My Co-operative Bank debt came about as a result of Payday Express forcing through a Debit Card transaction taking me overdrawn.

As a result, the account ended up over the agreed overdraft limit of £200.

Here is an overview of my Co-operative Bank debt as it stands today: –

Current Balance: £600.45
Original Balance: £740.56

What did I do?

I could not afford to repay the overdraft so I left it to fester. I could have set up an arrangement to pay but I didn’t. I had so many other debts that I was also trying to sort out as well.

Luckily not many charges were added onto the account with the exception of the interest. However the interest amount was only a few quid. It could have been worse.

I did manage to get other charges refunded without any problems but I still owed quite a lot of money.

What happened when I didn’t repay my Co-operative Bank debt?

I received telephone calls asking for payments and I also received a number of letters requesting payment. I did make a couple of payments but they were not enough due to the outstanding balance being quite large.

After three months the account was closed and I was sent a default notice. Shortly after this, the account was passed to a company called Fredrickson International Limited.

What are Fredrickson International like?

I already had experience of dealing with Fredrickson International in the past. I was also dealing with them for my TXT Payday Loan account so I knew what to expect.

They are OK so far as debt collection agencies go, and I have no problems calling them to discuss the account.

As usual I sent off my Income and Expenditure Form along with my offer of repayment letter. My offer of repayment was accepted and I have been repaying the account for over a year now without any issues.

I haven’t heard anything more from Fredrickson International except for when I have requested a statement of account. Apart from that this debt has been plain sailing all the way through.

What are my plans for the Co-operative Bank debt?

I aim to settle this account in the first half of 2014. It isn’t causing me any issues at the moment, and I suspect things will stay this way so long as I keep on making my payments. I have 20 accounts in total so I have a long way to go.

I am also hoping to sort out the issue of Payday Express forcing their payment through, which ultimately resulted in the account being so badly overdrawn in the first place.

As I have not heard anything back from Payday Express, I will be making a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman. Hopefully then I might actually get a response.