What happens if my rent is late? (SFE not soon enough)

Basically, I'm due to pay £300 on the 2nd of every month as stated in my contract. (I'm a student in HMO property paying to a landlord). The contract does not at any point mention the scenario if rent is late or if there are fees or a procedure etc.

Currently in my bank I have £310 and my SFE loan comes in on Jan 14th which means until the middle of January I have TEN POUNDS to live on. If however I could pay my rent 12 days late, I would be fine.

What do I do in this situation? Has anyone been through anything similar? This would be the only time it would ever be late and I don't mind paying any small fees later if it means I can eat over Xmas. Can anyone offer any advice? What if I inform my landlord / his letting company that I need to delay a rent payment and they say no? help!

Reply 1

Klix88

Most students would use their student bank account overdraft for this sort of problem. Do you have one?

Reply 2

Christa_

Original post by Klix88

Most students would use their student bank account overdraft for this sort of problem. Do you have one?

No I just have a regular bank account (current account I think). I estimate I would need to spend about £100 at least and don't know if I can be overdrawn by that much.

Reply 3

Klix88

Check the terms and conditions for your account. Many will give you an automatic free overdraft facility for a small amount and you may not need to do anything more in order to use it.

If not, you can usually pre-agree an overdraft for a set amount with your bank for an ordinary account. Just contact your bank and ask. If you show them that your SF is due into that account on a set date, they will at least consider it. If they do, I'd recommend getting an overdraft for £100 more than you think you need, just as a contingency. You don't need to actually use it.

Reply 4

balotelli12

You don't want to default on a tenancy contract believe me.

Reply 5

parentlurker

if your account does not offer any sort of free overdraft facility you should be looking to move bank. You do not want an unauthorised overdraft as they will charge you high fees for that but if you have a student finance letter your bank should agree to an overdraft of a couple of hundred easily enough. If not you contact your landlord, explain the position and grovel. You dont want to default on a tenancy agreement but no sensible landlord goes to the bother of evicting a tenant who pays late once, has a reasonable explanation for why it is a one off and is really apologetic about it, But you will need to explain why this wont happen at the start of next term and you will need to pay as much as you can now and the balance immediately your loan is in.

Reply 6

Christa_

I contacted my landlord's agency already, they haven't replied yet. My SAT Agreement contract doesn't say anything about late rent so I do not know what they will say. Fingers crossed :frown:

I had never heard of a student account until the other year, when I moved my account from a child to current account at halifax I told them it was specifically for student finance purposes AND one of my ID proofs was my UCAS letter as it has name and details etc on it. But they never once mentioned student account existence. I feel somewhat cheated as it was explained to me by their staff that the account I needed for a debit card was a current account. :frown:

That was over 3 years ago and I only have 1.5yrs of study left, I do not have / do not know where my original UCAS letter is as I am now a 3rd year student. I would move to a student account in a heartbeat but I do not know how to prove I am a student (I have student ID but halifax's website says they need the "original UCAS letter").

Reply 7

parentlurker

Original post by Christa_

I would move to a student account in a heartbeat but I do not know how to prove I am a student (I have student ID but halifax's website says they need the "original UCAS letter").

I assume you have a student ID card and you obviously have letters from student finance - so find a branch, explain you want to switch account and off you go. If they create problems say you'll try one of the banks listed here http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/Student-bank-account#topstudentaccount Banks still like students as they tend to have money when they graduate.

Your landlord will expect you to get an overdraft and if you've gone to them already they'll think you maxed it out with bad budgeting for Christmas. You really should be getting a job over Christmas, next (and other retailers ) like people for the sales and even a few days would help. http://careers.next.co.uk/retail/retailvacancies.aspx

Reply 8

ParadoxSocks

Original post by Christa_

I contacted my landlord's agency already, they haven't replied yet. My SAT Agreement contract doesn't say anything about late rent so I do not know what they will say. Fingers crossed :frown:

Go into a bank with as much evidence as being a student as possible and ask to set up a student account. They shouldn't have any issue with that at all. Do it soon though so that your overdraft will be in place before you need to pay rent and make sure you don't pick one of the accounts that require an activation deposit before you have any money to activate it with.

Go to your bank and ask them to change your current account to a student current account. Shouldn't take them long. Are you sure your account now isn't a student account?

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Reply 9

Klix88

I certainly would have spoken to the bank before alerting your landlord to the fact that you were running out of money to pay them.

Please ask your bank directly when they open again on Monday. It would be very unusual for any account - even a non-student one - to come without some sort of overdraft facility where you could agree an amount in advance. Even if you don't have one in place at the moment, you should be able to request one.