should i pay up?

lorz

Smile bank say I owe them £84 in charges because I was overdrawn by £2.21 - which itself was a charge applied by the bank. Basically I had an account which i wanted to close; when I spoke to them in July, there was a direct debit still going out of the account; I said I would stop the direct debit and pay the outstanding amount of £170 and that the account would then be closed; I had said I would do it within a fortnight, but with holidays etc at the time, I didn't do it until 20 August. On 21st August, Smile applied charges of £2.21 for what I owed them between july and august. Since then I have been racking up charges every month. As far as I was concerned, the account was closed and I no longer knew the log-in's etc (i think they set up new security questions when I spoke to them in July). I got a letter about this in December and when I called that is when I found out that I'm now overdrawn. They said I owe them this amount because I didn't pay within the fortnight as discussed on the phone in July. I feel it is unfair. Because I didn't answer the security questions correctly on the phone, they say that in order to complain I have to go to co-op bank with 2 photo id and get authentication and that the only way to complain is online. I now have threatening letters from the debt collection department; and more charges will be made on the 20th of this month. Should I pay up?

Stuart_W

As the charges are in line with the agreement of the account, I do suggest you pay up immediately to prevent more being charged - otherwise it could just continue to escalate.

However, once cleared, continue to complain and request a refund of these charges. Letter may be the best way to proceed from here on in.