Is there a way of avoiding charges??? please help

charles_b1984

Hello all, i have had a Halifax student account with overdraft for the past 3 years and get !!!!ed off as the next man when i get charged for being a few pence over my overdraft limit (for which the banks have no real-time balance for) or returned DD's which is £20 quid for the privilage of a pointless lette rfrom my bank.

Anyways, i was just wondering that if i opened another account, which is bog standard with no overdraught COULD I AVOID THESE CHARGES??
DO THESE CHARGES ONLY APPLY TO ACCOUNTS WITH OVERDRAFTS???OR CAN ALL ACCOUNTS BE SUBJECT TO CHARGES REGARDLESS OF OVERDRAFT FACILITY???

Does such account exist where if i miss a direct debit i wont get ripped off but it would simply not charge me? I remember when i was a teenager with a card cash account, i never had a single stupid charge like this. Thanks

talana

or returned DD's which is £20 quid for the privilage of a pointless lette rfrom my bank.

With DD's it's up to you to manage them.
If you KNOW you haven't got the funds to pay a DD (which you should do if you keep tabs on your balance regularly), and that you'll get a £20 charge, then cancel the DD.

It's perfectly possible to make alternative payment arrangements for most (all?) of your bills and regular payments. That way you won't get any returned DD charges.

MrsBartolozzi

Ok, I'm sure some other, more knowledgable peeps will be along in a minute, but...

"Does such account exist where if i miss a direct debit i wont get ripped off but it would simply not charge me" Errr no. The direct debit mandate you sign tells the bank to pay the DD every month/year etc until you cancel it. Why/how should they psychically know you have no money and don't want to pay the phone/leccy/magazine subs this month, and not that you are waiting for some cash to put in?? Also charges from the elec co/credit card/etc who don't receive your DD payment could be higher as well as making a bad impression on your credit file.
The bank's terms and conditions would tell you all about this. If you know you don't have enough money in the bank to pay a DD then tell them! Explain you will have the money in x days and could they extend your overdraft til then. Maybe they will, maybe they won't but it's worth a try.
The teenage cash card you mention would probably have been a solo type card where all purchases you make come off immediately and so you were limited to shops which were "online", and so if there were no funds you couldn't make the transaction. That's fine, make an appointment to speak to your branch's financial advisor - explain you are sick of charges and that you'd like an account where you can't go overdrawn. Now, whether this type of account will allow DDs I don't know, but I'm sure you will get good advice.

I bank with the Royal Bank of Scotland. recently they issued a new charging scheme where they don't charge you for going less than £15 over your overdraft limit, and they've reduced charges to £5 an item. I don't know if other banks have done this but RBS might be worth looking at for you?

dunstonh

The easiest answer is to manage your money better and dont rely on the bank to do it for you. Its not their place to and they will charge you if you dont have the self control.

charles_b1984

dunstonh wrote: »

The easiest answer is to manage your money better and dont rely on the bank to do it for you. Its not their place to and they will charge you if you dont have the self control.

reguardless of my self control, i was asking if a person were to have a card cash account, could a bank still levy ridiculous charges??

crispy_chris

Sure, if you misuse the account.

jamesd

Yes, they can still charge you. Best choice if available is to use a credit card deal or personal loan to get rid of the overdraft and then avoid accumulating the overdraft balance again. Then the overdraft facility works as a buffer so you don't get charged if your balance goes below zero.

If you are paying charges regularly you might want to open another account just for the regular bills with fixed amounts. Pay enough money into that one to cover the bills each month and have a whole month as spare extra money in there to cover any problems and you should be able to avoid most charges even if the main account does get charged them.