We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum... Read More »
We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!
A & L Overdraft Withdrawn Without Notice...
Options
silverbullit
Posts: 273 Forumite
I discovered yesterday while checking my account (Premier Direct Current Account) online that the £5k OD that i had on my current account with A&L had suddenly been withdrawn. I had been given no notice or warning of the withdrawal.
One of the reasons why I had switched to A&L last year was because of the promise to match my existing OD (5K), which they did only for them now, just after a year, to withdraw it entirely!
I'm confused as to what might have caused them to withdraw the facility. I have never incurred any charges for mismanagement of my account, i have always been within my authorised limits. I wonder whether this has anything to do with the dreaded 'credit crunch' in the economy or whether it's an indication that something on my credit file has recently happended to cause A&L to withdraw the OD.
I know that ODs are discretionary facilities which can be recalled at any time but, even so, i would have expected, if only as a matter of courtesy to a customer, that they would give me some warning so that i could make alternative arrangements before it was withdrawn.
Has anyone else had their OD withdrawn suddenly, whether by A&L or any other banks and, if so, did you manage to find out why?
Because i need an OD facility, i now have to consider whether to close the A&L account and go to another bank that will give me an OD. It has left me with a bitter taste in the mouth because my last bank -Barclays, from which i had switched to A&L - had given me a £5k OD continuously for a number of years even though i rarely used it. I wonder whether A&L used the OD matching promise just to entice new customers only then, after a year, to withdraw the facility by which time the customer will probably have closed their previous account(s)!
Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated....apologies for the length of the post! :beer:
One of the reasons why I had switched to A&L last year was because of the promise to match my existing OD (5K), which they did only for them now, just after a year, to withdraw it entirely!
I'm confused as to what might have caused them to withdraw the facility. I have never incurred any charges for mismanagement of my account, i have always been within my authorised limits. I wonder whether this has anything to do with the dreaded 'credit crunch' in the economy or whether it's an indication that something on my credit file has recently happended to cause A&L to withdraw the OD.
I know that ODs are discretionary facilities which can be recalled at any time but, even so, i would have expected, if only as a matter of courtesy to a customer, that they would give me some warning so that i could make alternative arrangements before it was withdrawn.
Has anyone else had their OD withdrawn suddenly, whether by A&L or any other banks and, if so, did you manage to find out why?
Because i need an OD facility, i now have to consider whether to close the A&L account and go to another bank that will give me an OD. It has left me with a bitter taste in the mouth because my last bank -Barclays, from which i had switched to A&L - had given me a £5k OD continuously for a number of years even though i rarely used it. I wonder whether A&L used the OD matching promise just to entice new customers only then, after a year, to withdraw the facility by which time the customer will probably have closed their previous account(s)!
Any thoughts/advice would be much appreciated....apologies for the length of the post! :beer:
'I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it....for much longer!'
0
Comments
-
NEEDING a 5K overdraft is a bit foolish. You have obviously lived beyond your means for at least a year and would therefor appear to me to be a bad risk.
Overdrafts are for emergency, not long term loans; if that IS what you need, then try to get one.
Sorry if this is not what you want to hear.0 -
I firmly believe this is the credit crunch at work. Take a look around these boards and you will find a fair few others going through the same thing. It is also happening with credit cards - there was a news item about Egg reviewing and revoking cards. If I remember rightly about 15,000 customers were affected, including me! I also had my Halifax limit drastically reduced. It's going to get much harder to obtain and keep hold of credit I reckon.
My theory is banks are expecting to have to write off large amounts on mortgages as houses are repossessed. But if you are at risk of losing your house, the first thing you would do is stop paying unsecured debts in favour of secured ones. So this means before mass repossessions banks can expect huge unsecured debt write offs. So they are closing / withdrawing the most "at risk" in order to minimise their potential losses.0 -
Just registered with Martins site - new to this but just read your article on A&L... bit of an eye opener!... I/we were seriously thinking about changing bank accounts when I saw Martin's info on the A&L offering interest free overdraft facilities for 1 yr, It would still be better for us to change as the charges are only £5 tops per month whereas I am paying anything from £30 to £70 at certain times due to the amount used on my overdraft...
Would you know if these overdraft interest charges are excessive and can you reclaim anything back or does that just apply to bank charges?
regards,
Sophie0 -
Was the overdraft agreement only for one year or for a fixed length of time? If so then they do not have to give you notice of its withdrawal - it is your responsibility to be aware of the end of the agreement. Otherwise, they should have given you notice. Have you spoken to them about it yet?0
This discussion has been closed.
Confirm your email address to Create Threads and Reply
Categories
- All Categories
- 350.6K Banking & Borrowing
- 253K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 453.4K Spending & Discounts
- 243.6K Work, Benefits & Business
- 598.4K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 176.8K Life & Family
- 256.8K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
- 37.6K Read-Only Boards