HSBC, is this fair?

Janscott

I have two accounts with HSBC one is a current account and one is a loan account.

A standing order on the current account pays the loan account each month.

On the current account with the standing order there is no overdraft facility.

HSBC made a payment from my standing order account to the loan account account putting me overdrawn by £ 160 for two days. HSBC charged me £184 for "account overdrawn overdraft fee".

Are they able to do that if I do not have an overdraft facility?

Any other bank would have bounced the payment and charge me £ 35.

Help

Lokolo

The £184 wouldn't have been for an overdraft fee as that is not how their charging system works.

HSBC charge £25 for an overdraft fee.

Janscott

That is what is on the bank statement for the payment. Spoke to local branch they said I was £4.00 overdrawn for three weeks and it is a daily overdrawn rate. Mmm spoke to call center they were no help, back to local branch who said go to call center again as they were only a " collection bank" and not a proper bank, as everything was handled by the call center. Wanted to write but the only address I have is the local bank ( no help) and the head office in London.

Lokolo

Ok so you weren't overdrawn for 2 days.

HSBC operates a system whereby you get charged £25 everytime you go over your authorised limit. If you are over this already, everytime you use your account you will be charged £25.

This has a maximum limit of £125 a month or something so I suspect its gone on over a month.

Janscott

The current account was only used once in the monthly period which was to pay the HSBC loan account.
The current account started at £4.30 over drawn and ended up £ 160.00 overdrawn which was for two days.

The question is can the make me overdrawn when I do not have an overdraft facility?

Lokolo

Janscott wrote: »

The current account was only used once in the monthly period which was to pay the HSBC loan account.
The current account started at £4.30 over drawn and ended up £ 160.00 overdrawn which was for two days.

The question is can the make me overdrawn when I do not have an overdraft facility?

Yes unless it is their basic account.

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/current-accounts/bank-account-page
vs.
http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/current-accounts/more/basic-bank-account

The latter would never let you go overdrawn.

Janscott

It is not a basic account.
Sounds unfair, if the standing order was with another bank they would have bounced it and charged £ 35.00 not £ 184.00

Lokolo

Janscott wrote: »

It is not a basic account.
Sounds unfair, if the standing order was with another bank they would have bounced it and charged £ 35.00 not £ 184.00

They may not have. Some banks would have let you go overdrawn and charged you just as much. It's a matter of luck.

Janscott

Mmmm thank you for your help,really not getting anywhere with HSBC.

Sounds unfair to charge £ 184 for a month when we are talking a lot less than that amount.

Assuming I was £ 200.00 light on credit cards they would not charge £ 184.00 for a months use would they?

jambosans

Janscott wrote: »

Mmmm thank you for your help,really not getting anywhere with HSBC.

Sounds unfair to charge £ 184 for a month when we are talking a lot less than that amount.

HSBC operate a "Fair Fees Policy", so in many cases, their fees are fairer than other banks.

I agree with Lokolo, the account must have been overdrawn longer than two days. The below is taken from the General Price List and Interest Rates PDF:-

HSBC wrote:

HSBC Fair Fees Policy
We always aim to be fair in the way we charge for our
Overdraft services, therefore:
• we will not charge an Arrangement Fee provided that, within the last 6 months, we have not agreed to a request from you for an overdraft
• we will not charge an Arrangement Fee for an overdraft request of £10 or less
• we will not charge Arrangement Fees for informal overdrafts if covering funds are paid in before the end of the day
• we will give advance notice before Arrangement Fees are debited from your account
• if debited Arrangement Fees (or interest) cause your account to go overdrawn or further overdrawn we will not make a further charge
• Arrangement Fees charged will never be higher than the overdraft requested (eg, a £15 overdraft will not cost you say, £50)
• we will not charge more than one Arrangement Fee a day.

Janscott wrote: »

Assuming I was £ 200.00 light on credit cards they would not charge £ 184.00 for a months use would they?

Red herring, different financial products attract different charges.

rolleypolleypud

I would ring them again and ask to speak to a supervisor or somebody who can actually tell you what the charge is for?

HSBC will only chage a maximum of £150/month in unauthorised overdraft fees this is clearly stated in the fair fees poicy on their web site.

If your account was only overdrawn by £4.60 then they shouldn't have charged you at all as again their fair fees policy says it will not charge for an overdrawn amount of less than £10. They will also only charge you a £25 fee if you were overdrawn by £25 or more if for instance you were overdrawn by £15 you will get charged £15 or by £18 they will charge £18.

you will be charged each time a debit is made from the account of £25 but only up to £150.

If you haven't been overdrawn in the last 6 months you could ask for the charge to be taken off.

Check out their fair fees on their web site

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/current-accounts/overdraft-service;jsessionid=0000ax0U5W95-S7efKP51jxZGMA:12ntf1ldo