Is this legal?

phil999_2

Screwed over....

I really need some advise.

I have an mbna card i am going through cancelling but have been screwed over badly. I want to know if all the charges i have been given are legal or not.

I had a limit of 13500 and it was something like 13000 so i had some charges which totaled 250ish i then was suprised by something i thought i had paid for in sept was finally taken which was £69 (they were very slow to finally take the payment)

i had a DD to take the min which was £230 to leave on the 24th but as i had 11700 in my bank i cancelled the dd and started the bank transfer but it didnt start the transfer until 25th. I was going to clear / cancel the card using the 11700 + transfer the balance to my new 0% halifax card.

I receieved my statement today with the following charges on

24th unpaid dd £230.26
24th returned payment fee £25
24th late fee £25
24th overlimit fee (based on 13611) £25
24th interest £268

My balance is now 13636 so 136 over my limit.

But if they hadnt added the £230 i would have been within my limit even after the interest.


Any advise or am i stuck with the charges?

chuckles1066

The charges are legitimate.

Pay up and learn for next time :rolleyes:

Clariman

phil999 wrote:

Screwed over....
I had a limit of 13500 and it was something like 13000 so i had some charges which totaled 250ish i then was suprised by something i thought i had paid for in sept was finally taken which was £69 (they were very slow to finally take the payment)

i had a DD to take the min which was £230 to leave on the 24th but as i had 11700 in my bank i cancelled the dd and started the bank transfer but it didnt start the transfer until 25th. I was going to clear / cancel the card using the 11700 + transfer the balance to my new 0% halifax card.

I receieved my statement today with the following charges on

24th unpaid dd £230.26
24th returned payment fee £25
24th late fee £25
24th overlimit fee (based on 13611) £25
24th interest £268

My balance is now 13636 so 136 over my limit.

But if they hadnt added the £230 i would have been within my limit even after the interest.

Well it is certainly an unfortunate series of events and it is a salutory lesson on what can happen if you miss (or miss-time) a payment. I think you will find that the charges are likely to be legitimate. The £230.26 is the amount of money they had to debit your account with again which should match a credit for the same amount so they should balance each other out i.e. they tried to take that money from your bank account but you had stopped the direct debit so the request for payment was returned. The second line is the amount they charge you for them being unable to collect the Direct Debit (because you cancelled it). The late payment fee is exactly what it says it is. The over limit fee is also exactly what it says it is and that is due to you not paying the balance in time. The interest I presume is correct.

Check your Ts & Cs but I think you will find all the fees and charges documented in there. If not, then you certainly do have a case. Even if you find them in there, it would be worth calling MBNA and explaining the situation and asking if they could waive the fees this once because it was just a matter of bad timing & misunderstanding rather than an unwillingness to pay on time. You have learned your lesson and will be more careful next time. They might agree to waive the charges this once if you ask nicely.

Clariman

grumbler

phil999 wrote:

My balance is now 13636 so 136 over my limit.

But if they hadnt added the £230 i would have been within my limit even after the interest.

13000 - you owed
__250 - 'some charges'
___69 - delayed payment
___25 - returned payment fee
___25 - late payment fee
__268 - interest

---

13637

They hadn't added £230.
Is this correct or I don't understand something about £250 'some charges'? What were these 'some charges' for?

phil999_2

my whole statement

13005.42 balance brough forward from previous sheet. The old £69 was on the previous sheet.

6th XXX £13.31
12th XXX £14.51
12th XXX £11.38
16th XXX £5.32
20th XXX £12.99
24th unpaid dd £230.26
24th returned payment fee £25
24th late fee £25
24th overlimit fee (based on 13611) £25
24th interest £268


So i have no problem with the 3 lots of £25 as i was late but can they legally add the failed DD to the debt?? As without it i wouldnt have been over my limit so one lot of £25 wouldnt apply. And i would still be within my limit.

The some charges were things i brought on the previous page of the statement.

grumbler

I don't understand Clariman's explanation above that 'they should balance each other'. That is why I posted my calculations. I don't understand too how they can add failed DD amount (£230.26) to the debt. I am quite sure this is their mistake. If I am right, overelimit fee £25 is wrong too.

13005.42
13.31
14.51
11.38
5.32
12.99
25.00
25.00
268.00

---

13380.90

- you are well within your limit.

somerandomguy_2

check out the bank charges illegal thread:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=115112

There is very good advice about these punative charges being illegal (the thread is focused on banks, but a number of posts refer to credit cards too). A number of people have detailed how they have threatened to take banks to the small claims court to recover the charges and successfully had some very substantial refunds.

good luck

Clariman

grumbler wrote:

I don't understand Clariman's explanation above that 'they should balance each other'. That is why I posted my calculations. I don't understand too how they can add failed DD amount (£230.26) to the debt. I am quite sure this is their mistake. If I am right, overelimit fee £25 is wrong too.

I made an assumption which may be right or wrong. This is what I presumed happened....

• MBNA credit the account £230.26 at the time they request that DD from the bank
• Direct debit for £230.26 gets refused because posted cancelled it
• MBNA debit that amount back to the card again and mark as "unpaid direct debit"... hence my comment about them balancing each other out
• Other charges kick in for late payment, over limit etc

Now if initial credit (1st item in above list) did not appear on a statement, then I am as confused as everyone else ... and perhaps it was a mistake.

Clariman

phil999_2

thanks i will call in the morning and let everyone know the outcome.

M_Thomson

I am surprised DChurch sue every bank 24 hasn't made a post on this thread yet.

Stonk

M_Thomson wrote:

I am surprised DChurch sue every bank 24 hasn't made a post on this thread yet.

Perhaps he is busy attending to his finances for a change - instead of ignoring them, getting charged fees, and then threatening court action to get them refunded! I don't agree much with the scale of bank charges myself, but I do find sticking to the rules so much simpler.