Halifax new bank charges!!

izools

She should cut back so as to be able to reduce her OD limit by £10+ a week then there's light at the end of the tunnel. If she literally can't whilst being totally responsible maybe she should consider whether she can actually afford to live away from home for now?

opinions4u

KVAK wrote: »

Agreed. I am talking about small overdrafts, say £500 or less.

Which are clearly expensive and nobody is disuising the fact.

But the many threads on this subject have highlighted ways to avoid / reduce the charges to a more acceptable level.

- spend less (see Debt-free Wannabe part of the forum)
- earn more
- look at standing order / direct debit dates (e.g. could the rent go out a few days later?) and optimise the dates to reduce overdraft time periods.
- put a month's expenditure on a credit card (ideally at 0%) and bring the current account in to credit for ever
- pay £12.50 a month for an Ultimate Reward account ... there are no £1 charges for authorised overdraft's below £300 and you get a bag load of insurances, such as breakdown cover and holiday insurance, that may or may not be of use (but £150 a year, £90 with Reward payment, is cheaper than the £312 you quote)
- change banks. The charging structure is unique to Halifax and BOS so if you don't like it get out.
- make sure that £1,000 is paid in to the account each month to earn the £5 reward, even if it involves transferring funds in to a savings account (e.g. Web Saver Variable) with Halifax and then straight back to the current account a minute later.

I am in fact talking about people like my daughter who has just finished uni. she has taken a job with a salary of around £11000 a year. A few days after pay day when her rent is taken from her account she is normally back in overdraft. Never exceeds the limit but is often close to it. result bank charges now of £26 per month vs her old interest of about £11.

If she had a student account with Halifax she should get an interest free overdraft for a year after graduation. If she isn't getting this she should take proof of graduation date along to the branch and ask for the student account status to be reinstated and backdated, with any charges/interest being reimbursed. If she didn't have a student account previously, ignore this.

Your £11 a month suggests that she was overdrawn by an average of around £830 at any one time, based on the old 15.9% overdraft interest rate.

now 26 x 12 = £312 charges on a £500 overdraft. The loan was also as quoted by her local branch.
I gave her the money to clear it!!. How many young folks in her position don't have people who can help.
My point in this all along is that it is verging on extortionate credit on small overdrafts for people who cannot get out of using them.

It's a choice to go overdrawn.

It's a choice to spend more than you have.

There is no point throwing around words like "extortionate" when there are numerous things an individual can do mitigate, avoid or reduce the charges.

KVAK

I do not "throw" in the word extortionate when the charges are. Currently ,the APR, if worked out now on overdrafts below £500 works out at more than 100%.
A standard finance calculator or an HP12C financial calculator struggles to work out the APR.Of course its not interest though its a charge. same thing, different name.
Of course she can budget better or spend less. It is the overall princiopal of the whole idea that I object to.
I like the whole idea of earn more. Of course she could earn more. Who couldn't.
The big question is where and how.
i realise though that this is not an answer for you to solve.
We'll need to agree to differ. Bank of Scotland have diminished their honourable standing in my opinion.
I will say also that when I contacted telephone banking that the young lady I spoke to told me that they had had a very large number of complaints on this subject.

Sharon87

I was reducing my Halifax Overdraft as much as I could before these charges came into effect, but having a minimum wage I only managed to get it down to £880 from £1000, but luckily my family helped me out, as I was paying between £11 and £16 a month, and I never left the overdraft except for 5 weeks pay days, so that would have been £365 a year! Now I can pay more of the overdraft off than I could have before.

I'm one of the lucky ones, if my sister hadn't had a £500 interest free overdraft I would never have been able to clear it easily. I tried getting a 0% card, but got turned down. I tried getting a new bank, but I need to get a new passport for ID first. The next step would have been a regular interest paying credit card, still may have been cheaper than Halifax.

maz1964

hiya all

just found this thread going to read it in full as i too am in the middle of a complaint with the halifax regarding this and also have informed my mp who has not bothered to reply only to acknowledge my concern which i find disgusting yet the opposition local councillor took time out to listen to my concerns and even meet up with me

so now i want to get back to the halifax after they sent their final letter stating these are the charges not going to change etc

but now ive no job been made redundant only partner working have a dd at college wonder if i can claim the hardship route

i really am looking at clearing this now anyway but i would prefer to pay via the interest charge not the 1.00 a day as will cost me more and take me longer to clear hence my complaint

i also feel im not being treated fairly as someone who has double the amount of overdraft ie 2500 then me and also paying the same 31/30/28 amount at the end of the month if they do use the full overdraft amount monthly like i do
so in effect im being treated in a different manner but being charged an amount and thus why not give me the 2500 overdraft too - so if that is not possible then i wish to revert back to what i originally agreed paying the interest and thus saving me about 13 to 15 pounds a month which would go to clearing my debt faster

hope ive made sense anyway sorry for rambling - any thoughts or views i would appreciate
cheers maz

maz1964

hiya all

now that ive read the thread, it has surprised me in parts and made me also realise that a complaint is just that to the halifax

they have made their decision whilst i understand a business one, i no longer bank with them have got my banking needs addressed already at another bank which is fine

i was starting to clear this outstanding overdraft at the halifax by paying an amount each month but since the charges have come in, it will cost me more and take longer to pay unless i credit more and more each month

options are what?

i will consider your views cheers maz

flyingjock1

Been a BOS customer for years and yes the 1/2 and 5 fees can mount up but that what u get for using the overdraft. an overdraft is not a god given right and the quicker people realise that the better. if you dont like the fees instead of coming on and bleating about how bad they are. change banks simple as that. if hbos/halifax/lloyds have made the business decision to stop the other fees and introduce these fees then this aint going to change.