HSBC refuse to close account and now unfair charges

Welshdresser

Hi, my little sis has a HSBC loan and a HSBC bank account. When she opened her new Natwest bank account a couple of years ago she tried to close her HSBC account but they wouldn;t let her because she has a loan. They insisted that she keep the account open and pay a Standing Order into it every month for the loan amount so they could take the loan payment from her by DD.

She did as was asked and everything has been fine for the last 2 years or so. Unfortunately, due to the easter bank holiday in April, her usual standing order reached her account 2 days later than usual. Therefore, they called for the loan DD the day before her standing order payment went in. They paid themselves - putting her overdrawn and then charged her £30.00. They failed to tell her about this and now they want to charge her a further £30.00 for this month as she didn't realise there was a problem. My sis is only 22 and finds it hard to deal with things like this so i'm going into the branch with her on Thursday to try and get the charges waived.

I don't think its ethical for them to charge her after taking a payment for themselves, and I'm going to insist they set up a DD from her natwest account for future payments and close the HSBC account - the recent dely was only due to their insistance that she have this stupid system of moving money from one account to another.

Does anyone know if they are in their rights to refuse to close the account? Any advice before I go in with all guns blazing would be appreciated.

opinions4u

Welshdresser wrote: »

Hi, my little sis has a HSBC loan and a HSBC bank account. When she opened her new Natwest bank account a couple of years ago she tried to close her HSBC account but they wouldn;t let her because she has a loan. They insisted that she keep the account open and pay a Standing Order into it every month for the loan amount so they could take the loan payment from her by DD.

Which would have been a condition of granting the loan.

She did as was asked and everything has been fine for the last 2 years or so. Unfortunately, due to the easter bank holiday in April, her usual standing order reached her account 2 days later than usual. Therefore, they called for the loan DD the day before her standing order payment went in. They paid themselves - putting her overdrawn and then charged her £30.00.

In accordance with the terms of the account.

They failed to tell her about this

Has she moved house and forgotten to notify them? They will certainly have sent a communication to the address they hold for her.

My sis is only 22

She's a big girl then.

so i'm going into the branch with her on Thursday to try and get the charges waived.

I would recommend a polite and respectful approach using lines like "first time it's happened, bank holiday delayed usual standing order".

I don't think its ethical for them to charge her after taking a payment for themselves

It beats having a missed payment for her loan on the credit file.

and I'm going to insist they set up a DD from her natwest account for future payments and close the HSBC account

They don't have to agree to this if maintaining an HSBC current account was a condition of having the loan.

Does anyone know if they are in their rights to refuse to close the account?

Probably.

Any advice before I go in with all guns blazing would be appreciated.

My advice is to go in, be polite and respectful and ask nicely. Go in with all guns blazing and you will not get what you want.

Welshdresser

Thanks, wil check the loan conditions first,

will also be very polite - i work on the front line and get stroppy customers shouting at me every day, I know where that gets you (nowhere) But don't intend to be fobbed off either so will be polite but insistent!

Incidentally, when she phoned HSBC today to try and find out how she incurred charges, she got a guy who just wanted to sell her another loan to consolidate her loan and credit card. He didn't even suggest that she change the date of the Standing order to a couple of days earlier to avoid this happening again. (typical greedy selfish attitude for a call center banker tring to earn himslf some commission)

Extant

Seconding the polite approach - it's not that person's fault, and venting any emotion you have in their working environment will just - 9 times outs of 10 - make them defensive and less likely to help. Insisting they set up the direct debit for Natwest likely won't help, either - if that had been an option before, this situation would never have arisen.

Remember, you both want something here. You want charges canceled, they want loans paid on time. Apologize, say it was a first for her and not deliberate, didn't receive the letter, etc. Get them refunded, move the standing order back a few days (which is plain sensible anyway), finish the loan and close the account. Keep it amicable.

Rose123

It is a condition to have a current account to pay your loan. So setting up a direct debit from Natwest won't be an option.

As Barclays Manager suggested, move the DD back a few days.

As for the charges, if she hasnt done it before, chances are that they might refund it but if you go to a branch they will most probably send you to the red phone in the branch and tell you to ring customer services to refund charges and interest, unless the Senior advisor is willing to do it there and then!