A dad who woke up to discover he was £1 million overdrawn revealed he 'cannot go on living like this'.
Darren Edwards, 41, was left reeling after realising his bank accounts were overdrawn by a fortune and has since opened up about just how much the ordeal is affecting both his family life and mental health.
The Burnley-based father-of-two clearly had the shock of his life after seeing his bank balance and has since revealed he can't even 'afford' to feed his family anymore.
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Darren usually saves around £3,000 in various bank accounts for monthly bills, general living expenses and a summer holiday fund but was left totally baffled when he woke up to two of his Barclays accounts being suddenly £500,000.07 overdrawn last month (25 April).
Two weeks later, the struggling dad found that every single direct debit order has bounced and his bank has allegedly not given him any explanation for the freak decline of funds.
Darren has claimed he is being 'left in the dark' after Barclays informed him it was unable to provide any updates due to legal and regulatory protocol.
He said: "I have nothing left. I can't even afford to feed my family anymore.
"My friends and family have been helping me out, but that is also taking a toll on them as they have their own bills."
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The dad has been forced to take 'days' off work and 'go home several times' early to try and balance childcare with his new financial situation.
The realisation first dawned on him when he was at a McDonald's drive-thru and found his card was declined four consecutive times.
After the Maccies blunder, Darren decided to check his online banking account to get to the bottom of the mystery and was left gobsmacked after seeing his alarming balance - or lack of.
Some days after the shocking discovery, Darren's bank statements showed the money in question withdrawn with the reference: "To reconcile."
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According to the Consumer Action Group, this situation occurs when Barclays freezes an account to investigate it.
With no help from the bank, Darren is now worried that his account has been hacked.
He explained: "People have reached out to me saying something like this has happened to them when they were with Barclays, but Barclays hasn’t contacted me once."
The dad had originally wanted to use his savings to pay for a family holiday to Florida this July but, following recent events, won't be able to fork out for flights anymore.
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"These flights have doubled in price so our holiday will now be ruined, and I won't be able to get any money back for the villa in America that we've paid for, and the Disney tickets," he said.
"It’s put me in a situation where we are arguing every day as a family and it’s really starting to take a toll on me now."
Darren added: "It's disgusting that I cannot access funds to even live. I can't go on living like this."
A spokesperson for Barclays told The Oldham Times: "We are unable to share any further information."
LADbible has reached out to Barclays Bank for further comment.
Topics: Money, Parenting, Mental Health, UK News
Rhiannon Ingle