I've just gone £2.25 over my overdraft limit (and I get paid on Friday) and I've been told I will be charged £28!

Currently on the phone to get the charge cancelled. (Using the geographical number of course as it is free from my mobile )

[LIFTED] bank charges.
I've vented in other threads about it, but the last lot I was hit with came to over £100.
[LIFTED].

I've just got off the phone to them.

They have waived the £28 charge but now tell me there is a £76 charge for 2 direct debits that were declined!

[LIFTED] aresholes!

I'll be writing to them to get that waived also. Otherwise, I'm sure the Daily Mail would like to hear about their actions in the middle of a recession.

I know this is an off the wall question, but how did you get over the limit of your overdraft? Haven't got one currently thank God, but when I did have one I made bloody sure I didn't get anywhere near the ceiling of it. You get hit with an unexpected bill or something?

Jon

Having a tiny income, standing orders, and having real life stuff happen that requires money to be spent.
As it stands, I'm never going to be clear of my overdraft unless I fall into a coma for two months.

I have a £100 emergency overdraft and I kept an eye on my balance online.

However there was a card payment made that had not been taken from my account so my DD was fine but the card payment added to it took my over my overdraft limit.

The 2 payments I missed were for £4 and £15 (now I have to pay them £20 because of the missed payment) and £76 to NatWest.

They can [LIFTED] off.

I have a £4000 loan with them also, it's not like they're not getting money out of me already!

AND THEY MADE ME MISS MY TRAINING TONIGHT! GRR!

Just be aware that they'll probably close your account - you are not a profitable investment for them, so they won't want your custom.

Isn't there a load of legal stuff going on right now to determine if bank "fines" should be abolished or capped?

Of course, the banks are saying we'll have to go back to paying for our accounts if this happens. I think we're quite unusual here in Britain with free banking, free credit cards and free over draughts.

I've had that happen - when you pay for something with a debit card, assume it gets debited the same day and two weeks later, when you're close to your limit - BAM! You go over your limit and it's because you'd assumed the item you bought was already paid for.

There's a test case that could be on appeal IIRC. The fundamental point of law is that while the bank can legitimately reclaim any costs they incur because Fogmeister went over his overdraft limit, those charges must be reasonable given the work this causes them to have to do and may not be 'punitive' - the banks aren't allowed to impose over-high charges as some sort of punishment. You essentially have a contract with your bank and going over your limit breaches that contract but the banks aren't allowed to (as it were) kick you for doing so, they can only demand back what it actually costs them if you do so. Obviously, that means they can in theory charge him some small fee for informing him by letter of his financial status (apparently £4.50 is considered a reasonable charge by the FSA) and they will incur some administration fee for having to deal with DDs that can't be fulfilled and the like. But the charge they've imposed on Foggy patently bears no resemblance to anything they're incurring because of what's going on.

Foggy, I'd go into your bank (if you can) with the letter and explain to them politely that you consider the charges to be unreasonable and disproportionate and that if they insist on imposing them you will take it up with the FSA. Suggest they make a more detailed assessment of the costs they have incurred and send you a revised letter. There's a good chance they'll waive the whole thing as a godwill gesture.

A good set of details are here.

Just to say though, I'm not in favour of people going over their limit 'for free'. You doing that does cost your bank money in administration and, in terms making you pay those costs, they're in the right both legally and frankly morally. However they manage to not so much abdicate the moral high ground as base jump off it by asking for charges which are essentially completely unrelated to their actual costs.

Jon

Don't encourage them anymore Jon

I'd like to know the same...I have no more money left, so why on earth does the bank let me keep spending?

I already do! £12 a month for the privilege!

I've got a plan.

I was thinking of withdrawing my share savings account that I started last year from work anyway as the share price has dropped since I took it out. Then I can put a little extra into this year's scheme with a very low option price.

That'll give me some money to get me out of the hole that the bank have now put me in.

I may even cancel my account and move elsewhere.

There's currently a test case (dicussed above) that is going to the House of Lords for a final decision. Basically it revolves around whether the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) has the power under the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 to decide if overdraft (and other bank charges) are fair or not.

If the OFT wins (which they have so far) then the banks could be forced into repaying billions in bank charges. The banks have already stated that if they lose then they will issue refunds "proactively", so Nationwide could be bunging £100 my way.

One of my friends has recommend Smile.co.uk to me.

I had a quick look and the bundle they have looks very good.

Once I get paid (on friday) I'll be switching to them.

Yay

Been meaning to change banks for ages.

Now there is no worry about them closing my account if I send them a letter.