Halifax overdraft charges?

Wig

I have a regular saver with halifax and the standing order that went out on Jan 5th from my current account with halifax took me overdrawn, It was within my agreed overdraft - luckily!

I hadn't been keeping an eye on my accounts, as I wanted to claose all halifax accounts and never got round to it, I also thought that when there wasn't enough money in the current account the regular saver amount would just not be taken.


Anyhoo, I happened to log in today and was surprised to see the current account had finally run out of money and was now in the red, but has only been since Jan 5th - Phew!

So I looked at bank charges and it says they charge £1 a day for authorised overdrafts! Bloody cheek! My Barclays account gives me £500 free overdraft unlimited time.

I credited the account today Jan 8th lunchtime, into the black.
Does this mean I will lose £1 for each of these days
Jan 5th
Jan 6th
Jan 7th
Jan 8th

or just these days?
Jan 5th
Jan 6th
Jan 7th

Why is the charge not showing on the account? Is it something they will add on sometime next month?

rb10

Should be just for the 5th, 6th, 7th, so a £3 charge in total.

Off-set this against the fiver that you'll get on 1st February, and you're still £2 in profit, so no great loss.

They will tell you about this charge in your February statement, and then take it from your account at the end of February.

I assume that you pay a monthly fee to get the interest free overdraft from Barclays? Halifax have a similar account, where in return for a monthly fee, you can get an interest-free overdraft (and other stuff).

jambosans

Wig wrote: »

I also thought that when there wasn't enough money in the current account the regular saver amount would just not be taken.

Why? You have setup a mandate which Halifax will assume you want honoured (overdraft permitting) at all times, if you don't want it paid it is your responsibility to cancel that instruction.

Wig wrote: »

Anyhoo, I happened to log in today and was surprised to see the current account had finally run out of money

Doesn't seem very surprising. You had a standing order to your Regular Saver; hadn't been checking your account; and I assume (seeing as you wanted to close the account) no regular credits were being deposited. It is therefore a bit of given that the account will eventually "run out of money".

Wig wrote: »

or just these days?
Jan 5th
Jan 6th
Jan 7th

Just these days. As long as money is cleared in the account before the end of the day you're not charged the daily fee.

Wig wrote: »

Why is the charge not showing on the account? Is it something they will add on sometime next month?

Charges are calculated at the end of the calendar month, printed on your statement, and taken at the end of the following calendar month.

Dan0956

Yep, they take charges out at end of month for the total number of days you have been overdrawn, You will have to swallow the £3/£4 im afraid

Wig

jambosans wrote: »

Why? You have setup a mandate which Halifax will assume you want honoured (overdraft permitting) at all times, if you don't want it paid it is your responsibility to cancel that instruction.

Actually IMHO I didn't, I set it up 18 months ago for what I thought was a 12 month account, after which time all the money would be removed automatically into my nominated account and I assumed the account would be closed and that would be the end of it. As it happened they did empty the regular saver to 0.00 and I thought it wouldn't start again recieving money. But they did keep taking money into the regular saver, I knew this had started and intended one day to put a stop to it.

Doesn't seem very surprising. You had a standing order to your Regular Saver; hadn't been checking your account; and I assume (seeing as you wanted to close the account) no regular credits were being deposited. It is therefore a bit of given that the account will eventually "run out of money".

It was still surprising to me, may not be to you but that doesn't mean it wasn't to me. It was surprising for 2 reasons...
1. I thought the payment would stop when there was no money in the supply account
2. I didn't think it had run out yet.

Just these days. As long as money is cleared in the account before the end of the day you're not charged the daily fee.
Charges are calculated at the end of the calendar month, printed on your statement, and taken at the end of the following calendar month.

Thanks

Wig

rb10 wrote: »

Should be just for the 5th, 6th, 7th, so a £3 charge in total.

Off-set this against the fiver that you'll get on 1st February, and you're still £2 in profit, so no great loss.

The £5 only applies to "Ultimate Reward" & "Reward" current accounts.
When they graciously recently closed my "High Interest Current Account" (which was laughably paying 0.1% "high interest")....... without telling me... they very kindly replaced it with the "Halifax current account" not the "Ultimate Reward" or the "Reward" which they could have given me.

They will tell you about this charge in your February statement, and then take it from your account at the end of February.

Thanks

I assume that you pay a monthly fee to get the interest free overdraft from Barclays? Halifax have a similar account, where in return for a monthly fee, you can get an interest-free overdraft (and other stuff).

No, it's a platinum current account - fee free.

Andystriker

Wig wrote: »

Actually IMHO I didn't, I set it up 18 months ago for what I thought was a 12 month account, after which time all the money would be removed automatically into my nominated account and I assumed the account would be closed and that would be the end of it. As it happened they did empty the regular saver to 0.00 and I thought it wouldn't start again recieving money. But they did keep taking money into the regular saver, I knew this had started and intended one day to put a stop to it.

But you did not put a stop to it and they have been taking the money for a further 6 months. So you knew they would take the money this month.

Wig wrote: »

The £5 only applies to "Ultimate Reward" & "Reward" current accounts.
When they graciously recently closed my "High Interest Current Account" (which was laughably paying 0.1% "high interest")....... without telling me... they very kindly replaced it with the "Halifax current account" not the "Ultimate Reward" or the "Reward" which they could have given me.

I thought they had upgraded this account to the Reward Account. If not ring them and ask them to.

Wig

Andystriker wrote: »

But you did not put a stop to it and they have been taking the money for a further 6 months. So you knew they would take the money this month.

I knew they would on the proviso there was sufficient funds in the account, anything more than that I didn't know.

I thought they had upgraded this account to the Reward Account. If not ring them and ask them to.

Can't be bovvered, going down there now to close all the accounts except the regular saver which seeing as it has now had 6 months, I might aswell leave it for another 6 months other wise I'll get 0.15% interest (less tax). And I'll set up a standing order to it from another account outside Halifax.

I also notice on the online accounts page for the Halifax Current Account, there is a link on the left hand side
"Upgrade my account to a Halifax Ultimate Reward" which costs 12.50 month!!!
But there is no similar useful convienient link saying
"upgrade my account to Halifax Reward" Wonder why they made it so easy for the ultimate but not for the basic reward ???

opinions4u

Wonder why they made it so easy for the ultimate but not for the basic reward ???

The Ultimate Reward was launched over 2 years ago.

The Reward more recently.

I would guess that the IT resources are predominantly focused on merging systems with Lloyds, so while the option that you suggest would be useful, you can easily achieve the same result with a phone call.

ERICS_MUM

I think the moral of this thread is "know your bank accounts". Make sure you know what you are charged for, how account transfers, direct debits and S/O are processed (or not), how/when/why charges are applied etc.

Also keep a close eye on your accounts - log into your internet banking every couple of days or get an ATM mini-balance. Not only will you get a better "handle" on your finances but also spot any possible frauds. Reconcile your statements regularly - ask for monthly statements.

Use any other free services your bank offers. I get text alerts from NatWest if the balance of my account goes above or below certain amounts (which I have set).

In summary, manage your account, don't let it manage you. Don't assume your bank will do the "best thing" for you, all accounts are treated alike but the end result depends entirely on how you have managed it.

Linda

Wig

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

In summary, manage your account, don't let it manage you. Don't assume your bank will do the "best thing" for you, all accounts are treated alike but the end result depends entirely on how you have managed it.

Linda

Assume your bank will do the worst by you at any chance they get and you will be right 99 times out of a 100.