Halifax/ Bank of Scotland: a guide to account changes.

jambosans

Oliver27 wrote: »

So am I right in thinking with the new system if you bring the ac back into credit the following day you would only end up with a £5 charge in total in the above scenario compared to £63 in the current system.

If you go into an unarranged overdraft under the new system, and bring your account back within the overdraft limit/ £0 before the end of the day, you will not be charged anything. The current system makes it unavoidable to receive the £35 Paid Item charge, however the £28 unarranged overdraft fee is applied similarly to the new charges, so it is possible to avoid this by funding the account before close of play.

molley

Originally Posted by petdom24
2. If you use an O/d facility and you go into overdraft for any amount - (even 1p) you will be charged £1.00 per day up to £2500 and £2 per day over £2500.

rb10 wrote: »

This is incorrect - there is a £10 fee-free buffer.

Is there? .I thought it was a straight £1 or £2 a day for an arranged £2500 OD

jonnyb1978

Got my letter today and to be honest was the first i have heard from it.
If what i read is correct i will be losing an extra £25 a month. I have a £500 overdraft paying nothing into it owing £475. Basically its kind of dormant paying the odd cheque in now and again. I usually pay around £6 a month but now if im not paying anything in i will be paying £30 a month.
Even paying it off by £100 a month is still going to take just over 6 months with charges of £160. So i will be an extra £130 out of pocket each month. That to be me is utter stupid when we are in a recession and people are struggling how in any way are we supposed to pay it off with silly charges.
My other predicament is what account do i have. I used to have a normal current account with my wages paid into it and due to the Halifax messing me about i opened another account and moved everything across to that one. Even before that they sent me a silly solo card which is now an electron card but emblazonned over it is "Halifax Cardcash", yet online its a current account. So it looks like i have a current account but did not recieve any current account benefits as i had a cardcash bank card with no cheque guarentee card etc etc

Ideally i would like to close the account now and for them to halt the charges and pay off a certain amount each month. Do Halifax agree to anything like that.

jambosans

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Got my letter today and to be honest was the first i have heard from it.
If what i read is correct i will be losing an extra £25 a month. I have a £500 overdraft paying nothing into it owing £475. Basically its kind of dormant paying the odd cheque in now and again. I usually pay around £6 a month but now if im not paying anything in i will be paying £30 a month.

I'm surprised Halifax have not removed your overdraft, as this is no way to conduct an account, and a novel £6 per month isn't going to see that debt repaid any time soon. Incidentally, if you can pay off £200 before December, change the account to an Ultimate Reward Current Account, the first £300 would be fee free, and you will pay £12.50 (as opposed to approximately £30).

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

My other predicament is what account do i have. I used to have a normal current account with my wages paid into it and due to the Halifax messing me about i opened another account and moved everything across to that one.

Your account name is on your statements, alternatively call up and ask. Also, did you change your account voluntary, or did Halifax automatically downgrade?

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Even before that they sent me a silly solo card which is now an electron card but emblazonned over it is "Halifax Cardcash", yet online its a current account.

This suggests they downgraded your account from a full current to a basic bank account. If you have a Cardcash with an overdraft (which is historically possible), then these changes do not effect you.

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

So it looks like i have a current account but did not recieve any current account benefits as i had a cardcash bank card with no cheque guarentee card etc etc

There has to be a reason why Halifax switched/ downgraded you to a basic bank account. "Halifax messing" you about isn't a very clear reason. Banks only tend to downgrade if you are running the account inappropriately (e.g. charges, arrears, etc.).

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Ideally i would like to close the account now and for them to halt the charges and pay off a certain amount each month. Do Halifax agree to anything like that.

The account would have to go into arrears, and passed to collections before any sort of repayment plan can be arranged. However I'm not sure whether this would halt charges and interest.

Once you clarify which account you hold, I suggest re-reading the guide to see if you are effected (although a letter from Halifax suggests you are). Then consider upgrading to the Ultimate Reward Current Account, try and get the overdraft down to £300 before December, and live happily ever after paying £12.50 per month. There are alternatives, for example a loan, credit card, or opening another current account with overdraft.

jonnyb1978

jambosans wrote: »

I'm surprised Halifax have not removed your overdraft, as this is no way to conduct an account, and a novel £6 per month isn't going to see that debt repaid any time soon. Incidentally, if you can pay off £200 before December, change the account to an Ultimate Reward Current Account, the first £300 would be fee free, and you will pay £12.50 (as opposed to approximately £30).

I agree, my own fault for not trying to get it down but its been like this for nearly 3 years now.



Your account name is on your statements, alternatively call up and ask. Also, did you change your account voluntary, or did Halifax automatically downgrade?

Yes they downgraded. I had a full current account with wages paid in and a switch card, because i never used the switch card. They sent me the solo card instead. Kept my overdraft and cheque book although the solo was not a cheque guarentee card.


This suggests they downgraded your account from a full current to a basic bank account. If you have a Cardcash with an overdraft (which is historically possible), then these changes do not effect you.

Then why did i get the letter, It does say current account online so im guessing they do apply but will need to check.



