A mum has been told she is almost £500,000 overdrawn despite claiming she should have £6,000 in her Barclays account.
Michelle Beckwith, 36, from Fazakerley, said she is unable to buy Christmas presents for her children or pay her bills as the overdraft has "swallowed" her money. She said she has no idea how she could have accumulated that level of debt.
The mum-of-five said she paid just over £2,000 into her account on Monday (December 12). She believed that should have taken her balance to around £6,000.
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Michelle told the ECHO : "I woke up on Monday and I’d got some money from my family. So I went to the Post Office around the corner to pay just over £2,000 in.
"I’d been putting dribs and drabs in that family had given me - my family members and my friends help me with my shopping and with things for the children. I came back - I didn’t check the online banking app beforehand but when I did later, I saw I was overdrawn.
"At first the amount didn’t hit me, it didn’t register. I rang the bank and they said my account was in review, this was going on since Monday, but they couldn’t tell me for security reasons.
"I said, it’s my bank, you pay your money there to be safe, it’s my money. It wasn’t until the safeguarding team rang me that it hit me. It was £499,000 overdrawn. I said ‘don’t you mean nearly £5,000?’. She said ‘no, it’s nearly half a million pounds’.
Michelle said she had checked her account balance on Saturday, December 17, and she had around £4,000. With the money she paid in on Monday, she said it should have taken the balance to around £6,000.
She added: "I didn't make any extravagant purchases over the weekend, certainly nothing for half a million."
A screenshot shared with the ECHO shows a balance of minus £499,895.07. Michelle said the overdraft has swallowed the money she paid in, as well as payments from the DWP, meaning she can't pay bills or buy presents.
She has been trying to remedy the situation since Monday, but said she has got nowhere with Barclays' customer support.
Michelle added: "I’ve only had the account since September, there’s no way I’ve paid half a million pounds out. There is no way.
"They still can’t tell me what’s going on. I’ve got five children to provide for before Christmas.
"£6,000 in that account is mine. With what I’ve been paying in, the balance should be around £6,000 - that is actually my money.
"I’m getting the £25 cold weather payment from the DWP but I can’t access that, it’s getting swallowed. My bills are bouncing back, if it wasn’t for my friend I’d be really, really struggling.
"My friend got me one present so I can at least give that to one of my daughters. That money was from my family to get presents in and it’s totally impossible.
"It’s just a lot. I’ve put that many complaints in, but I keep getting told there’s nothing they can do.
"But it’s my account - I don’t understand why I’m half a million pounds in debt. It’s days before Christmas and I just feel sick."
The ECHO approached Barclays for a response. The bank said it could not provide information for reasons of confidentiality.
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