Halifax £1 per day charge for using authorised overdraft? Will others follow?

Jo_R_2

I too got the letter about the Halifax charges yesterday. From being a student a few years ago, I have an £800 overdraft which I live in. This is on my list of debts on my SOA but was one I was going to tackle further down the line...

I am not sure as yet what I am going to do. My income is fixed and I have a small amount left over currently. Despite living in my overdraft my money is all budgeted and accounted for towards bills and debt repayments. At first glance it looks like I will be able to juggle enough to be able to pay fees for being overdrawn nearly all of the month but barely anything else to be able to start actually paying off my overdraft at this point.

I understand completely business = charging for services = etc etc. This has just added to my crappy week already and will set me back in terms of my debt-free date so allow me to feel a little sorry for myself just for a little while

jambosans

Jo_R wrote: »

I am not sure as yet what I am going to do. My income is fixed and I have a small amount left over currently. Despite living in my overdraft my money is all budgeted and accounted for towards bills and debt repayments. At first glance it looks like I will be able to juggle enough to be able to pay fees for being overdrawn nearly all of the month but barely anything else to be able to start actually paying off my overdraft at this point.

If you can bring the overdraft within a £300 limit you could upgrade to the Ultimate Reward Current Account. This account costs £12.50 per month, and the first £300 of your overdraft would be fee free, so you would potentially save on paying the daily fee for the entire month. Also, from 06/12/09, if you fund £1000 or more into the account, you will qualify for a £5 Reward, effectively reducing the account fee to £7.50 per month.

Jo_R_2

jambosans wrote: »

If you can bring the overdraft within a £300 limit you could upgrade to the Ultimate Reward Current Account. This account costs £12.50 per month, and the first £300 of your overdraft would be fee free, so you would potentially save on paying the daily fee for the entire month. Also, from 06/12/09, if you fund £1000 or more into the account, you will qualify for a £5 Reward, effectively reducing the account fee to £7.50 per month.

Hi jambosans and thank you for the tip. I'll be honest - at this point I am not in a position to be able to bring my overdraft in to only £300, and I do not envisage this being "do-able" for many months yet unfortunately as my situation stands currently.

My main hope at this point is a PPI policy I am hoping to reclaim which is with the Halifax which if refunded I could use in part towards paying off my overdraft. I hate having it hanging over me; due to circumstances since I left uni I just haven't been able to put enough towards starting to pay it off as it has fallen midway down my list of debts to repay.

However will keep plodding on and work out another way to deal with it depending on what happens. Hope other people do too.

YorkshireBoy

Jo_R wrote: »

I am not sure as yet what I am going to do.

Could you put back some of your bills (utilities, mobile phone, etc, ie non-interest bearing such as credit card payments) to later in the month so you spend less time overdrawn?

For every day you put (most of) them back you could save a pound? Might not sound a lot but it all helps! £10-15 might be possible? Combined with a possible £5 Reward payment that's another £20 to put towards your other debts/soften the blow of the £1 per day charge.

With a little discipline, and forward planning, would a 0% on purchases card help you spend your way out of the overdraft for essential food/petrol only)?

jambosans

Jo_R wrote: »

Hi jambosans and thank you for the tip. I'll be honest - at this point I am not in a position to be able to bring my overdraft in to only £300, and I do not envisage this being "do-able" for many months yet unfortunately as my situation stands currently.

Another suggestion would be to transfer the balance of your overdraft onto your credit card. If you have a Halifax credit card, they will allow you to clear the overdraft using your credit limit, this may save you some money.

rb10

emweaver wrote: »

now they expect me to be happy with £60 a year then taking about £70 back off me!

So now, you'll be £10 out of pocket for the year.

emweaver wrote: »

my charges before was only £5 - £10 a year if that. thats better for me is it?

So before, you were £5-£10 out of pocket for the year.

There doesn't seem to be much overall difference? Going from £5-£10 to £10.

emweaver wrote: »

the halifax have poor poor attitude to customers and the numerous problems ive had with them (allowing cheques to clear after theyve been cancelled etc)

When you pay cheques in to any bank, they go through the same clearance process. Because of the way this works, you will find that cancelled cheques are nearly always added to your available balance on the fourth working day after you pay them in (or, in Halifax's case, on the third working day), only to be deducted at some stage before the end of the sixth working day.

Cheque clearance is done centrally, so the same procedures apply to all banks.

emweaver

jambosans wrote: »

You haven't actually answered my question, what do you mean? Are you saying that Halifax are pre-dating Direct Debits? What type of transactions are you referring to?

No debit card transactions.

emweaver

rb10 wrote: »

So now, you'll be £10 out of pocket for the year.



So before, you were £5-£10 out of pocket for the year.

There doesn't seem to be much overall difference? Going from £5-£10 to £10.



When you pay cheques in to any bank, they go through the same clearance process. Because of the way this works, you will find that cancelled cheques are nearly always added to your available balance on the fourth working day after you pay them in (or, in Halifax's case, on the third working day), only to be deducted at some stage before the end of the sixth working day.

Cheque clearance is done centrally, so the same procedures apply to all banks.

If you are going to pull apart my thread please do read everything, when you only take note of half of it, meaning the £10 a year it doesn't sound any different.

When you take into account all the facts including the £120 a year cashback I was getting this equates to £130 a year less off.

rb10

emweaver wrote: »

If you are going to pull apart my thread please do read everything, when you only take note of half of it, meaning the £10 a year it doesn't sound any different.

When you take into account all the facts including the £120 a year cashback I was getting this equates to £130 a year less off.

So where are you going to go, that charges you less than £10 per year for your overdraft now, and has the potential to (hoping that you'll be able to get back into credit for the whole year at some stage in the near future) earn you £60 per year?

emweaver

rb10 wrote: »

Cheque clearance is done centrally, so the same procedures apply to all banks.

You really didnt understand my post at all, I cancelled some cheques and they still allowed them to be cashed. To make it a bit clearer I cancelled a cheque last year and 8 months later it went through my account. After requesting a copy of the cheque I realised what it was for. So not only did they allow a cancelled cheque to go through but it was also outdated as Ive been advised cheques expire after 6 months. Not to mention the hefty charges I got for going into an aunauthroised overdraft as I wasnt expecting it to go out

I have been with Halifax for many years as a satisfied customer until the past 6 months. Please stop picking me apart and patronising me