In a vicious circle with Barclays

jmima73

I have a £300 overdraft with Barclays with a £500 reserve. If I go into my reserve, I get charged £22. The thing is, I've been living off my reserve since pretty much the summer.... It's VERY expensive....

I decided to once and for all sort out my finances yesterday and popped into my local branch, told the woman that I was in financial hardship and with charges of between £88 and £120 a month, it just was not sustainable and they were actually making my debts worst and not helping at all. Personal banker was very friendly but it was basically a case of "Computer says no!"

We rang a different dept who then put us on to someone else and this woman basically said that there was nothing they could do! All she would do with was freeze the charges for one month (though was charged another £120 today) and she says in that time, I have to go to CAB and phone them back to prove that that I've been there.

Anyone know what happens from here on in? I'm really worried about this....

Consumerist

You really need to start the bank's complaints procedure.

I don't know your financial circumstances but the bank seems to be attempting to see whether you would have a case for a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman for hardship caused by disproportionate charges.

You'll find more info on the complaints process here. It's not bedtime reading but it is informative.

Hope this helps.
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LeeSouthEast

Barclays get round it by saying the Personal Reserve is a financial Product, and not an Overdraft or Charge. You choose to use it, or have it removed from your account.

Not much help to you, though.

jmima73

Thanks for the info. I'll draft a letter of complaint to the bank and get it posted this weekend.

The personal banker herself was very friendly and she was actually telling to open another account with someone else and get my money paid in there to stop the bank getting their hands on it! It was the woman at the other end of the phone who was the cold fish, asking if I had friends and family I could phone. Then she asked how much I could pay off a month and I said that until I found work (I'm on benefits having just had a baby in October), all I could spare was £20 and her attitude was "Well that's not very much!"

I guess I didn't know if I could complain - I mean, yes, I did go into the 'buffer zone' but their never ending bank charges are keeping me well within it....

Consumerist

jmima73 wrote: »

I'll draft a letter of complaint to the bank and get it posted this weekend.

I can't stress how important it is to follow the bank's formal complaints procedure so that you can ultimately refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman. Any letter that you do write should be clearly headed "Complaints Procedure - Step2" according to the stage you have reached in their procedure.

If you don't follow the formal complaints procedure there is a danger the FOS may disallow the complaint even if you have strong grounds.
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