Best student overdraft to get?

Former Member

im currently with hsbc, but i dont know whether or not they are particularly student minded with their accounts. i start uni i september and would like an overdraft rather than a loan, any idea which is best? ive heard natwest are good? and halifax intrieges me because they offer a 3 grand overdraft....

Former Member

I've got a student overdraft with HSBC, only because I was with them at the time so just change dit to a student account. My overdraft limit is £1500, which I live in. I have savings to pay it off when I qualify so all is good!

Once I qualify and finish uni I have three years to pay it off and it's interest free for them three years.

I've not had any problems with it, easy enough to increase my overdraft limit too.

ETA: I'm not entitled to a student loan so thats why I got a student overdraft

Former Member

You should get a student loan, just because the interest you pay on it is so low it is in effect free money. Not all of it, of course, but in a typical loan the interest is the 'cost' of the money but in a student loan the interest is so low that it's effectively a minus cost. Just get it, pop it in a savings account, and pay it back when you get a job. £9k or whatever in a savings account will accumulate more interest than it will cost you to pay the loan back.

Former Member

I agree with the above - i put most of my loan into my savings and then used it to fund an MSc with after i'd finished which mean that the MSc was much cheaper for me than it would have been otherwise.

I have an HSBC student overdraft and i overall found them to be good and reasonable - for example extending for no fee when my student loan got delayed (due to my university being closed because of a sit in). Even though i worked for a year and then went back to being a student the put my interest free overdraft up with no questions asked. Mind you that was a fair few years ago and on the whole i was a very good customer so things might have changed a bit.

Former Member

its a really bad idea to get an overdraft instead of a loan! no overdraft will be anywhere nearly enough to cover all your living costs even if you do have your tution fees paid.

do what shyboy said, it makes sense if you can. Most people are hand to mouth at uni. i know i pretty much am.

As far as overdrafts go, natwest and halifax are best.

Former Member

i get a paid for bursury hence why i am not allowed a student loan.

Former Member

little_tiny_flower wrote: »

i get a paid for bursury hence why i am not allowed a student loan.

Same as me :yes:

The only reason I now live in my overdraft (well into it) is because I lived in halls in my 1st year and that ate up most of it. I had to get my overdraft about 4 months into my 1st year as my rent cost most of my bursery. Now I am back at home I cope better with just the bursery and when I had a part time job it was a bonus!

Former Member

My student overdraft was with Natwest, there not to bad but HSBC are quite good aswell. Halifax do offer up to three thousand but bear in mind three grand is a lot to pay back. could take you a while to pay it back. and the bank does require money to be paid into the account on a reg basis aswell, things like student loans. My overdraft was about a thousand when i graduated in june and am still paying it back now. But i had things like a credit card aswell which needed to be paid back. My advice would be stick with the bank you know and dont make the overdraft to high.

Former Member

piecesofme wrote: »

Same as me :yes:

The only reason I now live in my overdraft (well into it) is because I lived in halls in my 1st year and that ate up most of it. I had to get my overdraft about 4 months into my 1st year as my rent cost most of my bursery. Now I am back at home I cope better with just the bursery and when I had a part time job it was a bonus!

yeh the bursury covers the cost of rent doesnt it? and then all tuition fees are paid for? (talking about nursing course)
so all thats left to pay for is the cost of living? therefore surely it wouldnt matter how high an overdraft i got because it would be the only debt i would have?

Former Member

Yeah, when I lived in halls I paid £410 a month for 10 months so that left me with £90 to live on. An overdraft though really does not go that far especially to live on! £1500 is nothing tbh, especially when you buy food, travel expenses, nights out, clothes etc. If you plan on banking or having a part time job then it may be do-able! But rememer when you 1st start you get paid two months worth of bursery at once. So for your first ever payment you will get two months at once then not paid the next month. Thats a pain in the arse planning your money out.

Former Member

oh god thanks for lettin me know haha!! do you suggest i get quite a high overdraft then? interest free i mean.