Alliance & leicester overdraft usage fees

a.thomas

Hi

I have done a search for this topic but can't find anything that matches my query directly, so I do hope I am not repeating a question.

Has anyone had any problems with Alliance & Leicester's overdraft usage fees?

I have a premier direct online account with an overdraft limit of £400. I have recently had notification of charges amounting to £2.00 for a 28 day period during April - May 2009 when I was supposedly over my limit. Their fees are 50p per day overdrawn to a maximum of £5 per month. So this would indicate that I had been overdrawn for 4 days.

I have gone through the relevant period carefully and can only find two days when I might have constituted being overdrawn, only because on the bank statement they show the 'money out' before the 'money in', but at close of play on both the days my account was in credit.

I have had this issue on several occasions with them and when I call them they say something along the lines that the online bank statement doesn't necessarily always show overdrawn periods and that I should always be sure there is money in my account before spending any - how can I do this if my online bank statement doesn't always show if I am overdrawn. On one previous occasion when I complained they reimbursed me the fee 'out of the goodness of their heart'!

The last time this happened, I asked in a branch for the staff member to check through my account and she couldn't find any occasion that I was overdrawn even though I had been charged. She suggested I use the in-branch phone - which I declined as it is in my opinion too public.

Now it has happened again and I have just been given the same reply - but they can't categorically state which days I was overdrawn. Is this me? Is there something I am not understanding here? Surely if I am overdrawn this should be shown on my statement?

Anne Thomas

dc110

It may not be immediately obviously (from your statement) when you were overdrawn but any bank employee worth they salt show know how to interprete and explain when it occured.

Your statement will always show the 'current' and not 'available' balance.

Are there any periods when you have

• paid in a cheque and it wasnt cleared funds when other transactions debited
• had pending but not yet debited card payments which would have reduced your available balance?

Failing that ... it is the times when you had money out before money in.

john987

Same happened to me. I was charged 50p one month.

I think what happens is the process the money out first before the money in. My wages went in on the 26th and I made a payment the same day. Although it didn't show at the time when i went back on my account it showed the payment going out first thus sending me overdrawn.

Its a rip off in my opinion and one of the reasons I am thinking of getting rid of them although I am not sure if this is common amongst other banks - certainy have not experienced it before.

I could not be bothered to complain as it would have cost me more than 50p to call them.

flutterbyuk25

Same thing happened to me - £1.50 charge for 3 days supposidly (sp) overdrawn yet no evidence of this on my bank statement (account only pays out DD's and always has a +ve balance). I put a complaint to them and am awaiting a reply, they said I would hear within 5 working days, it's been 9 so far with no response.

I am leaving it til Monday then writing further complaint.

I have already written to them to close my account as they are worse than useless.

x

rb10

I believe (but am not 100% sure) that A&L require any money paid into your account by BACS/FP to be in the account for 24 hours before you use it. So if your salary goes in on Monday morning, you're not allowed to spend it until Tuesday morning.

mparter

rb10 wrote: »

I believe (but am not 100% sure) that A&L require any money paid into your account by BACS/FP to be in the account for 24 hours before you use it. So if your salary goes in on Monday morning, you're not allowed to spend it until Tuesday morning.

:huh: That makes no sense whatsoever. I'm closing my RBS account and moving to A&L and now it looks like A&L are picky with the order of debits/credits the same day, something which RBS isn't. As long as at the end of the close of play, you had money in your account to cover any outgoings, you were fine.

Item 18 (Order of Transactions) of their T&C's states;

"We do not have to carry out transactions on Your Account in any particular order."

Doesn't really clarify things does it??

david39

LLoyds have altered their terms recently to avoid this knotty problem. As long as you are within the agreed terms for your account by 4pm then it doesn't matter if you step outside them earlier during that working day.

barrys-lass

Hi there, I too have the same bank account and have gone over my overdraft limit. I have told them i am now unemployed and i sent them a SOA 8 weeks ago, they are charging me £5 per day for being overdrawn (limit is £250) and im now at -£509.65. No matter how many times i ask them to freeze the chargges they keep adding them on. This is not fair at all and they say they will only pay thye charges back if i am eligible after i send yet another SOA. What is their problem???????

kezzae

I transfered from Barclays to A&L Premier at the start of the year and I also had this problem. My money went into my account on say a monday, I checked the account balance, money in, but when I withdrew from a cash machine and checked the balance the next day it showed as me being overdrawn. When i asked A&L about this, I was basically told that I couldn't touch my money until 24 hrs later!! Needless to say I transfered everything back to Barclays and phoned up to close my A&L account down.

molerat

flutterbyuk25 wrote: »

I have already written to them to close my account

I hope that works !! We sent two letters to close down 4 old (savings) accounts that we have kicking around with about £1 each in them. Got letters back stating that they cannot close these by written instruction, only by telephone !! !!!!!!

masonic

rb10 wrote: »

I believe (but am not 100% sure) that A&L require any money paid into your account by BACS/FP to be in the account for 24 hours before you use it. So if your salary goes in on Monday morning, you're not allowed to spend it until Tuesday morning.

No, that isn't true. What A&L require is that for standing orders and direct debits, funds must be in the account at the end of the working day before they are processed. This is because A&L seem to process standing orders and direct debits at the end of the day before they are due and queue them for payment overnight.

However, you can FP into the account and withdraw the money immediately. Similarly, as soon as your salary is shown as being credited to your account, you can spend it (what you can't do is spend it earlier in the same day).