Help needed with what to say to bank re: charges (not charged to account yet)

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Yesterday I realised that a cheque I'd written months ago had only just gone out, sending me £5 OD (I don't have an OD allowance - I can, up to £500, from my bank, but choose not to as I'm more disciplined when my "avaliable balance" is the same as my actual one!).
Rang up First Direct and they've applied £55 in charges - I asked them if they could get rid of them and the woman said she could halve them, but no more, as it was not a FD error.
Now I know from being on here that I can get these charges (now £27.50) back, but what should I say when I ring up to ask them to cancel them? They won't charge me them til next month, so as yet nothing has been taken out of my account. Am I right in thinking that anything over £12 is illegal - should I tell them this? I was planning on saying "Hi, >explains situation<, I know you've halved the charges but I was ringing to ask if you could remove them entirely, as it is actually illegal for you to charge me such an amount (what are the actual details for this??), and I would be grateful if you could remove the charges for me as a gesture of goodwill (okay, losing it here a bit...)"
Um, if they refuse would it be worth saying something along the lines of "I don't know if you are aware, but there are a number of consumer groups (or something) working to help people claim unfair bank charges back through legal channels, and once these charges are made to my account I shall be following their advice to claim them, so it would be great if you could save both me and First Direct the trouble and remove these charges before they are applied"?

This is the first time I've gone overdrawn ever, so I'm not really sure what I can do! Would be great to try and get the £27.50 back before it goes out!

Thanks in advance!

bookworm1363

Ok, a few things here:

1st, the £12 limit is actually in relation to credit cards only, so the bank will be able to block you straight away there.

2nd, I can read you getting tongue-twisted here, amongst friends, and writing, so I don't rate your chances very highly on the phone to the bank, lol. (I do mean that in a kind way, I promise!). Don't phone, write. Send them a nice, but firm letter, don't grovel. Say that you apreciate the 1/2 refund, but on second thoughts, you don't think that's good enough, especially as it's a 1st offence, you'd appreciate if they would remove the charge altogether. Say you're asking nicely on this occasion, as you'd HATE to have to take the more forceful route so many at the Consumer Action Group have taken already... (don't worry, they'll know who we are, HSBC have just settled a nearly 5 k claim, lol)
If they won't play ball, demand it back. They'll pay, willingly or otherwise. Because yours is such a small one, you have a good chance of them settling it without too much aggro.

feelinglikeathicko

Afternoon all

Was very interested to read the original poster's message, as I've got the same thing myself.
Got a letter this morning to say last wednesday 17th May (2 days before salary goes into account) that I'd gone 2 pence over my £100 overdraft reserve. They said they'd honoured this debit card payment (and made it seem like they were doing me a favour!), however, to cover their costs they're charging me £30 on the 8th June (cheeky bar-stewards). So, for borrowing 2pence for 2 days I get charged £30.
Anyway, very briefly looked at a few sites and I've written them a letter that kinda goes;
Dear so n so
Recieved your letter this morning re: penalty (obviously I'm paraphrasing here) of £30 for 2pence (paragraph explaining situation).
Under the 1977 unfair terms (contract) Act - penalty clause - it states Penalty clauses in Contracts in English Law for breach of contract are not legal if the penalty (£30) exceeds the actual cost of the breach (2pence) of either party. Therefore, I am suggesting that this charge is clearly in breach of said act. It is also a breach of the 1999 consumer credit act (unfair terms in consumer contracts).
A letter informing me of the transaction in real terms costs no more than £2-£3, therefore, I find £30 highly extortionate.
I am asking that you withdraw the penalty.
If you continue to pursue this penalty, I have no other choice but to go through the neccessary legal channels to claim back ALL the unfair charges you have claimed from me in the past six years (i think it's happened four times but not for 3 years).

This is the gist of what I've written this morning.
I've never done this before but I'm so mad that they can charge me £30 for 2pence that if they don't withdraw I fully intend to carry out my threat.
Am I being too pushy?

bookworm1363

Nope. Beautifully put if I say so myself.

MoneySavingSapphire_:D

Thank you both! Lol @ bookworm - you're probably right - I was intended to get more forceful yesterday when she offered to halve it for me, but they're so damn NICE (the phone people) I couldn't :rotfl: I'll definately be writing with the jist of what you said, and pinching most of feelinglikeathicko's letter too!!!

feelinglikeathicko

Pinch away, Moneysavingsaphire.

As a side note to this, looking at the 'Claim back unfair bank charges' on this site (in association with the consumerActionGroup), One of the 'steps' (if, of course, my bank stands their ground) is to lodge a claim via MoneyClaim. It states that if you are on Benefit you may be exempt from charges. However, when I was reading through the MoneyClaim site I couldn't find any info on this. Does anyone have any idea about this?
We receive Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit and a bit of Housing Benefit (I have 4 kids and my husband earns spot-on the minimum wage). Therefore, I'd like to find out where I stand on this.

I'm also gonna (try to!) open another bank account, just in case they get shirty. (Not looking forward to this cos I've got a CCJ) so any pointers toward a sympathetic bank (< is that a contradictory phrase!) would be very much appreciated.

Thanks and Good luck Sapphire!

bookworm1363

Natwest Step, I hear, is easy to get (I don't actually have 1st hand experience!).

MCOL: You can't get exemption when you claim online, you have to pay, then get your money back. Or you could save the State some money, and claim the fee back from the bank, .

feelinglikeathicko

Thanks Bookworm :beer:

I have no idea how the process works, so at the moment I'm just feeling my way around. I'm quite prepared to pay the neccessary fee's upfront, that's kinda how I thought it'd be, you claim it back after. Of course I really hope they just scrub this penalty, because the £30 represents a whole day's pay to us and it has that domino effect on other bills.