Santander Overdraft - help needed please

DaiJoA

Hi, just wondering if anyone can help me - my OH has a sole Santander account which he has had for years, it is no longer his main account and as such the agreed overdraft has just been cut down from £1000 to £500, which is fine. He has two direct debits each month from this account - one for £20-odd as payment for a washing machine, and the other of £200 as payment for his car. For various reasons we weren't able to put in enough money to cover these two payments, and thought (stupidly as it turned out) that the overdraft would cover this with no problem or fees. Wrong! The £20 for the washing machine was paid, fine, but the car is a different story - they've charged £25 which is listed as 'unauthorised overdraft/instant overdraft monthy fee' and then a further £35 which is listed as 'instand overdraft request fee - paid item direct debit to.....' etc, goes on to list the details of the direct debit etc. Am absolutely :eek: at this - £60 for using an agreed overdraft?!! That is utterly disgusting. We've tried today ringing the call centre only to be kept on hold forever and a day, so will have to try again tomorrow, in the meantime can someone please shed any light on this issue - am beyond annoyed, and confused. There was I thinking the £1 per day charged by Halifax (which is sadly the main account!) was daylight robbery - this is double!

Any help much appreciated.

anselld

So are you saying the £200, if it had been paid, would still have been under the £500 OD limit?

DaiJoA

They paid the £200 as it was within the £500 limit, BUT have still charged £60 under the two headings given above. Plus they've charged £2.69 'advance overdraft interest', and £3.11 'instant overdraft interest'. Totally not understanding this at all. Before, when the overdraft was £1000, we let it go overdrawn quite a few times and only ever incurred minimal interest charges.

anselld

Sorry, but in that case I don't understand ... "For various reasons we weren't able to put in enough money to cover these two payments"

Did you have enough money to cover all the payments in full within the £500 OD?

If nothing you have done has taken you beyond the £500 agreed overdraft limit it sounds like they have made a mistake and charged you as if your OD was unauthorised.

They should fix it, but in trying to get that done you will no-doubt discover why their reputation for customer service is so bad!

DaiJoA

Yes, all that came out of the agreed overdraft was the £220 in direct debits, we've never been anywhere near any of our limits, its just a safety net for us to try and balance things out as my partner is self employed so it is very hard to predict what we will have coming in and out on a weekly basis. Because Halifax has started on its greedy £1 per day charge, we make sure that one always has enough in it, as I refuse to pay a fine for something that was agreed.

I think they have made a mistake but it is a bit worrying

anselld

Sounds like mistake then. Good luck!

Fairzo

This can't be right if it's within the agreed OD. When was the OD limit reduced? Please post how you get on tomorrow.