I am fed up of being charged for the odd direct debit bounce as I am £2/£3 short in my account only then to be charged £35 which they can take and make me overdrawn to which I get charged again.
2006-10-02 21:14:10 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
You can write to the complaints department of your bank, and express your disgust on the matter. You can also advise them that the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) white paper on debt collection advises that banks should not impose charges on it's customers that are excessive in comparision to the amount of cost it incurs.
i.e. if you are £2 short for a direct debit, and they bounce it, then charge you £35, it would have been cheaper to give you £2 credit (overdraft). Most banks, when challenged, or threatened with involving the OFT or Trading Standards will back down.
As an aside to this issue, try setting up bill payments with your bank online or by telephone banking instead of dd's. (that way you manually release the money for your bills so you can only do it when the funds are there). Also, approach the people that you do pay by dd and ask to change the date to pay day. This worked for me as I was doing the same cycle you are on for a while!
2006-10-02 21:25:13 · answer #1 · answered by Emma T 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey Fargo,
Well there are 3 ways to deal with this once and for all:
1). The obvious, always make sure that you have the right amount of money in your account. You signed this agreement when you opened the account, sorry.
2). Talk nicely with the Manager on Duty. Explain that your financial situation is not as it once was. Each time that you get a bounce charge, there are other debits outstanding - you try to cover the charge but sometimes you are not quick enough. Ask if there is any way for her/him to credit these back to your account. (If you only have had a few - they will almost always credit back some or all)
3). Change Banks. Just don't leave any cheques outstanding. They all share information, and if you leave cheques or fee's outstanding, the new bank will simply close your account.
You are probably young. This will change as you get older.
Hope I helped,
James in San Diego
2006-10-03 04:29:45 · answer #2 · answered by jpr_sd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh God, someone after my own heart. I totally agree and won't even begin to tell you about my bit of bother with Capital One - I got behind and asked to make an arrangement for three months - you would not believe the charges, whereas other companies were really sympathetic as I was ill. And my bank charges £22.50 if overdrawn accidentally, but I have a feeling that there is now a limit to the amount which they can charge like £12. I intend to find out myself.
2006-10-03 04:20:30 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have a look on the money expert site. He has a 4 step guide to claiming bank charges back. It's illeagal for them to charge you (they can only charge a reasonable admin charge, 35 quid isn't reasonable!) One thing to be aware of though as noted on this site is that banks can turn nasty and whilst they will eventually have to give you your money back as they won't want to face court action and bad publicity, they will possibly close your account........this is going to be a problem if you're overdrawn. You can however claim back 6 years worth so it's worth writing to them and asking for a summary of charges.....might be enough to pay of your overdraft!!! Have a look at his site there are loads of good tips for getting your cash sorted.
2006-10-03 11:36:19 · answer #4 · answered by sarahlee 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To be honest it depends on which bank you have. I used to get this with HSBC - they would take the money and the charge then freeze my account as I'd gone over my overdraft, they're response when I called them - you signed the overdraft agreement, tough.
I moved to Natwest where I now have my own manager who I can contact by telephone whenever something like this happens. They are by no means perfect but if they see a payment will take me over my overdraft they call me and ask me if I want it to go ahead and if so when I will cover it. Much better service.
2006-10-03 04:34:30 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You have rights, but honestly, it is so difficult to change the system.
I would get a part-time gig (moonlighting) for a month or 2 and put the earnings from that in the checking account as a "cushion".
Or I could put the part-time earnings in a savings account linked to my checking so that I would avoid that 35 pound overdraft fee.
The bank is victimizing you, but you need to create STOPGAP measures to avoid becoming the victim in the first place.
You must establish a cushion in your checking account and if you got to get a 2nd job for a month or 2 to get it, THEN DO IT!
Good luck.
2006-10-03 06:59:45 · answer #6 · answered by DaMan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this happened to me once and i was really upset - my friend told me to speak to my bank so i went in and spoke to them and seen as though it was my first time in all the years ive been with the bank they cancelled it.
i have heard about a way of getting charges credited - ive seen a article on
www.moneysavingexpert.com
have a look around the site and im sure you will find it - or post on the forums and someone will be able to help you there.
2006-10-03 04:25:49 · answer #7 · answered by alrightyyy_then 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think you should cancle all of your direct debit with your bank and ask your service provider to send you bill which you pay cash . It will help you to avoid bank charges on unpaid direct debit.
2006-10-03 04:24:52 · answer #8 · answered by harun 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Log on to Motley Fool a totally free website who will explain how to get these illrgal charges returned.
2006-10-03 04:26:16 · answer #9 · answered by xenon 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
in the past ive phoned them up and threatened to leave for another bank. they soon give it back, or cut you a deal
2006-10-03 04:33:39 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