What would be a fair amout to charge?

dunstonh

arunadasi wrote: »

Not only that; they WANT you to go over that limit, because it's a nice little money-making side business!
Nothing like them grabbing handfuls of money out of my account. Many of the charges haven no explanation whatsoever, and if you ask for an explanation they don't give it. That is abuse of power.

You could control your own money and not go over the limit. Then you wouldnt have this problem.

bengal-stripe

arunadasi wrote: »

The fact that what they owe me in charges is more than my present overdraft plus credit card debt shows that I have indeed managed my money well.

arunadasi wrote: »

we got into a tight place and many of our DD's bounced all at once. They did not close our account.

As far as money-management is concerned, you seem to go for a scorched earth policy in either country.

Maybe the bank did not close the account then, as you promised to sell the house. But, do you still have a German account and an EC card? Unlikely, you could open another one with those entries of bounced DD.

arunadasi wrote: »

Where the German banks are strict is in their credit scoring; once you're in the Schufa you're there for a couple of years, even after the debt is paid off.

Schufa will list negative and positive entries. Everybody with any financial dealings within Germany will be listed. On the negative side they will list overdue bills, the misuse of current-, loan- and credit card accounts as well as the withdrawal of credit.

http://www.artikel-base.de/geld-finanzen/schufa.aspx

arunadasi

bengal-stripe wrote: »

As far as money-management is concerned, you seem to go for a scorched earth policy in either country.

Maybe the bank did not close the account then, as you promised to sell the house. But, do you still have a German account and an EC card? Unlikely, you could open another one with those entries of bounced DD.

No. As I said earlier, after years of a very good income, some very bad luck befell us. It can happen to anybody. I don't like living on a financial edge. I want more than anything to stop living from my overdraft; when I do go over the limit it's nice to have a buffer zone. That's that the overdraft is for, and that's what will happen as soon as I get my charges back and can get off the overdraft. It's now a matter of days rather than weeks.

The good thing about Germany is that we always had a personal manager who knew our situation and with whom we could always talk and make arrangements. After a few more months we closed that account and opened another one, with an allied bank in another city. No problem whatsoever. We have a new personal manager at that bank whom I can email or phone when I have a question. It's all good.

So yes, we do have a German account and EC card.

arunadasi

PS Bengal-stripe: isn't it interesting to note that the highest court in Germany has forbidden bank charges on bounced DD's?

amersall

jon_boy75 wrote: »

As many people have suggested, it's about fairness and not being excessive. People make mistakes, sometimes people push the boundaries when it comes to their personal banking. However, if the banks will permit people to go overdrawn, then they need to control it as best they can, and fairly.

Apparently a recent study showed it cost about £1.50 - 2.50 in admin to the bank, for a person going overdrawn.

Let's not forget, when the banks have made 'mistakes' recently, what was the charge levied on them? Accountability and fairness didnt really count for them did it.

I get slightly annoyed when people say that the Terms and Conditions are clear etc etc. These dont take into account real life, nor do they give us any choice. If we didnt have a bank account with at least 1 bank we wouldnt be able to get paid...so we have to have a bank account, and they know it.

The snowballing charges are a disgrace and they should be corrected. It's very easy for people to say that it's the customers fault, and sometimes it is...but they should be charged accordingly.

Given the current situation, haven't many of the banks damaged the economy to a huge extent, making the dream of house buying almost impossible for many thousands of people. What would be a fair amount to charge for that? For greed and short-termism? For bundlign up bad debt and selling it on? Who is the more guilty party?

More questions than answers!!

:T:Tyou are spot on, it costs 2.50 to return a dd so on that basis a 35 charge is well over the top. i would gladly pay 10 for the cost of going overdrawn. and well said on your other comments:cool:

dunstonh

amersall wrote: »

:T:Tyou are spot on, it costs 2.50 to return a dd so on that basis a 35 charge is well over the top. i would gladly pay 10 for the cost of going overdrawn. and well said on your other comments:cool:

That £2.50 cost is well discussed. That is the actual cost but it does not include the cost of putting in place the staff and equipment and upgrading it. That will almost certainly mean that a final figure is likely to be higher than £2.50 but way lower than £35 (and probably lower than £12)

natweststaffmember

dunstonh wrote: »

That £2.50 cost is well discussed. That is the actual cost but it does not include the cost of putting in place the staff and equipment and upgrading it. That will almost certainly mean that a final figure is likely to be higher than £2.50 but way lower than £35 (and probably lower than £12)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6170495.stm
That is the article in which all factors were taken into account incl. staff costs equipment ,etc,etc.(they calculate £4.50 maximumu).

billymac61

Just a small point on Banks "choosing" to allow you to go overdrawn. This is not always the case. For example if you issue a cheque at or under your card limit and write the card number on the back of the cheque, the Bank has to honour the payment because it's "guaranteed". Doesn't matter that you don't have any funds in your account to cover it, the Bank has no choice but to make you overdrawn because basically that was your instruction to them!

So I think it's justified to charge for what used to be called card abuse, however agree the issue is over the level of charge.

natweststaffmember

billymac61 wrote: »

Just a small point on Banks "choosing" to allow you to go overdrawn. This is not always the case. For example if you issue a cheque at or under your card limit and write the card number on the back of the cheque, the Bank has to honour the payment because it's "guaranteed". Doesn't matter that you don't have any funds in your account to cover it, the Bank has no choice but to make you overdrawn because basically that was your instruction to them!

So I think it's justified to charge for what used to be called card abuse, however agree the issue is over the level of charge.

When you issue a cheque the bank authorises you to do so, which means that if it is card abuse, it is sanctioned by the bank. I don't think that card abuse charges are right. If the bank are concerned that they are being misrepresented in a shop then they should ask for the return of the cheque book and card.

dunstonh

If the bank are concerned that they are being misrepresented in a shop then they should ask for the return of the cheque book and card.

Yes. However, you know as well as me that those that are abusing the cheque guarantee card are often the ones that will not hand it back and will keep doing it until they run out of cheques.