How will reclaiming bank charges impact banking discussion

Knackered

Whitedove wrote: »

I have read it -- I have even included the relevent portion of text into my reply. I have agreed with you that the bank charges are excessive. You must have known what would happen if you spent money (by DD) from your account without sufficient funds. Only you can know how much you have when you wish to spend more. The bank only knows what you have spent after you have spent it.

I didn't know at the time either that getting the car fixed would reduce my available funds to £33 instead of £35. It's sensible, is it, for the bank to refuse to pay a £35 DD and instead charge me £38? If there wasn't enough to pay £35 how could they sensibly charge £38?

amancalledchip

then would'nt it have been a good idea to go to the bank to see how close to the wind you were sailing.It takes over 3 working days for a cheque to clear, plenty of time for you to see you needed to pay in £2+

the fee's are the same for everyone , and are set out in the Terms and conditions, they cant apply different fee's for different people.

i agree that the banks fee's are a bit high , but then they are set out in the terms and conditions

I really have no sympathy for you as there is a lot you could have done to prevent it.

Whitedove

No it isn't, and that is why the banks are being forced to return these unfair charges. I think that any sensible bank official would have seen how silly it was to apply this charge and to cancel it. There was an earlier letter from someone sensible, who works for a bank, saying that he does just this. I am certainly not sneering and I am not rich. The point that I have tried to make is that because I know of the severe and unfair way that banks treat their customers I stay clear of getting even near to going overdrawn.
There is always the risk of a forgotten annual DD payment being made at the worst moment -- perhaps only a day before the bank receives your payslip. Knowing this, for years I have always maintained my account above the lower limit. It was not an easy thing to do at the start but once achieved it becomes routine to ignore this sum and opperate the account above this safety net.
That is what I meant by trying to help -- well intentioned advice is not sneering. It is a great pity that the things in life that we really need to know about are not taught in school. I have never used most of the stuff that was drilled into me. In fact most was so useless that I still don't know what it was about.
I really do hope that once your situation is under control -- hopefully with a refund of these unfair charges, you will be able to get on with your life and maintain a safety level.
Good luck to you from Whitedove.

Knackered

I did phone the bank to try to make sense of it but they refused to budge. I have known them to be accommodating at times when something daft like this has happened but this time they refused to agree. Incredible when you consider what has been happening. I explained that nobody had given them the all clear to do this yet and that I could get it back with interest later.

amancalledchip wrote: »

then would'nt it have been a good idea to go to the bank to see how close to the wind you were sailing.It takes over 3 working days for a cheque to clear, plenty of time for you to see you needed to pay in £2+

the fee's are the same for everyone , and are set out in the Terms and conditions, they cant apply different fee's for different people.

i agree that the banks fee's are a bit high , but then they are set out in the terms and conditions

I really have no sympathy for you as there is a lot you could have done to prevent it.

I haven't got a chequebook. There was nothing I could do about it - what was I supposed to do, not get my car fixed? I am aware that the fees are the same for everyone, and I am aware that they are unfair. Just ask a judge.

Mark7799

Whitedove wrote: »

That is what I meant by trying to help -- well intentioned advice is not sneering. It is a great pity that the things in life that we really need to know about are not taught in school. I have never used most of the stuff that was drilled into me. In fact most was so useless that I still don't know what it was about.
I really do hope that once your situation is under control -- hopefully with a refund of these unfair charges, you will be able to get on with your life and maintain a safety level.
Good luck to you from Whitedove.

I have made similar arguments previously. I was lucky that I started working in a bank when I was 16 because it taught me financial literacy. You think £35 charge is punitive for going overdarwn - the threat of the sack is far more punitive:o However, I have never incurred unforseen charges even though I left banking eight years ago (very glad I'm out of it as well) and the financial discipline I was taught has still stuck with me.

Smasher

I no longer pay charges. I haven't since I got all mine back. I also applied compound interest for the money they took, just like they charged me when I went overdrawn.
I tried very hard to get an overdraft when I first got into trouble, but the bank refused to let me have one. If I had an overdraft, I would have had some leeway and an opportunity to get back into the black. I would have happily paid the existing charges and the OD interest if only they would help me. But why would they do that? As it was they could charge me up to £250 every month.

A friend eventually loaned me the money to pay them off, about £3k. All of it made up of charges.
That was years ago now. I was every happy in 2005 when I found bankchargeshell.co.uk who showed me how to get them all back. And I did, with interest. I really don't care if anyone has a problem with that. I was absolutely right to do it, my settlement cheque proved it.

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

Knackered wrote: »

What makes you anti-reclaimers believe you have the right to free anything? This isn't a communist country you know. Do you expect that you should have free car insurance subsidised by the unfortunate few who have accidents? Get real, and shut up.

lmfao what a stupid comparison... why stop at insurance, free cars and houses for all!

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

@ Knackered... The thing you need to remember is that if you stray over your limit just the once then i havent known anybody not get that refunded.

Hell, a few years ago i misjudged the timing of money coming and going and got slapped with a late payment charge on my credit card. A 5 minute call to the company got the charge refunded with a clear message that the refund wouldnt happen again within the next 12 months....

guess what, i was more careful and it hasnt happened since. One offs i dont have an issue with. Its the serial offenders who have spent other peoples money (and it is in one form or another) who are claiming back hundreds or thousands going back years who i think take the !!!!. If this isnt you then please dont take offense. :beer:

bennett2kuk

You know what, I personally think that the banks should be allowed to charge what they want for people misusing their service.
The government brought in speed restrictions on the road but there hasn't been a campaign yet to claim back the fines people get for breaking the limit.
The bank offers a service and if you break the rules they fine you, which is fair enough.
The people who genuinely accidentally go over their limit I empathise with but Martin lewis has just given the people who are deliberately crap with money an excuse to overspend because they know they'll just get a big lump sum back eventually.
Some may call me a hypocrite for actually claiming my charges back but because or Mr lewis and all the rest of the people who are crap with m,oney are going to make everyone accountable by forcing the banks to start charging us for bank accounts.
Dealing with money is not hard, don't spend more than you earn plain and simplebut some people are so numb and stupid that its going to affect everyone. I'm only claiming back my money so the first lot of the bank's charges aren't actually going to affect me.
You lot should be ashamed of yourselves.

Smasher

bennett2kuk wrote: »

You know what, I personally think that the banks should be allowed to charge what they want for people misusing their service.
The government brought in speed restrictions on the road but there hasn't been a campaign yet to claim back the fines people get for breaking the limit.
The bank offers a service and if you break the rules they fine you, which is fair enough.

What you are talking about is against the law. If you are going to get on your soapbox, at least try to understand first what you are talking about.