HSBC Bank Charges

Ilian2008

Hi Everyone, just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience with HSBC which has been so frustrating. Soryr its long

Basically, my wife and i had a joint bank account with HSBC and we used it purely for our outgoings. I would put in £750 a month and so would she and that would cover everything. We had an overdraft of £1,000.00.

My wife was unfrotunately diagnosed with cancer back in Jan 2006 and she was off work for long periods of time and she had no insurance. We had to use the overdraft as our income was so reduced. My wife never set up a direct debit and paying it in over the counter had always worked for us but as she was bed ridden most of the time and i was trying to work and keep a roof over our head at the same time i would only be able to get into the HSBC branch on a Saturday morning and the counters were closed and i woul dhave to use the deposit point. I would put £300 cash in and the balance by cheque and truly believed that the cash would go in straight away and pay whatever was coming out of the account on the monday or tuesday. However, to my horror, if a cash and cheque is put into the deposit point it takes 5 days to clear so any payments i thought that would be met were bounced so i would get a DD recall charge from HSBC and a charge from the perosn the direct debit was with and it would push me over my limit an did get a penalty charge. Often around £100.00

HSBC have been so difficult to deal with and i would look at my account and borow money to try to get back in within my limit and more charges would be levied. They say they are notified charges but of course its only notified in the terms and conditions.

The charges come to £1,800 and around £300 for charges in relation to the direct debit recall.

I spent half an hour with HSBC and they said they would extend my overdraft so id be within my limit but then they said they wouldnt then they said they would do me a 2k loan at 18.9% but after half an hour they refused that.

In the end my overdraft was exceeded by 890 quid which most of ti was made up of charges. I sold a whole host of things and paid the 2k off and closed the account and made my complaint about the charges.

My complaint asked for some compassion at least but all i get is standard letters saying that their charges are reasonable and that they are waiting for the test case result and thats it. its been a month since i last heard from them with yet another standard letter.

Anyone had any success getting past this wall they put up?

regards

slim1982

it s a very big wall and it s hard work i myself have nt bin successful but plently of people av keep fighting your corner and dont give up send them the template letter on here to get the ball rolling at the moment the test case is on hold and they are nt dealing with anyones case until some time next year i think but if you are in financial hatdship they are meant to look at it straight away hope this helped