why would halifax dramatically cut my authorised over draft?

[nannyL]

I have my current account which is NEVER over drawn (except for once about 5 months ago when my boss cancelled his direct debit to pay me by mistake)

the over draft limit has been £1000 for ages and ages, but a few months ag they wrote to me putting it up to £2000... fine...

they (halifax) wrote to me today saying from october i will only have a £300 over draft (which i pay for as party of my bank account anyway... i pay to have £300 interest free)

Is there any reason why they would cut my overdraft when i dont normally use it, i did use it for about 2 days in april, and THEY put it up since

im not that bothered as i dont use it anyway, but it will mean that if there is a problem with being paid again i will be stuck...
or i guess my bosses will just have to pay real fees rather than the 11p that i really couldnt be bothered to charge them!

Because they are skint?

err, because they're nearly broke? halifax is the h in hbos...

because halifax are in trouble arent they?

barclays did that too. But we ignored it because we have never been in the red either.

oh right

so its not actually my fault then?

(if so then i feel better )

just re-read the letter and it says in it my circumstances have changed...

as far as I know they havent

perhaps this is their excuse?

I use mine and Natiionwide halved it overnight without so much as a letter! I apreciate that they have the "right" to do this, but it bounced stuff, then they had the cheek to charge me for bounced dds and "unauthorised" overdraft. I put this down to the credit crunch PITA!!!! If I had been warned I could have done something about it - that was what annoyed me the most. I expect this will be happening a lot!

Plus - new security rules! I have tried to change my address - simple one might think! 2 letters got "lost". Srnt one registered and got a letter saying I needed to answer more security questions. Went through their phone security questions. Still not good enough! I'm currently abroad so cannot get to the branch. Therefore, I cannot prove i am me- and they will not change my address. So my confidential bank stuff will be sent elsewhere as they cannot stop it...! Great!

Bastards. Sorry - off thread but

my mother works for Lloyds

she has an account with lloyds.... but when she moved hosue even SHE couldnt stop her stuff and cheque books going to her old adress for 3 months

They don't have the right to take your overdraft away with no warning Portfino. If that happened and you got charged, phone them and fight to have them reversed.

they have just taken £1700 of my spending money (that i wasnt intending to spend) away with just 16 days notice...

what a bit of luck i wasnt planning in spending that £1700

Sorry Badabing, I thought they had the right to withdraw your overdraft at any time???? You may have a good point thought that they should tell you about it. I shall be investigating...!!!!

What do you mean they took your spending money away?

i had a £2000 authorised over draft.... money i can spend as i want to / do what i like with...

but in 16 days time they are cutting it to £300, as they have just written to tell me, for no reason as far as i know (but apaprently my circumstances have changed

They can withdraw an overdraft facility at any time.

Your circumstances have probably changed in that you no longer need the £1000 limit (which I assume you must have requested at some point in time). You have not used the facility on a regular basis so they are withdrawing it as part of their tightening up procedures.

If you aren't bothered, then just go with the flow.

If you are unhappy about it, get in touch with your branch and query it. They may just reduce it back to the £1000 limit.

They did this to me a few months ago, then I had another letter a week later saying -'sorry, we sent the last letter in error'
I never use my overdraft either thank goodness.

you should move to first direct .. where you get a free overdraft as well as, I think, £100 for opening an account

don't understand anyone paying 'bank charges' .. wasted money

yes they pay you £100 if you switch to them

and they're feckin' fabulous 24/7 telephone contact with lovely people / internet banking

yes they pay you £100 if you switch to them

and they're feckin' fabulous 24/7 telephone contact with lovely people / internet banking

i would.... but my £12.50 gives me

interest freeover draft
travel insurance
mobile phone insurace
and RAC
and extra barganouse home insurance
and free home emergancy cover woryh £50 per year (all that i would buy elsewhere anyway and cost me more than £12.50 per month)

also get key insurance
purse / passport / driving license insurance
and i got a super deal hiring a car with Avis (which i couldnt match or beat online)

as a bonus

so given i still save money i dont mind paying the £12.50 charge (which went up from £10 a few months ago )

not that I'm one to labour a point but

for £150 a year you are getting

interest freeover draft - (which you'd get for free with First Direct anyway)

travel insurance - multitrip travel insurance for an individual is about £15

mobile phone insurace - do you really need this? ok it would cost about £20 a year

and RAC - basic RAC cover from £33 a year

and extra barganouse home insurance

and free home emergancy cover woryh £50 per year - so say it's £50

so excluding the extra barganous home insurance (which I doubt greatly because shopping around can give you huge discounts) you're paying £150 a year and benefiting by £118 a year

plus first direct give you £100 cash in your bank for transferring over

I think PAYING for a bank account is a waste of money

you are INSANE if you are using an overdraft facility for your holiday spending surely?

just rein it in!

Ermm...an overdraft isn't 'your' spending money. It's the banks money that you are allowed to borrow.

Perhaps in the current climate your circs aren't a reasonable 'risk' for them to offer you that overdraft, whereas a few months ago they were.

IT'S SIMPLE

By law Banks have to have available funds to cover all their liabilities, which includes everyone using their full credit limit. The current credit crunch means that banks just can't have access to that amount of credit themselves.

That's why they are reviewing credit limits - people who never use an overdraft facility will be second on the list after the people who are a poor credit risk.

So don't take it personally1