There has to be a reason why Halifax switched/ downgraded you to a basic bank account. "Halifax messing" you about isn't a very clear reason. Banks only tend to downgrade if you are running the account inappropriately (e.g. charges, arrears, etc.).

I found that their customer services went down hill which promted me to leave them. Not many charges etc I had over £1000 paid into account up to a few years ago when i changes main banks. They downgraded account about 5 years ago if not more.



The account would have to go into arrears, and passed to collections before any sort of repayment plan can be arranged. However I'm not sure whether this would halt charges and interest.

Once you clarify which account you hold, I suggest re-reading the guide to see if you are effected (although a letter from Halifax suggests you are). Then consider upgrading to the Ultimate Reward Current Account, try and get the overdraft down to £300 before December, and live happily ever after paying £12.50 per month. There are alternatives, for example a loan, credit card, or opening another current account with overdraft.

Thanks, i may also look at transfering over £500 and withdrawing and re depositing it to get the £5 ( Can i do this?) and leave the £500 in as long as possible before needing it (15 days or so) so should bring charges down to around £10 whilst i clear it off.
Am i right in saying that the above you mention paying £12.50 with an overdraft i will need to put my wages in to this account?

jambosans

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Then why did i get the letter, It does say current account online so im guessing they do apply but will need to check.

Receiving a letter about changes clearly suggests they effect you. The letter should have made reference to the account that will be effected, and what it is changing to (if anything). Cardcash accounts are not effected by these changes, so you must have either a Standard Current Account, High Interest Current Account, or Ultimate Reward Current Account. I would phone Halifax to clarify.

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Thanks, i may also look at transfering over £500 and withdrawing and re depositing it to get the £5 ( Can i do this?) and leave the £500 in as long as possible before needing it (15 days or so) so should bring charges down to around £10 whilst i clear it off.

You can, and their isn't a minimum timescale you must keep funds in the account (e.g. you can transfer money in and out on the same day).

jonnyb1978 wrote: »

Am i right in saying that the above you mention paying £12.50 with an overdraft i will need to put my wages in to this account?

No, the account fee (just to clarify) is for the extra features (i.e. RAC Breakdown Cover, mobile phone insurance, fee free overdraft etc.). From 06/12/09 you will also benefit from the £5 Reward if you fund £1000 or more, so £12.50 is effectively reduced to £7.50.

irrelevant

jambosans wrote: »

[*]You have until close of business to clear any arranged or unarranged overdraft to avoid paying the daily fee.* However a cut-off time has not been clarified but I would imagine 17:00 or perhaps 00:00 (seeing as fees are calculated on the last day of the statement month before the said month's statement is generated).

Leaflet arrived today specifically states midnight. "We will check the account balance at midnight every day and we will not charge the fee if the account is not overdrawn at that time."

I'm in the same situation as many. I tend to dip in and out of my arranged overdraft but only by a couple of hundred quid max, and then only for a few each week until we sort it out - I only use the account for day to day spending; we hold a separate (cardcash) account for household bills, and money comes into the house mostly into my wife's account, and we transfer across as necessary. The two or three quid in interest we get charged now could easily rise to £15 or more at the £1/day rate!

I don't want to have to start micro-managing the account... I suppose I'm going to have to keep a float in the account rather than treat all the money in their as available to spend..

jambosans

irrelevant wrote: »

Leaflet arrived today specifically states midnight. "We will check the account balance at midnight every day and we will not charge the fee if the account is not overdrawn at that time."

Thanks, I had updated the guide with the cut-off time of 00:00 (indicated my the * at the end of the first sentence). I've just forgotten to remove the next sentence. Cheers for pointing that out.

oldbird43

I've received my letter today and spent some time reading this thread with interest.
Like many people I will be adversly effected by these new charges.
I have (had?) a cardcash account (my choice not enforced) with an overdraft which now shows on internet as a current account. I also have a standard current account for maintenance payments from ex which is always overdrawn as he never pays on time.
In addition, I have a savings account. However, if I transfer money from the savings account on line it takes up to 2 days - meaning a charge of £2 for managing my account!!
I check my bank accounts a few times per week as I have to budget carefully since my hubbie got made redundant and I am now the only wage earner. I feel the charges are taking advantage of those people, like myself, that are faced with managing a reduced income due to the recession (and not because we have overspent). NB my hubbie was made redundant without notice so we could not prepare our finances ahead of time.
Any suggestions out there to lessen the effect of the charge - other than the obvious in paying off the overdraft which is not possible at the moment.

jambosans

oldbird43 wrote: »

if I transfer money from the savings account on line it takes up to 2 days - meaning a charge of £2 for managing my account!!

If you transfer the money via Telephone Banking during the working day, the longest it can take is 2 hours. After 6pm, the transfer will go through by 10am the next working day. So you can avoid paying this £2.

oldbird43 wrote: »

Any suggestions out there to lessen the effect of the charge - other than the obvious in paying off the overdraft which is not possible at the moment.

There is an advice section on the thread, it is difficult to be more specific without you providing more information about your individual circumstances. I would suggest heading over to Debt-Free Wannabe, and start a post there.