which bank

pitman_2

I am with TSB and have been since I was 16 and I am unhappy with the amount of money they charge in overdraft charges. Yes i admit I sometimes go slightly over by a pound or two but it does'nt warrant these charges.Which is the best bank to go with?. Thanks for any advice.Ed

agsnu

All banks charge similar fees. Your best bet is to stop going over your overdraft limit.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts#warning

rb10

The Halifax Reward account will only charge you £5/day if you go over your overdraft limit, BUT only go for this account if you're in credit for most of the month, as an arranged overdraft costs £1/day.

As agsnu says, the best way to avoid them is to keep within your limit.

sgt.tibbs1977

It depends on what you want from your bank account, personally I chose mine on the basis of good customer services, but if you are looking for a bank with low bank charges then each one publishes the charges that they will make. Also sounds like you might need some budgeting advice as well to help you stay within your overdraft limit. Your bank should be able to assist with this but some Citizens Advice Bureaux now have Budgeting Advisers also. Have pasted a couple of links below that might be able to help you choose a new current account.

http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/current-accounts
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2008/07/smaller-banks-best-for-interest-and-service-152749.jsp

opinions4u

pitman wrote: »

I am with TSB and have been since I was 16 and I am unhappy with the amount of money they charge in overdraft charges. Yes i admit I sometimes go slightly over by a pound or two but it does'nt warrant these charges.Which is the best bank to go with?. Thanks for any advice.Ed

Ed, while I would always encourage somebody to change their account to get better value, why don't you monitor your available balance more closely?

That way you wouldn't go "slightly over by a pound or two" and you would be better off as a result!

Little point moving bank to get charged a slightly different amount elsewhere.

Llyllyll

sgt.tibbs1977 wrote: »

It depends on what you want from your bank account, personally I chose mine on the basis of good customer services...

sgt.tibbs1977, any chance you could let me know what bank this is, as I've just about had a guts-full of Alliance & Leicester?

Any suggestions from others for banks with good customer service would be extremely welcome.

Thanks

scott_lithgows

Llyllyll wrote: »

sgt.tibbs1977, any chance you could let me know what bank this is, as I've just about had a guts-full of Alliance & Leicester?

Any suggestions from others for banks with good customer service would be extremely welcome.

Thanks

Yorkshire building society for a basic account or Nationwide flexaccount for visa debit card.Both do a switching service for your direct debits etc.A+L used to be good when it was a Building Society,cant see it getting anything else but worse when it merges with Abbey.
ps British call centres as a bonus.

Llyllyll

russel wrote: »

"Any suggestions from others for banks with good customer service would be extremely welcome."

I doubt this is physically possible!

From looking at a few other threads First Direct don't seem to come out too badly at all.

scott_lithgows

russel wrote: »

"Any suggestions from others for banks with good customer service would be extremely welcome."

I doubt this is physically possible!

True,but I,ve never had any bother from a Building Society.
In fact Yorkshire BS are bending over backwards to help me transfer all my direct debits at the moment whilst (sh)abbey seem to have spat the dummy out over my closing my Bradford+Bingley accounts.They appear to have wrote to anyone I,ve had a DD with in the last 10 years cancelling it and also for my (never used or wanted)abbey account.
It has tripped a few companies up.Nat-West cancelled the proper DD details instead and have had to refund a bank charge for late payment because it was their fault.
HSBC sorted it out as soon as cancelled card got mentioned!

G_M

Best advice is to budget carefully and not incur charges. In France, going overdrawn without an overdraft agreement results in your bank account being closed! Basically you are using someone else's money without their agreement. The crux of many of our problems over here!
(now I sit back and wait for the responses.........)

Joe65_2

scott_lithgows wrote: »

........... whilst (sh)abbey seem to have spat the dummy out over my closing my Bradford+Bingley accounts.They appear to have wrote to anyone I,ve had a DD with in the last 10 years cancelling it and also for my (never used or wanted)abbey account.
It has tripped a few companies up.Nat-West cancelled the proper DD details instead and have had to refund a bank charge for late payment because it was their fault.
HSBC sorted it out as soon as cancelled card got mentioned!

Doesn't it kinda make you want to just leave it open , but run down, with next to nothing in it ?

Never trust a bank to do the switching for you. Partic. if there's any suggestion of sour grapes.

Then you never know, perhaps in years to come you might be glad to still have it.