can i refuse to pay bank charges?

martthehart

I went £3 over my £50 overdraft limit on my halifax account when in the process of swapping all my direct debits and wages to another bank.Money was paid into the account the next day to clear all the overdraft when we realised. The bank has charged £35 penalty fee which falls within a £50 overdraft limit given by the bank when first opened. They are also going to charge us £28 unauthorised overdraft fee on the 28th Feb. A total of £63 for going over by £3. What I want to know is can I close my account and not pay any of this especially since this is what I was in the process of doing anyway. I have asked the bank to reverse the charges but they said we went overdrawn two years ago and they reversed it then and can only apply it once to an account. If do not pay it what will be the likely consequences.

Thanks
Mart

dunstonh

1 - They will continue to charge you for being overdrawn
2 - if it goes on too long they will cancel all your direct debits and standing orders and give you notice that they will not allow you to go overdrawn again.
3 - they will cancel any debit cards
4 - they will give notice to close your account.

JamieD_2

Your bank won't close your account until it is at a zero balance. If, when all pending charges, outstanding card transactions etc. are deducted, there is still a positive balance then that balance will be paid to you. If it is a negative figure, then you will have to pay that amount into your account before it can be closed.

Ignoring the charges and simply using any new account you might have wouldn't be the best route. Your existing account would continue to accrue charges for exceeding your overdraft, pushing you deeper into the poo.

dunstonh

Your bank won't close your account until it is at a zero balance.

They can do. If they think there is no chance of it returning to a positive balance they can pass the debt on for collection. Back in my banking days I did that a number of times.

martthehart

dunstonh wrote: »

1 - They will continue to charge you for being overdrawn
2 - if it goes on too long they will cancel all your direct debits and standing orders and give you notice that they will not allow you to go overdrawn again.
3 - they will cancel any debit cards
4 - they will give notice to close your account.

I was in the process of closing the account hence going overdrawn. So there are no DD or anything the account is going to be closed by myself as soon as I find out what action they can take to recover the excessive costs. Will they take it further?

willo65

I would say best to pay the charges because the charges will just keep building up very quickly and eventually will be passed to debt collection - you couls also get a default on your credit file etc etc