Overdrawn Charges with your bank?

Question

I have gone ove my overdraft limit as my work forgtot to pay my wages in last week so now they are not going to to in until Wed... Do you think If I called my bank and explained the situation they would stop the charges of £30 a day being added to my account?

Answer 1

You need to read this;

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632,

Its a guide to claiming back bank charges from your bank. Many bank charges may actually be illegal, you can challenge your bank on them & many of them will back down. I did this personally with First Direct for £55. They didn't admit the charges were over the top but they credited the money back to me as a "gesture of goodwill"...ahem....

You do need to be aware though that your bank may close your account in retaliation (which is probably also illegal) so the advice is to set up another account just in case.

Everybody should read this. Also the rest of the site is fab, it's all about saving money, a subject close to uncle festers heart.

Answer 2

Sorry, banks seldom respond to calls or in person pleading to stop or reverse charges, especially if you are chronically in overdraft and close to your limit.
Your best bet is an explanatory letter from your employer to take to the bank. If they won't reverse all charges, get your employer to pay them. If the employer won't provide a letter or pay any charges, talk to a solicitor or to legal aid to find out your other options.

Having said that, you should realize that as an adult, it is foolish of you to be that close to your overdraft limit or routinely in an overdraft position. It means that some of your hard-earned money every month goes to pay interest charges to the bank, which add up fast. It may sound old fashioned, but you will be happier and better off learning to live on what you make without resorting to overdraft at all. Figure out how to spend a bit less of your wages so you can accumulate some savings. Otherwise, what would you do if you need money for a real emergency?

Answer 3

Honestly, in my past experience I would say no. Although, it wouldn't hurt to call and ask them. Most of the time banks can be unforgiving but there has been times where they will take in account the situation if you call in to dispute the charges. Usually, they don't take out money per day, just per charge that will overdraft your account. Try calling them and explaining the situation, the worst they could say is no. Hope this helps

Answer 4

You can give them a call to explain the situation or may be able to ask your employer to call them and explain what's happened. If they still charge you then there are ways of getting theses charges and all similar charges back from your bank as they are only allowed legally to charge a true cost. There are companies who will do this for you and they will only take the interest due to you from your bank or your credit card company. Suggest you search for a web site or look in the papers.

Answer 5

They might. It's always worth asking. Our credit union once forgave $300 in overdraft charges because we'd been customers over the years. All we did was ask if there was anything they could do.

We did have a good working relationship with the person at the bank that we spoke to.

Answer 6

I doubt it. The banks does not care about the situation just that they get their money. I find it rather stupid of them to charge overdraft fees. If people had the money in the first place the account would not have been over drawn. They just make things worse on the customer.

Answer 7

Yes, they will negotiate with you.

The best thing would be to take a personal loan to cover the overdraft. The interest you pay on it will be cheaper than the overdraft charges.
If you try to negotiate this, they will see you are being proactive and probably drop the overdraft charges anyway.

Answer 8

I would explain to your employer that you need the money NOW and that you expect them to pay the overdraft charges caused by their error. While they may prefer to pay you with the next pay cycle, I'd imagine they can cut you a check today.

Answer 9

Hi
Just explain the situation and that you are a loyal customer. If they will not pay it back then tell them you will take your business elsewhere. I have done this a couple of times at HSBC.
They were quite understanding.....Make sure you go in face to face cause they will only fob you off over the phone....

Good Luck

Answer 10

Your work must pay the charges as it was their fault, not yours, so get statement from your bank showing the charges and give it to your employer, they must cough up otherwise take them to small claims court!