Bank Account Privacy

[NatalieT]

I defaulted on my Graduate loan 3 years ago, my debt was passed to Barclays debt recovery (CDS) and I have been paying them back monthly.  Are they allowed any access to my bank account to see how much gets paid into it, or are my finances still private? 

Many thanks in advance. 

[Oneeyedvic]

Your bank accounts are private - however if they have a county court judgement, they can ask a judge for an "attatchment to earnings order" which can be embarressing at your work place as this will be taken out at souce (ie before you recieve your pay).

 

If you still bank with Barclays, they can obviously still look at your accounts and the debt MAY be on a basis where Barclays can take it back at any stage - eg Barclays may look at your account, see that you earn / have plenty of money and decide to take the debt back of CDS and enforce it themselves. They will also probably be able to just take the money out of your accoun (if it is a debt) as you obviously owe them the money.

 

Hope this helps.

[NatalieT]

Very helpful thank you.  I should have said that I now bank with Halfax, but only the easy cash account (no switch, cheque book etc as I'm only just getting back on my feet, as it were).  Can banks share my information with each other?

[Didwot]

The short answer to your question is strictly no. Your bank account is confidential, but in the real world, despite the Data Protection Act, people still tell one another little secrets. What you really must do is to agree a payment regime with Barclays that you can afford, and then stick to it

[Jenniec]

If you have stuck to your payment plan and continue to do so then I would have thought they'd not take to take any further action.

But yes as far as I know your bank account remains private and I do not think they can take money from your account without a courts permission.

Can I suggest that if you haven't already you set up a standing order for the monthly installments - that way you won't forget to pay and end up defaulting on the agreement.

If you are being charged interest on the loan still and you can you may wish to pay it off at a quicker rate - savings interest rates are so low now you are better off avoiding interest on the loan.

Good luck

[Didwot]

The one disadvantage of a standing order is that it gives them the details of your Halifax account, although not what goes in and out of it. just the account number and branch, but then so does paying by cheque, unless you wash the payments through some friendly third party's account. None of this matters if you are genuinely trying to repay, and do not default on your regime.