Alternative to Halifax

joew_2

I have a £500 overdraft with Halifax and have discovered the ridiculous fee changes. I used this account as a safety net for emergencies.

Is there an alternative bank apart from HSBC and A&L that are any good for dipping into your OD for 1-2 months then paying it off?

sscott5581

Citibank offer a £500 interest free overdraft if you pay in salary.. . .

rb10

If you are only dipping into your overdraft by such a small amount, maybe it would be worthwhile seeing if you can restructure your finances a little to ensure you remain in credit.

This way, you can keep your Halifax account and so benefit from the free fiver each month, but most importantly, you're not relying on an overdraft, which the bank may choose to remove at any time.

opinions4u

joewalch wrote: »

I have a £500 overdraft with Halifax and have discovered the ridiculous fee changes.

Well done on discovering them.

Were the big bad bank deliberately hiding them or something?

I used this account as a safety net for emergencies.

So how much is it actually going to cost you? And could you also benefit from the £5 Reward each month for funding with £1k plus? Could this £60pa actually exceed any overdraft fees over the course of a typical year?

Could you actually restructure your finances so that you have £500 sat in an easy access savings account for "emergencies" rather than using an overdraft which is repayable on demand?

Change your mindset so that YOUR savings are your cushion, not your overdraft.

Is there an alternative bank apart from HSBC and A&L that are any good for dipping into your OD for 1-2 months then paying it off?

Several.

michael19051988

Hi all, first time on here so please don't get mad if i !!!! this up!
I need advice - I am with Halifax and had a £500 overdraft. I got paid, and my balance was £100 credit. I did some online shopping etc with my card. However, I had forgotten a bill of £600 coming out of my account. Basically, I spent £500 in an unauthorised overdraft. Halifax have now slapped a bill through my door of £1400 - that is my £500 overdraft, £500 shopping paid for and £400 charges.

When I rang and asked why the fees were so much, I was informed that they charge £35 for each transaction past my overdraft i.e if I had done my shopping then the £600 bill had come out I would have had one £35 charge.

I rang and asked them why they allowed this money to come from my account when it was empty, and they said it was "to avoid embarrassment". I asked what basis they have to pay bills when I have no cash, and I asked "so if I go to a shop and buy a million pound sports car on my card, Halifax will pay it and lumber me with a £1000000 overdraft plus charges?". The lady on the phone got mad at this point and said she could offer me no more help. I am awaiting a call back from her manager.

Has anyone else had any experience with Halifax/paid item charges etc that can offer any help/advice on removing these charges? I am happy to pay back the £500 I am over my agreed limit, as this was a moment of stupidity on my part, but surely they cannot charge so much for them allowing me to go past my agreed limit? I asked if they could do anything to stop my card in future and they said no, unless I had a basic account. This is no good to me as i require a cheque book.

Any thoughts/advice/help appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael

rb10

All banks do this - it's part of the terms and conditions of your account that if you attempt to make a transaction that will take you over your overdraft limit, they'll see that as an 'informal request for an overdraft' for which you will be charged in accordance with the T&Cs.

It is the banks decision whether to make that payment or not. In this case, they chose to honour it.

Your best bet would be to speak nicely with them, and see if they will refund all or some of the charges as a gesture of goodwill.

Note that now that Halifax have changed their charging structure, you won't get any more £35-odd charges. Instead, it'll be a daily £5.00 charge for being in unauthorised overdraft. (This started on 6th December).

Lokolo

Yes, if banks started stopping all transactions beyond unauthorised overdraft there would be a lot more annoyed faces about! "Oh its xmas and they have stopped me buying presents for kids because I have used up my overdraft, I get paid in a week why can't they do it!?!?! :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:" etc.

