lloyds tsb new overdraft charges

chickywiggle

just had "the letter" to say they are now going to charge me £5 a month for the privalidge of having a planned overdraft.

every month i spent about £150 of my £550 overdraft and ALWAYS pay it in ful within a couple of weeks (dependign on when wages go in).

I really cannot afford the extra £60 a year for this but lookign around I cannot find a decent bank that will allow us a central account (all money goes in all bills go out) then my and DH a seperate account for our "spends".

I have only recently started using the overdraft as it curbs my credit card usage as i KNOW I will be able to pay off £150.

It is a rolling programme - yes if I can write off (what will be) the existing £150 then I will have an additional £150 next month and therfore no need to use the overdraft. If that makes sense. I will then be ok from there on in.

I am doing the £365 in 365 day programme and have probably got £150 in there but that would mean breaking my tub to get at it........... do we think this is the best thing to do??? I was hoping to use the whole lot to pay for xmas and avoid credit card expenses.

Many Thanks,

tifo

this is unfair to those who stay within their limit. I'll now pay an extra £5.00 a month for something i had for free (and i still didn't get my charges back because of the test case).

so even though the banks won the case and didn't pay anyone, they're now using the excuse to charge us more.

beanielou

Could you use a 0% card to pay it off.
Im considering using my MBNA card to do this as it has really wound me up.

eventer

I'll be changing bank accounts precisely because of this. Plenty of people don't charge you (yet!). I've been with Lloyds my whole life, and they will lose my business because of this. I very, very occasionally go into my overdraft, and always pay it off and top up the account within a week or so from savings. The whole point of having an agreed, pre-arranged overdraft is not to end up paying fees. So the accounts will all get switched asap.

tifo

don't have a credit card and can't get one.

eventer

OP, why can't you find anyone who will give you a central account and then separate ones? I currently have a Joint account, and two other current accounts (admittedly with Lloyds) and intend to recreate the same setup with whomever I move all our accounts to. My income goes into my #1 current account (in my name only), DH and I transfer a set amount each month into our joint account to cover bills/mortgage/fun etc, and I have a #2 current account in my name only which I transfer a set amount into each month to cover my expensive hobby. We then have a joint savings account which is a slush fund with about £500 in it in case we spend more than we normally do out of the joint account (anything over £500 goes in a proper savings account with decent return) and I have another 'slush' savings account in my name only for my expensive hobby. My hubbie thinks this is bonkers as he says 'money is money whatever pot it is in', but I find it stops me overspending on my hobby (which I could easily do!) and helps me keep track of my finances.

Why can you not find anyone to set up a joint account for you both and then separate current accounts for you?

chickywiggle

eventer - try it - look online at the big banks (or martins blog). all insist your account must have £15, 000 (for example) going in. yes the joint will but not the individual.

If anyone does have any success please let me know.

eventer

Surely you just open no minimum payment accounts? There are loads of them!

For example Smile do one which has a £500 fee-free overdraft for 12 months:

http://www.smile.co.uk/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=Smile%2FPage%2FsmView&cid=971088186700

So you open 2 of these, one as a joint account and one as your personal account. Everything gets paid into your personal one, then a set amount each month goes into the joint account. From what you've said I assume you don't regularly go overdrawn on the joint one? Therefore you shouldn't need to worry about this - but have the fee-free option just in case (we found it helpful in the first few months working out exactly how much we each needed to put in - got it wrong a few times!!). Then in your personal one, you have a fee-free overdraft to use for 12 months, which is ample time to sort out £150 of overdraft, surely? It means you just need to spend £12.50 a month less for a year. If you're strict I can't see that being a major issue is it? Then after that 12 months grace period, the fee is £20/month (I think?) - which should be incentive enough to stop it slipping back into the red!

My plan is to swap to one of the ones which a)pays you for the amount you pay in - both our personal and joint accounts get over £1K a month paid in, and b) only charges you by the day for being overdrawn, because mine is never overdrawn for more than a day or two - so at £1/day, I am still quids in!

clareb2010

We have changed Bank accounts from Lloyds due to debt with them and going on DMP but we would have moved accounts if we had not gone onto a DMP before this came into effect..

tifo

eventer wrote: »

Surely you just open no minimum payment accounts? There are loads of them!

For example Smile do one which has a £500 fee-free overdraft for 12 months:

http://www.smile.co.uk/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&pagename=Smile%2FPage%2FsmView&cid=971088186700

This is VERY expensive if you overdraw ...

"if you don't ask us for an increase but go over the agreed limit anyway, you will pay interest of 15.9% EAR on the overlimit balance, there'll also be a £20 service charge every month and a daily service charge of £20 a day for each day that your overdraft increases".

chickywiggle

Thanks Eventer but - i would prefer a 'high street' bank.