MSE News: Anger over new Halifax overdraft fees

FreeD

Can't believe there are some people supporting the Halifax...these new overdraft charges are of no benefit to anyone...I'm currently £200 overdrawn...I use my Halifax account in times of emergency...this account would now cost me apprx £360 a year how the hell can this scum bank and scum government get away with this? people on a low income are going to get further and further into debt, these new charges actually favour people with a high overdraft.

Whos fault was it the? The banks/government. Who bailed out the Halifax? We did. Whos going to pay off the mountain of debt over the next 10 years? We are. Whos going to suffer? We are

And all this and bankers are still being paid ridiculously high bonuses...gambling away and blowing way our hard earned cash...and people who are trying to start a business or get a mortgage have been !!!!ed on.

F**k this country and the people who have been brainwashed into standing by its side. I'm closing my account tmw...and as soon as i've got my NVQs i'm out of this country never to pay taxes again...who the hell would want to live in a country thats population is going to be bursting at the seems in 20 years time...its bad enough people scratching around at the moment as it is...I suggest you all do the same, take your money and get out.

opinions4u

FreeD wrote: »

Can't believe there are some people supporting the Halifax...these new overdraft charges are of no benefit to anyone

The £5 Reward will be payable to more people than will pay the £1 a day overdraft charges. More winners than losers.

...I'm currently £200 overdrawn...I use my Halifax account in times of emergency...this account would now cost me apprx £360

Switch to the Ultimate Reward account. The cost is £90 a year (if you are funding the account with £1000 a month) and you won't be charged a penny for overdrafts less than £300.

And there's bag loads of insurance with it that will probably pay for itself.

There - a hot money saving tip to save you £270 a year!

And all this and bankers are still being paid ridiculously high bonuses

I beieve Eric Daniels (Chief Exec of LBG who own Halifax) took a nil bonus last year.

...gambling away and blowing way our hard earned cash...and people who are trying to start a business or get a mortgage have been !!!!ed on.

Espeically those mortgage customers who have seen their tracker rates and SVRs fall massively!

I'm closing my account tmw.

Don't forget to repay your overdraft first.

and as soon as i've got my NVQs i'm out of this country never to pay taxes again

Do other countries not have a system of taxation? (well done on your NVQs, shame they didn't teach you that masked swearing on a message board is totally unnecessary).

miz1012

i have the high interest account with the halifax, which i use for my bills. my wage goes into this along with child benefit and tax credits. as the child benefit and tax credit is paid 4 weekly the date it goes into the account each month changes. due to this i can go overdrawn by a max of £200 a month for a week or so. at the moment i pay a small fee, which is usually set off by the interest earned. with the new system i will have to pay around £10-£15 a month!! and to top it off they are going to stop paying me interest on my credit balance! they have given me an overdraft of over £2500 which i never asked for, but luckily i havent used it.
when i found out about the charges i phoned to complain but was basically told they werent interested as they were going to do it anyway!!! it seems if your heavily overdrawn your better off but the ones who only dip into it occasionally will be worst off!
as i have had, for most of my life, all my accounts with the halifax along with mortgage, insurance, creditcard and childrens accounts, i will now be taking my custom elsewhere!!!
they shouldnt be able to get away with this!!!
a very angry, soon to ex, halifax banker!! :mad:

PlugnPlay

Inactive wrote: »

If you mean " less fortunate " in meaning my financial status, trust me, I have been in dire straits financially in the past, however I have never once spent the banks money in the form of an overdaft or any other method, that only worsens a bad situation.

It involves better budgeting and even going without some things that others may deem essential.:rolleyes:

I hope that helps.

Mmm like food for example? £30 per month is all I have currently to spend on food. This new charge will leave me not on the breadline, but on the no-breadline.

In case you were wondering, my financial management skills are pretty good - if not I would have been on the street a long time since.

This situation I find myself in, in common with many, has been purely caused by the economic climate, precipitated in large part by the banks themselves with their greedy pactices, and this unilateral decision to change the terms and conditions of these overdrafts will
certainly cause those with least to suffer most. Surely no-one can imagine that is right?

In any case, this seems like a stupid decision purely from a business point of view. From reading the thread, many in a position to do so are already voting with their feet-many more will do so once their overdrafts are clear.

I for one will not forget being kicked whilst I was down so to speak.