Although I am sure a lot of members on here don't think that, but remember, this is Britain!

withnell

Maybe open a basic account aswell? Then if you need to write a cheque you can transfer money into the "full" account, but do all the rest of your cash withdrawals etc using the basic account

gazelle8760

michael19051988 wrote: »

Hi all, first time on here so please don't get mad if i !!!! this up!
I need advice - I am with Halifax and had a £500 overdraft. I got paid, and my balance was £100 credit. I did some online shopping etc with my card. However, I had forgotten a bill of £600 coming out of my account. Basically, I spent £500 in an unauthorised overdraft. Halifax have now slapped a bill through my door of £1400 - that is my £500 overdraft, £500 shopping paid for and £400 charges.

When I rang and asked why the fees were so much, I was informed that they charge £35 for each transaction past my overdraft i.e if I had done my shopping then the £600 bill had come out I would have had one £35 charge.

I rang and asked them why they allowed this money to come from my account when it was empty, and they said it was "to avoid embarrassment". I asked what basis they have to pay bills when I have no cash, and I asked "so if I go to a shop and buy a million pound sports car on my card, Halifax will pay it and lumber me with a £1000000 overdraft plus charges?". The lady on the phone got mad at this point and said she could offer me no more help. I am awaiting a call back from her manager.

Has anyone else had any experience with Halifax/paid item charges etc that can offer any help/advice on removing these charges? I am happy to pay back the £500 I am over my agreed limit, as this was a moment of stupidity on my part, but surely they cannot charge so much for them allowing me to go past my agreed limit? I asked if they could do anything to stop my card in future and they said no, unless I had a basic account. This is no good to me as i require a cheque book.

Any thoughts/advice/help appreciated.
Thanks,
Michael

Hi,

Well, let me get this right.

You say you had a £500 overdraft, so I assume had being past tense, you have it no more?

You were £100 in Credit, so you could in theory spend £600, this being their money and yours.

I guess it is easy to overlook what needs to be paid, but I guess this could be learnt as a valuable lesson, reading through your post, The Halifax would have done better by not paying the so called bill for £600, which was due to go out of your account, it seems that by paying this, they have done no favors to you whatsoever.

The best solution would have been to have failed the payment, and just charged you a failed DD fee, which would have been far easier to manage, than an un-authorized overdraft fee, on top of what else you have to pay for being overdrawn in the first place.

When payments for un-authorized overdrafts are put to banks, they treat this as being the case, and they decide if they pay the said item or not, sometimes though, it may appear to have gone out, but can return back again after a said time, they usually give a time scale and item can be returned as not paid, reading your post makes me even more happier that I left them when I did, I had no end of trouble with The Halifax, and it is sad in a way they never went bust when they were in trouble, their customer service is not the best, they give the advice they think you want to hear, not want you need to hear, and this is why you end up in a mess.

You can probably talk to them until the cows come home, but I think you are flogging a dead horse, your best bet would be to pop into branch and discuss it face-to-face, if it is a genuine error, and your not a repeat offender, they may meet you half way, but some how the old phrase of get a little extra help, from The Halifax, seems to be just that, little, well actually it's now nothing.

Robert_Hopkins

The way to beat the charges is to make sure your old style Current Account is upgraded to Reward by ringing them and then put in a £1,000 pound and then get a £5 , open two other reward accounts and then put in a £1,000 in each and get a £5 for each of the accounts. The £1,000 can be from transfers from other Halifax accounts or a account with another bank and can be in smaller amounts put in over the month. You not have to use the account as a main account. My advice is do not use your Halifax Current Accounts as your main account just as a account to get 3 x 5 reward payments. Transfer all your payments, direct debits to say a account like the Alliance and Leicester Premier Direct Currrent Account or if you regulary go overdrawn to the Nationwide Flex Account.

rb10

Robert_Hopkins wrote: »

My advice is do not use your Halifax Current Accounts as your main account just as a account to get 3 x 5 reward payments. Transfer all your payments, direct debits to say a account like the Alliance and Leicester Premier Direct Currrent Account or if you regulary go overdrawn to the Nationwide Flex Account.

Unless you are able to stay in credit all the time and not go overdrawn, in which case it is a good idea to use one of them as a main account (especially bearing in mind potential customer service issues with A&L).