On several occasions I have been charged by my bank for going overdraft by very small amounts...?

Question

I usually only go overdraft by very little amounts (always under £10), but Lloyds still charges £30 per day. The total I have now been charged for this has reached quite a large number now and I heard that there is a way to get it all back. I have read what Lloyd's says here about the 'test case':
http://www.lloydstsb.com/ways_to_bank_with_us/answers_bank_charges.asp
but is there anything I can do right now.

Can somebody please give some advise... I'm only 17, so it would really be nice if I could get my money back...

Answer 1

Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done straight away.

Up until August of this year, you could successfully claim your bank charges back by going through the courts, and hundreds of thousands of pounds were claimed back. However, claiming your bank charges back became more and more popular, and the court service quickly became clogged up, with so many cases being put through, meaning long delays.

On top of this, the situation became very unfair. People with identical claims were getting different results, some won, some lost, and all depending on which judge you got on the day.

Because of this, the OFT decided to call a halt to it all and make a claim in the High court to decide once and for all if the charges were unfair. In the small claims court, there is no precedent, so one claim will not affect another. In the high court however, legal precendents are set, so the result of the test case will affect all other cases.

The case is due to start at the end of january 2008, and its expected to be a year before the final ruling is obtained, mainly because the case is so complex.

If the the OFT win, then it will mean everyone will get their bank charges back quickly and easily, without the long battle through the courts. If the bank win however it will be an end to bank charge claims.

In the meantime, the FSA granted a stay to the banks on dealing with all claims. When a new claim is received, its logged and acknowledged and then put aside until the test case is resolved.

If you want to claim, its still a good idea to do so now, as it locks the date that you can claim back to 6 years from the date of the claim. If you claim now you could get back more charges, it also means your claim will be dealt with quicker as its already in the system.

To claim, all you need to do is to send a letter asking for your charges back to the banks head office, by recorded delivery, so you can prove when it was received. You then need to do nothing further until the result of the test case.

So, unfortunately in the meantime you won't be getting your money back anytime soon, but if the OFT win you could get it back at a later date.

For more details about claiming and the current situation, have a look at my website below.

The site is free to use!

Answer 2

I have two accounts with BofA so if I lose my card no one can wipe out my account but instead this has given BofA the right to wipe it out instead. I spend money and immediatly transfer money (I was assured when I became a BofA customer that that would be fine) since then I have spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars in overdraft fees. They charge highest amount to lowest then they also charge for pending transactions even when you have the money in the savings and transfer it in before it posts. Even worse they wait to post stuff now (a new policy i found out) which is funny because the reason I went with BofA was the commercials saying everthing shows online instantly because I do not keep a register. So now also they show a transaction for a few hours after the intial purchase as pending then it disapears (they told me they have five days to post something and that is why it is removed from the pending transaction list) and if you are not really careful and think it went threw it screws up your balance they wait till the oppurtune time to post to overdraw your account and yet again now you are paying fees for fees. Then they have all these other ways to charge fees like they wait three four days to post the fees to your account in hopes that you do not realize you are going to be charged the fees by then and it takes three days to notify you by mail but by then you have already overdrafted yourself thinking you had alot of cash in the account. I am switching to Chase today as a result as they just announced they would no longer be practicing this crap.

Answer 3

You apparently didn't see where this case could take a year.

Banks charge for overdrafts regardless of the amount, large or small.
You wrote a draft without sufficient funds?You owe the charges.

Answer 4

I've never incurred an overdraft charge. Here's the secret...

Actually run a check register and keep track of how much money is in your account! D'oh! Then you never have to worry about how much your bank charges for overdraft fees. It is all part of being a responsible adult!

Answer 5

The EASIEST answer is to keep some extra funds in your account and NOT go overdraft AT ALL. By the way, how can you have your own account when you are still a MINOR (17 yrs old) ? Is this a put-on question ?

Answer 6

See you Bank and arrange an overdraft facility then it will be cheaper. Get out of Lloyds TSB they are crap. But arrange a faciltiy and the next bank. But dont go over the limit it'll cost you again

Answer 7

I go along with what Paul S says but I would threaten to close your account and point out that you are only 17 and have a lot of banking life ahead of you and all of those profits could be theirs. If you don't get any joy then go down Paul S's suggested route.

Answer 8

you are entitled to claim it back by first writing to the bank. why dont you put a small overdraft limit of £50 on your account then if anything goes out when you least expect it, you wont be charged

Answer 9

Log onto moneysavingexpert.com he tells you all about it there. £30 per day? That is illegal now as I think the FSA forced the banks to reduce their charges. Mine charge me £8 if I overdraw. Close the account and open another one at a different bank.

Answer 10

http://www.thesite.org/homelawandmoney/money/creditanddebt/overdrafts

Gives a bit of advice. Is it worth asking why the bank has let you go overdrawn because you're not 18.