MSE News: CONFIRMED - OFT gives up bank charges battle

neilthegooner

discoass wrote: »

which is all well and good until you get slapped with that old favorite "late payment fees"

I understand it can be difficult but I rang all the companies and have an agreement of the 29th of every month. That gives me a whole month to pay them.

Gorgeous_George

chris1huk wrote: »

Whatever the situation, whether people have phone contracts/internet etc or not..
The fact remains the charges are unfair. Nothing anyone can say or do will change that.

I agree 100% that the charges were unfair. They should be returned with interest.

The charges have changed and are generally a lot lower these days. Are we saying that they are still unfair?

GG

moo_cow

I think there are always going to be players on both sides of the fence. We have to accept that. But I know that for many people on these boards they will have learned valuable lessons regarding finances as will the newcomers eventually. BUT, that doesn't take away the fact that greedy banks have literally had people sinking to their knees in despair. I was given a copy of the banking code when I dared to try to reason with my bank manager. I then sat there with him and pointed out several pieces of the banking code which LTSB clearly did not adhere to. He even agreed with me. But the answer is always the same. 'Unfortunately there's nothing i can do.'
Also, When your income is suddenly stripped away it can be very hard to think clearly.

discoass

neilthegooner wrote: »

I understand it can be difficult but I rang all the companies and have an agreement of the 29th of every month. That gives me a whole month to pay them.

we all have our different methods,i personally found having 2 bank accounts worked best for me(although i no longer need it due to strict budgets ive placed on myself)
transfering all disposable income into second account and leaving the DD account untouched :j

chris1huk

Gorgeous_George wrote: »

I agree 100% that the charges were unfair. They should be returned with interest.

The charges have changed and are generally a lot lower these days. Are we saying that they are still unfair?

GG

My bank(halifax) has changed their charges, £1 per day for an authorised overdraft.. £5 per day for an unauthorised overdraft.

I am paying double with this new system to the interest I used to pay with the old system. I find this new system wrong, and it only really benefits people who have overdrafts in the region of £2000 - £2500

If im close to paying off my overdraft, I am still charged this flat fee of £30 a month rather than a fiver or tenner interest..

To me its still unfair, but then they will never do anything in the customers favour.. oh and they arent paying interest on credit balances.

moo_cow

chris1huk wrote: »

My bank(halifax) has changed their charges, £1 per day for an authorised overdraft.. £5 per day for an unauthorised overdraft.

I am paying double with this new system to the interest I used to pay with the old system. I find this new system wrong, and it only really benefits people who have overdrafts in the region of £2000 - £2500

If im close to paying off my overdraft, I am still charged this flat fee of £30 a month rather than a fiver or tenner interest..

To me its still unfair, but then they will never do anything in the customers favour.. oh and they arent paying interest on credit balances.

Chris that's a good point. My sister is with the Halifax and although she has rarely used her overdraft she has now in fact cancelled it as she (and so do I) would quite agree that it is a terrible system benefitting only the heavy users of larger overdrafts.

chris1huk

moo_cow wrote: »

Chris that's a good point. My sister is with the Halifax and although she has rarely used her overdraft she has now in fact cancelled it as she (and so do I) would quite agree that it is a terrible system benefitting only the heavy users of larger overdrafts.

I saw news readers commending the halifax for changing their charging system, i was like !!!!!!? do these people not get it?

It is going to work out cheaper to pay off my overdraft before i pay off my credit card.. Never thought i'd say that

discoass

Frank_John wrote: »

Frank John wrote:
. So please lets try and get it into perspective. If you go over your limit the bank will charge you. If it's a one off and for a small amount for a couple of days, the banks are actually quite reasonable and will almost certainly refund you. They might even extend your overdraft facility. So to finish, lets accept that banks may not be perfect, but this is not their fault so stop this unnecessary bank bashing.

"They might even extend yr overdraft"
lol

add a £25 arrangement fee to that and is it any different to been charged for been od. plus once u ask 4 it to be extended u cant ask again 4 6 months wether its up or down(without this charge) ,and even if u try to reduce yr OD u get a £25 arrangement fee :xmassmile

yeah ......banks r great

neilthegooner

moo_cow wrote: »

I think there are always going to be players on both sides of the fence. We have to accept that. But I know that for many people on these boards they will have learned valuable lessons regarding finances as will the newcomers eventually. BUT, that doesn't take away the fact that greedy banks have literally had people sinking to their knees in despair. I was given a copy of the banking code when I dared to try to reason with my bank manager. I then sat there with him and pointed out several pieces of the banking code which LTSB clearly did not adhere to. He even agreed with me. But the answer is always the same. 'Unfortunately there's nothing i can do.'
Also, When your income is suddenly stripped away it can be very hard to think clearly.

It's not 'Unfortunately there's nothing i can do.'. It's I cant make a decision and the "computer seys nooooooo". as quoted by Little Britain, and is quite true in this day and are.

moo_cow

chris1huk wrote: »

I saw news readers commending the halifax for changing their charging system, i was like !!!!!!? do these people not get it?

It is going to work out cheaper to pay off my overdraft before i pay off my credit card.. Never thought i'd say that

I think the problem is that people choose to see the £1 and not the £1 PER DAY bit. It's disgraceful. What is the point in an overdraft if you are potentially going to end up paying extortionate amounts in charges. It beggers belief!