Bank Charges - Banks Win!

Extant

oscar52 wrote: »

Well, lets put it this way.

Maybe if the banks had helped some of those customers in trouble (for whatever reason even their own making), rather than seeing them as a profiteering opportunity and allowing these customers to "stew", then the country wouldnt be in mess it is now (and incidentally, none of this debate over bank charges or test cases would have ever occurred)

If there is a legal case to be answered, it will be answered. It's naive to think that this situation wouldn't have arisen sooner or later if the banks had helped customers more - which is a subjective thing to measure in the first place. All it takes is one unhappy customer to read up on one law or another and challenge it; people will naturally follow if they see success. Do you honestly believe that all of the claimants have been treated unfairly and not helped at all?

The current financial crisis has little to do with retail banking, which this case primarily concerns.

oxenryd

chambta wrote: »

That's not the credit scoring system; that's the bank's own policy to push debt. In my role we've moved away from that to a degree and long may it continue.

I don't believe banks policy is to push debt, their policy is they want any debt you may have ! I ve never seen anyone go
"Can I have an overdraft of £100 "
and the bank answer "Here's 2000"

Same thing with loans, if for example someone was consolidating £10,000 worth of credit cards at 20% APR into a loan of 10%, the bank wouldn't say to you : "You have the loan now therefore you have 10K available on your credit cards, go and spend it!! " It then becomes your responsability to cancel your own cards.

It's as if some people want their banks to constantly hold their hands.

I am happy with today's ruling: if banks were to have to refund retrospectively, what would be next ? Mobile phone contracts costing £35-£70 a month could be challenged? but I do think that something needs to be done going forward bank charges are extortionate, it's also ridiculous that credit card charges are capped at £12, but bank charges aren't.

I also wonder if Natwest have shot themselves in the foot and how they feel for dropping their charges so much and then this happens.

jonesMUFCforever

I work for a bank as some posters on here know - I must admit I'm amazed by the judgement!
However I have always said that the responsible customers would not get charged anyway.

I hope Martin now admits defeat - BUT campaigns for a fairer system of charges - not one where you get charged per day for going overdrawn or overlimit.

Martin - over to you.

terrorfirma

Extant wrote: »

This assumes that the charge is rendered for the letter itself, rather than the service provided.

I personally was charged £35 for being less than 50p overdrawn. I was unemployed at the time and my bank took the charge even though I only had £43 unemployment benefit going into my account. I would be interested on your view of the service provided there. Incidentally I had asked my bank for an overdraft of £10 in case this sort of thing happened and I was refused because of my employment status.

AMB81

I think most people who are interested in the bank charges ruling have not incurred bank charges- but are interested in how banks can justify the amounts they charge. Free banking should be a given- if you knew anything about how banks are run they owuld ba aware money in your current accounts is used to generate cash for the accounts through dealing - they don't need to charge retail charges to gain profits. However they do charge as it is "easy money" for them.

I really don't see why people have decided to gloat..on behalf of the banks?? Strange - when they are probably giving you such a tiny percentage of the actually interest they are making on your money/savings with them.

Not really interested in getting into a heated discussion - just find it hard to believe.

bengal-stripe

terrorfirma wrote: »

I personally was charged £35 for being less than 50p overdrawn. I was unemployed at the time and my bank took the charge even though I only had £43 unemployment benefit going into my account.

There was a time when most (maybe all) banks had a ‘buffer’ of ten or twenty pounds, where you did not get charged, even you went overdrawn. Once the flood of reclaiming had started, that buffer got withdrawn. Equally, Abbey for example, had it in their contract that you would not be charged for the first chargeable event within a twelve months period. That’s also gone.

So, things work either way. The reclaiming frenzy worsened the situation of people on a tight budget.

bengal-stripe

AMB81 wrote: »

I really don't see why people have decided to gloat..on behalf of the banks??

Maybe it is just a response to those people who have gloated here (and elsewhere) that they not only got thousands in charges refunded, but also 8% interest on top. For them the charges were, as Arthur Daley would say “a nice, little earner”.

Where can you get 8% interest on savings?

never-in-doubt

bengal-stripe wrote: »

There was a time when most (maybe all) banks had a ‘buffer’ of ten or twenty pounds, where you did not get charged, even you went overdrawn. Once the flood of reclaiming had started, that buffer got withdrawn. Equally, Abbey for example, had it in their contract that you would not be charged for the first chargeable event within a twelve months period. That’s also gone.

So, things work either way. The reclaiming frenzy worsened the situation of people on a tight budget.

They were not withdrawn because of the recharges campaign - utter nonsense! Banks have taken away any 'nice little earners' for us (those that pay their wages, you know - the customers!) due to their own inability to invest funds and internal greed. Why give us a freebie when one of their execs feels the pinch?

What part of this don't you grasp? Free banking will be dead in a year regardless, the banks will lose the case and pay millions back to us, the banks will start to feel the pinch and charge for special items - good! I'd rather know up-front what I will be charged and when it will be charged and then I would either agree or decline as I seen fit.

As others say, if I went into a shop and tried to buy a £10.01 DVD and only had a tenner, would the dvd store charge me £39 for being a penny short or would they say sorry and refuse the sale? That is what I expect my bank to do (assuming I did not have an agreed overdraft etc).

never-in-doubt

bengal-stripe wrote: »

Where can you get 8% interest on savings?

The 8% statutory interest rate is not classed as 'savings' though is it?

Lokolo

Chadsman wrote: »

Was this a recent degree? :eek:
If so then he is a very rare individual. Lokolo, how did you manage it?

I haven't graduated yet. My signature does say 'Save £15k by Graduation (2011)' lol.

I am currently doing a years placement. The same job for a graduate gets a lot more than £15k, I guess I should be aiming at that and not be on here so much and do some more work

And I am rather lucky. I get just over £4500 from grandparents a year to pay for all costs.

However saying that, I do save some of that, I also had a parttime job whilst at uni, and worked over the summers. I also of course am working in year out for work placement.

From this work, budgetting, I have actually overtaken my loans taken out for tuition fees. Good eh. :cool:

olly300 wrote:

Are you also aware that not everyone is eligible to get a loan or an authorised overdraft due to their circumstances?

You need to get real. Just because you and I are able to get these things and save there are people out there who can't for one reason or another.

Every time you post you presume that everyone lives in exactly the same circumstances as you and has had exactly the same life chances.

So of course, all this happens as soon as a person comes into working life.

Get real. Everyone has time to save for these sort of things.

How do all these people get mortgages? I can't belive all of them are on 100% ones! They would have saved for a deposit. If people can save for a blimmin deposit they can save for emergencies, kids and so fourth.

It's not my fault ignorance happens to a lot of humans! Prepare to fail don't fail to prepare.