Abbey Student Account: Overlimit Charges

lukealexander

My girlfriend has just discovered today that she has gone £6 over her limit on her student account (women and shopping - need I say more? ).

She called them and told her that they couldn't tell her what the fee was because it hadn't been "processed", but if the £6 was put in before Monday (is that even possible?) it would not be charged.

So I looked up their charges and they are pretty confusing (and pernicious):

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]The Instant Overdraft Request Fee depends on the size of the transactionwhich triggers the request for the service(not the size of the Instant Overdraft you ask for).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Transaction £0 - £9.99[/FONT] = [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]£5[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Transaction £10 - £19.99[/FONT] = [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]£15[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Transaction £20 - £29.99[/FONT] = [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]£25[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Transaction £30+[/FONT] = [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]£35[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Instant Overdraft Monthly Fee(charged every month which you use an Instant Overdraft)[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]£25[/FONT]

So, does this mean for a £30 transaction taking you £6 over you are charged £35? If so that is an ABSOLUTE disgrace (and I have little sympathy for those who fail to budget correctly to boot!). Secondly, is the £25 at the bottom added as well, making a total of £60 + interest?

That is totally extortionate... worse than any bank I have yet seen.

Lokolo

She went over her agreed limit, its her own fault, she should know how much is in her account.

If its her first time she might be able to get a refund if shes polite and very apologetic. However as I said, its her fault, its in the T&Cs.

I think the charge will be £5 + £25. £5 as this is the amount her account has asked for (£6).

And worse than any other bank you've seen? All banks do it....

lukealexander

Lokolo wrote: »

She went over her agreed limit, its her own fault, she should know how much is in her account.

If its her first time she might be able to get a refund if shes polite and very apologetic. However as I said, its her fault, its in the T&Cs.

I think the charge will be £5 + £25. £5 as this is the amount her account has asked for (£6).

And worse than any other bank you've seen? All banks do it....

As I said, obviously it is her own fault nor am I trying to find a way past the terms.

If you read the first line of their T&C it says the charge depends on the transaction, not the over-limit amount - that is what I am so incredulous about!

Finally, if we compare it to my bank's (HSBC) fee structure, Abbey operate a very draconian policy indeed.

SparciaM

I guess the only thing to do is wait until the charge is on the account and then ring up and being very polite and as a first offence get them to refund it.

If not, just make sure there is more money in the account next time. The T&Cs do look confusing, I read them as £35 + £25 = £60!!!

How I get that is:

The Instant Overdraft Request Fee depends on the size of the transactionwhich triggers the request for the service(not the size of the Instant Overdraft you ask for): So the size of the IO is £6, but the transaction which trigged it is £30 = £35 fee and then you have the monthly £25 fee for a month.

If that is correct then I'd suggest she switch to another bank or not spend as much. As £60 is a lot for £6 over limit.

Mike1989

How I read it, she paid £30 for some goods, took her over drawn and the cost incurred is £35. Plus I read it that when you use that facility you have a £25 charge for every month that you use that facility. But is there any text above that or below that in the terms and conditions that can help your understanding of what the charge will be?

As for the charges, Halifax charge you £28 a month for using an unauthorised overdraft. Lloyds TSB don't charge you for your first usage of it, then after that the cost is £15. RBS charges £28. Barclays have a reserve system which charges £22. So it does appear to be expensive on the face of it. Yet another reason not to bank with Abbey, you know what service. But the old addage, they are only doing their job and it is not their fault she went over drawn. But they are expensive compared to the others on the face of it.

Twister84

Mike1989 wrote: »

RBS charges £28.

on the main current accounts....yes.

On a Route 21, Student & Graduate Royalties accounts, it's a fixed £10 charge for going over your limit.

Mike1989

So it is, missed that

ShelfStacker_3

Mike1989 wrote: »

As for the charges, Halifax charge you £28 a month for using an unauthorised overdraft. Lloyds TSB don't charge you for your first usage of it, then after that the cost is £15. RBS charges £28. Barclays have a reserve system which charges £22. So it does appear to be expensive on the face of it. Yet another reason not to bank with Abbey, you know what service. But the old addage, they are only doing their job and it is not their fault she went over drawn. But they are expensive compared to the others on the face of it.

Very expensive, considering HSBC wouldn't have charged at all.

Twister84

Mike1989 wrote: »

So it is, missed that

It's ok, I forgive you

Mike1989

ShelfStacker wrote: »

Very expensive, considering HSBC wouldn't have charged at all.

HSBC don't charge for going over an agreed over draft limit?

Is that the same as Lloyds not charging the first time it happens and then they charge if it happens again. Or is there just no charge?

lukealexander

HSBC's system:

Any over-limit of £10 or less is not chargeable.

If you exceed £10 over-limit, no charge is made provided it is the first time it has happened in the last 6 months.

If you do get charged, the charges will not exceed the maximum over-limit in that month. i.e. you are £11 over-limit, you will not pay more than £11 in charges.

Very fair to me...