it is worth writing a letter to them asking for a refund of the bank charges because by letting you go overdrawn they have left you in a materially worse state . Also mention the fact that you are in a vulnerable group.
I tried it with Santander who had also let transactions through when there were no funds who told me they were not at fault . They did refund £150 but that still leaves £400 of charges.

If you want to know more about BCOBS I could find out more, but personally I am not convinced it will work.

If your other assets are with HSBC then your chances of getting a refund are slim, unless your assets are large and you threaten to move the lot.

[labman]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Google 'The Lending Code' It is a voluntary code subscribed to by all banks to encourage responsible lending. While it is not law, it is seen as good practice, and could give you some useful pointers for any complaint.

[labman]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Here you go:

http://www.lendingstandardsboard.org...endingcode.pdf

[labman]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Jon - I've got to say thank you for that post. I know you from OTR anyway, but to say that on a website takes real guts, especially when you do it only to help someone else. Thank you.

No addiction is anything to be ashamed of - they are just frequently prejudged. Well done for mastering yours.

[jon1965]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

£10,000 in 7 years equates to £3.90 a day, so there is not much to worry about. What is worrying is that suddenly my bank account I use to gamble online with decided to authorise payments to a gambling site up to £500 when it usually declined it (for the past 6 years and 10 months) and then charge me for it.

If you work that out it is ALL your disposable income. Your guardian pays 100pcm which in 7 years is £8400 .

[jon1965]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Thanks Labman, there are still things that I have done that i am too ashamed to say but it has been several months now since I have been near a machine. I hope it is a battle I can win, only time will tell

[PlanB]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Thanks Labman, there are still things that I have done that i am too ashamed to say but it has been several months now since I have been near a machine. I hope it is a battle I can win, only time will tell

Plus help and support from non-judgmental mates :hug:

[superlite]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

Thanks jon and labman for your assistance. I was not looking to be referred to gamcare although my first post may have pointed to a gambling problem.
I gamble online with an account which isn't a credit card so that I cannot lose more than I put in. Perhaps I should use the websites controls to limit deposits but if I decide to turn seriously to it then it would be hard to change the controls.
I do not gamble on fruit machines or casinos online or in bookies, I use an exchange with open markets mainly always on sports so football and tennis markets. It's mainly practice or fun and I hope to make it a viable supplementary income one day.

My guardian is a family member and I track the cash I give to her. She get's interest on her account which has over £40,000 which contains some of my savings. I am not sure how we got to this arrangement but it seems to work and I don't really need a bank account for anything. I live with her when I work in the same area but sometimes move to other places. Perhaps it's due to me being quite disassociated from reality and memory problems means she is willing to help me.

I only get companies to pay into my bank account when I can't be paid in cash which isn't preferable for me as I don't associate numbers on a screen with real money. I tend not to take my card out with me otherwise I will no doubt spend far too much.
My main problem here is that they are charging me £150 and I can't figure out how this happened, I feel like they are robbing me. After finding out about informal overdrafts I am curious as to a) why they decided to give me one now and not for the last 5 years and b) how it could be considered a safe loan given the activity on my account.

I thought the company I was working for must have paid me and that's how I was able to deposit. Perhaps I will have to change banks to find an account that will not go overdrawn but ideally I would like to stay with HSBC and keep the card which I made the deposits with.



Thanks for the link labman and I will post back here to let you guys know how it goes.
Sorry to hear about your problems jon, it is no doubt a daily battle for you but we are all capable of change. Good luck.

[wales01man]

Re: HSBC informal overdraft irresponsible lending

If i get £500 put into my account i look to find out where it comes from?