A&L / Santander unauthorised overdraft charges

onlyroz · 15 May 2011 at 12:19PM

I have had an A&L account ticking over for quite a few months now - I'd been intending on closing it but somehow never got round to it. At the end of March my account went 65p overdrawn, because of a final payment to a credit card (which I was also closing). As I hadn't been monitoring the account I didn't notice this for about a month and in the mean time I'd notched up £100 in unauthorised overdraft charges (it's £5 a day, I think).

I stumped up the money, but now a month later I see that I'm going to be charged another £50 in overdraft charges. I'm not quite sure when (or if) I went overdrawn for a second time because my statement has always shown a positive balance for the last month, but it might be something to do with a £5 inactivity fee they've been charging me recently.

So basically, do I have any chance of reclaiming this £150 in unauthorised overdraft fees, arising from my 65p overdraft? I've sent the bank a secure message about this, but no response yet.

zppp · 15 May 2011 at 4:24PM

onlyroz wrote: »

So basically, do I have any chance of reclaiming this £150 in unauthorised overdraft fees, arising from my 65p overdraft? I've sent the bank a secure message about this, but no response yet.

If the charges have been applied in accordance with the terms and conditions of the account, then no unless;

1. You can prove financial hardship (and even then it is not guaranteed that you will be refunded a single charge)
2. You ask them to remove the fees on the basis of goodwill.

If you have contacted them by email they should acknowledge within 5 days and they have 8 weeks to look at our complaint.

fedupmansfield · 16 May 2011 at 12:52PM

I've been into A&L today asking them to reverse some charges (£485 in 3 months for being £37 overdrawn) and they said if the amount had been under £10 they would have refuded the charges, so it's worth nipping into your local branch (you may need to make an appointment to be seen) and asking them to repeal the charge.

onlyroz · 16 May 2011 at 2:18PM

Well I logged into my account today to find that I have been refunded £100 of the amount - I'm chasing up on the remaining £50. This amount is in my "charges to be applied on 31st May" list, so I haven't actually been charged it yet - but I don't want to have to go through all this again on 31st May, so I'm trying to get clarification on why it is there at all, because my account hasn't actually been overdrawn since 31st March.

ponbeam · 17 May 2011 at 12:14AM

Santander will refund any charges incurred if they are less than 10 pounds. Your branch will do it no problem.

Boris_Allen · 17 May 2011 at 12:24AM

Wow is this thread actually showing Santander in a (albeit reasonably) positive light?!?

barlowgirl42 · 24 May 2011 at 9:44AM

Hi I was just wondering if you could help at all?
Im also with Alliance &Leicester- now santander. Im a student and have still been using my current account as my main bank account, however in November last year they sent me a letter saying that I owed them £165 because I had gone into my unarranged overdraft by £30 plus it was a direct debit so they were charging me for that too. This is the first time it has ever happened to me in the four years I've had the account- it was due to a collection of things that were completely out of my jurisdicition. I had just left my job and they not only paid me on the wrong day but also did not pay me the full amount. Secondly the direct debit that came out was actually suppose to come out the month before and for some reason they skipped it.

I rang santander asking them why I was being charged so much, explain my situation and also to see if they would reverse it. The girl refused and said it was my own fault but as a 'good will gesture' she would reimburse £25. As this is my first time in having to deal with such things I accepted it as I was worried about what to do. When my parents found out, my dad told me to write a letter to them to investigate it. I did, and about 2 months later I got a letter stating that it was indeed my own fault and that they found the charges fair- after all they had taken off one of the £25 service charges. It then stated I had 8 weeks to reply or they would assume the matter was closed. By this time it was January and I was in the midst of my exams and away from home so, feeling rather dejected I left it and transferred my student loan over to pay santander.

It is only now, in May, that I have returned home and my parents have brought the issue back up. My dad seems to think that they were unfair and were blatantly preying on the fact that I was a student and am not bank-savvy. He is now suggesting I write to them again to reclaim the charges. My only query is- they gave me a letter stating that i needed to repsond within 8 weeks, does this then affect my claim? During that period I was relying on my savings and my parents to help me out whilst I was studying and volunteering in order to get work. That £145 would have helped me out a lot but I fear that in Santanders eyes, it was my fault.

Please help!!

glendvd · 27 July 2011 at 11:03AM

Boris_Allen wrote: »

Wow is this thread actually showing Santander in a (albeit reasonably) positive light?!?

I doubt it, they're a bunch of goddam crooks. I went £1.47 overdrawn, and they are now wanting to charge me £45.00 for the pleasure. I ask, what sort of bank lets you use your card if you don't have enough money in your account to pay for something? A bank that is more interested in making money from it's charges than looking after its customers that's what. I've only been with them a few months and the trouble I've had with them has been neverending. A shocking bank. Well there's no more money going into that account I can tell you, and they'll never see that £45.00. No doubt the charges will escalate over the coming months, but I'm not paying a penny. Let's see what the courts say when they eventually decide to spend a fortune taking me there, and I turn up with my printout showing an original minus amount of £1.47.

Common_Sense_2 · 27 July 2011 at 4:03PM

glendvd wrote: »

I doubt it, they're a bunch of goddam crooks. I went £1.47 overdrawn, and they are now wanting to charge me £45.00 for the pleasure. I ask, what sort of bank lets you use your card if you don't have enough money in your account to pay for something?

That would be any bank - if you run your account so close to the line, you run the risk of the same thing happening with any other bank.

QueenDivaCharm · 27 July 2011 at 10:02PM

Common_Sense_2 wrote: »

That would be any bank - if you run your account so close to the line, you run the risk of the same thing happening with any other bank.

Its actually nothing to do with the banks. If the transaction falls under the floor limit of the retailer, it goes through without referral to the bank for authorisation. Afterall, if you are handing your card over, you are saying you have sufficient funds to make the transaction

QueenDivaCharm · 27 July 2011 at 10:04PM

glendvd wrote: »

I doubt it, they're a bunch of goddam crooks. I went £1.47 overdrawn, and they are now wanting to charge me £45.00 for the pleasure. I ask, what sort of bank lets you use your card if you don't have enough money in your account to pay for something? A bank that is more interested in making money from it's charges than looking after its customers that's what. I've only been with them a few months and the trouble I've had with them has been neverending. A shocking bank. Well there's no more money going into that account I can tell you, and they'll never see that £45.00. No doubt the charges will escalate over the coming months, but I'm not paying a penny. Let's see what the courts say when they eventually decide to spend a fortune taking me there, and I turn up with my printout showing an original minus amount of £1.47.

If you phone them, the will cancel the charges off - as stated above they refund charges for any unauthorised overdraft of £10 or less...

A&L / Santander unauthorised overdraft charges

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