I wonder who Halifax will target then? Could be that they reintroduce banking charges on all accounts.That should provoke some outrage amongst all those presently sniggering over others misfortune.:p

rb10

miz1012 wrote: »

i have the high interest account with the halifax, which i use for my bills. my wage goes into this along with child benefit and tax credits. as the child benefit and tax credit is paid 4 weekly the date it goes into the account each month changes. due to this i can go overdrawn by a max of £200 a month for a week or so. at the moment i pay a small fee, which is usually set off by the interest earned. with the new system i will have to pay around £10-£15 a month!! and to top it off they are going to stop paying me interest on my credit balance! they have given me an overdraft of over £2500 which i never asked for, but luckily i havent used it.
when i found out about the charges i phoned to complain but was basically told they werent interested as they were going to do it anyway!!! it seems if your heavily overdrawn your better off but the ones who only dip into it occasionally will be worst off!

If you are overdrawn for about a week, your total outlay for the month will be £2.

This is calculated from £7 of daily fees, less the £5 Reward (make sure you phone up and ask to change your account to the Reward current account to get this, the sooner you do this the better.

Lokolo

rb10 wrote: »

If you are overdrawn for about a week, your total outlay for the month will be £2.

This is calculated from £7 of daily fees, less the £5 Reward (make sure you phone up and ask to change your account to the Reward current account to get this, the sooner you do this the better.

Or why not have an extra £200 in the account, and treat this as £0. Then you will never go below true £0.

kyo4o3d

I suppose this is still part of the question as to whether a "good" customer for the bank is one who uses an overdraft facility and pays the fees or one who makes no use of it. My complaint is that they are allowed to hook me into an account by offering to pay interest and with reasonable charges for overdrafts related to the actual amount overdrawn (not within a band) and then suddenly to unilateraly withdraw both!

chambta

sonnimod1 wrote: »

A letter I recently wrote to the Halifax following these charges:

Dear Sir / Madam,
Following a letter received on Friday I write to you to complain about the change to be made to my existing account. I have been made aware that my Current High Interest account will change as of the 06th December 2009. I made a call on Friday to discuss the change only to find that I have no option but to agree to your new policy and terms and conditions. This change will not benefit me as a customer even if I change my direct debits prior to my pay day as was advised. This is because I use the Overdraft facility each month to help manage my financial cash-flow. I also use the overdraft facility and therefore will have no option but to pay the vast daily charges. The total of these charges will be more excessive that a loan from a loan shark!

1.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]If I were interested in a Reward account I would have taken up this offer when a sales advisor tried to get me to convert several months ago. At that time this was an offer but now its mandated. I find this in itself is unfair and irresponsible. My existing T&C should continue based on the policy I agreed to. I do not agree to the new terms.
2.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]I was advised by phone that I should change my direct debits to an earlier date I would avoid longer daily charges as I would only be in my overdraft for a shorter period of time. This is incorrect as most months I have unforeseen expenses that I then recoup from work. Therefore, I will still need to use my overdraft facility to manage my funds (something I currently do).
3.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]I will be paying higher charges not less!
4.[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]The advisor suggested I use credit cards to pay for things instead of my debit card. Once again, totally unacceptable and not responsible advice from a bank!

This new style of banking may be favourable to some customers but not to all. Where it is not favourable as in my circumstance the bank should allow either the same terms to continue or offer something that is just as favourable. I await your response and not just a standard response stating that this is a favourable option to most and my T&C can change any time. You should be able to offer a response that helps my personal financial situation rather than makes my finances less manageable.
I still await a response

Completely at odds with how you describe the situation. If managed appropriately would save you interest. Sound advice.

trynsave

There is no way that anyone can defend Halifax or any of the banks for their reckless and rash decisions and greed that everyone is going to be paying for over a generation to come! I am as angry about our economic situation as everybody else!

Also I am not, and I'm sure no-one else is either, gloating over the misfortune of others and laughing at the increase in their monthly charges whilst I sit pretty.

However, I am shocked that so many of you who use MSE were not aware months ago that Halifax was planning to implement such changes to their charging policy. And for those who did know, why didn't you start sorting yourself out then? Not all I know, but many of you will have cheaper mortgages now than you did a year ago. Have you paid off your debts with the extra or just found an excuse to spend more?

I am sure that the vast majority of you think that your personal expenditure is vital, and to you it is. However I know that I am one of many on here who search for bargains, because for me there is no other way! Yes I hop between banks for their account incentives, and yes I use cashback sites, have only had holidays courtesy of Tesco Clubcard Rewards and buy the yellow stickered food that is about to go out of date, and no I don't have an LCD tv or the latest this, that and the other ... but I am not in overdraft and I don't pay bank charges as a result.

I therefore feel that I should be proud of myself and my family and I find a lot of this whineing on here tedious. If you spend money which isn't yours pay it back, move to a different bank or put up with it and pay the charges when asked. Accept personal responsibility for your overdrafts and just like the economy you can't change anything so stop moaning and get on with it.

Extant

Indeed, advising you to use a credit card is not inherently irresponsible at all.

Take it as a compliment - the adviser was assuming you were intelligent enough to use the credit card in a sensible fashion.