Overdrawn fine unfair? Negative balance fixed within hours

spaceraiders

Hi,

I've just been fined £20 for being overdrawn on my current account (first time ever!). I move money from high-interest accounts into my current account just before my bills come in. I did it a bit late this time though. Between 9am and 5pm on one day:

- I had £300 in my current account
- £400 was deducted in rent from a direct debit putting me at -£100
- I transferred over £400 to put me back at £100.

A week later I notice I'd been fined £20. Can I get this money back? It's not clear to me if this comes under the unfair bank charges I keep reading about.

kaisersoze_2

A "fair" limit on bank charges has yet to be announced i think as there is still a test case going through the courts which the banks could drag on for ever and the OFT in their infinite wisdom have agreed to put all pending cases on hold till the case is completed.

My GF was in the same position but she was charged £35 for paying a direct debit when not enough funds were available and then an extra £28 for going over her overdraft limit.She was overdrawn for at the most 9 hours (money paid in when bank opened as i had noticed and she hadnt) by £1.32:mad:

realaledrinker

Have you read your T&Cs? They will state that you need to have cleared funds as of the previous day to meet any outgoing payments such as DDs.

kaisersoze_2

When you setup a DD most companies say it will be taken out on the day or shortly after, a day should be treated as a working day and if the funds go in on that day to cover the DD amount no charges should be taken

realaledrinker

kaisersoze wrote: »

When you setup a DD most companies say it will be taken out on the day or shortly after, a day should be treated as a working day and if the funds go in on that day to cover the DD amount no charges should be taken

Rubbish. OP's banks T&Cs will determine when charges are applied. Whether or not a supplier DDs you on the day they say they will or a couple of days later is irrelevant.

simon_templar_2

You need to have money in before any DD's or SO's come out. Putting money in on the same day is risking a charge being applied.

rb10

It depends on the bank as to whether you'll be able to put money in on the day and not get charged, e.g. the Halifax Reward account gives you until the end of the day, Lloyds gives you until mid-afternoon, and I think HSBC gives you a few hours too. But many others will specify that it has to be there by the night before, so the charge is within the T&Cs.

However, you can always ask them to refund it. They have no obligation to, as it would just be a gesture of goodwill, but as it's your first charge ever, you might get lucky.

jennytiger

Halifax have just charged me £105 for paying 3 of my direct debits which they say come out of my bank account between midnight and 3am i paid enough to cover these direct debits in the morning so will have been overdrawn for about 6 hours.

rb10

That's because you are on one of the old accounts, and not the new Reward account.