HSBC Unauthorised Overdraft - Irresponsible Lending?

edtheball

Thanks YorkshireBoy, I will make a point of checking my balance in future (receipts are bad for the planet y'know). Their fair fees policy is to not charge more than you borrowed, but hey, fingers crossed I get something sorted on Monday. I've been with HSBC for 15 years so if customer retention means anything to them hopefully we can reach a compromise.

edtheball

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

How is the bank supposed to know what you know?

They provide a telephone number, a website, and are part of an ATM network...all of which will tell you your balance. Use them?

Im not saying they should be mind readers, but perhaps letting someone use their "Emergency Unauthorised Overdraft" 25 times is turning a blind eye with a view to getting more fees. They should have stopped my account at some point.

YorkshireBoy

edtheball wrote: »

(receipts are bad for the planet y'know).

They must agree...that's why they all provide your balance on screen...but you have to want to see it.

psychic_teabag

Be sure to transfer your ISA out properly, rather than just closing it and taking the cash.

I'm sure there was another thread a few weeks back along similar lines : poster wanted the option of having the bank just decline to pay once the balance reached zero, rather than going overdrawn and mounting up crazy charges.

EDIT: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4175245

JuicyJesus

edtheball wrote: »

The point is I thought the money was in there, they didn't tell me it wasn't and now I am £300 down in charges!

You won't have £300 in charges. HSBC cap them at £150 per statement period.

Regardless, thinking the money is in there when it isn't is your fault. And the reason they didn't tell you it wasn't is because you never asked them. If you'd got a balance first you'd have seen this.

But, obviously, banks are banks and I'm just little me. Thanks for the warm welcome, MSE Forum.

Virtually everyone has said that while it is your fault, if you ask the bank nicely they may well refund the charges as it's the first time. But the fact remains they didn't do anything wrong, the mistake was entirely yours.

edtheball

JuicyJesus wrote: »

Virtually everyone has said that while it is your fault, if you ask the bank nicely they may well refund the charges as it's the first time. But the fact remains they didn't do anything wrong, the mistake was entirely yours.

As I said in the beginning, I know it is my responsibility to manage my own funds, but I think the banks need to take some responsibility in these situations and not allow people to fall into unaffordable situations like this.

JuicyJesus wrote: »

You won't have £300 in charges. HSBC cap them at £150 per statement period.

I hope you're right, but when I was in the bank earlier they said the upper limit is whatever you borrowed.

I will see what is said on Monday and post again then.

JuicyJesus

edtheball wrote: »

As I said in the beginning, I know it is my responsibility to manage my own funds, but I think the banks need to take some responsibility in these situations and not allow people to fall into unaffordable situations like this.

They wouldn't have dispensed the cash if they didn't think you could afford it. There is no incentive whatsoever to create bad debts for themselves.

I hope you're right, but when I was in the bank earlier they said the upper limit is whatever you borrowed.

Which is correct, from what I recall HSBC cap fees at the amount you've been overdrawn by, so if you went £50 overdrawn the most you would get charged at £50. But it's the higher of the two, so if you went over by £300 the maximum you'd get charged is £150.

Again though it works on statement periods, HSBC will be able to clarify this.

meer53

As you don't seem to monitor your account too well, be aware of this : card transactions don't always need to be authorised, so you may find several transactions which debit your account after you've gone over your agreed overdraft facility.

Debit Card payments are guaranteed as far as a retailer is concerned, so they will debit whether you have available money or not. Keep a running total of what you spend to avoid this, they can sometimes take weeks to debit. Longer sometimes, you need to account for them if they haven't debited.

edtheball

meer53 wrote: »

As you don't seem to monitor your account too well, be aware of this : card transactions don't always need to be authorised, so you may find several transactions which debit your account after you've gone over your agreed overdraft facility.

Debit Card payments are guaranteed as far as a retailer is concerned, so they will debit whether you have available money or not. Keep a running total of what you spend to avoid this, they can sometimes take weeks to debit. Longer sometimes, you need to account for them if they haven't debited.

Thanks, that's what I do, but obviously this month missed that biggy!

pmduk

It isn't irresponsible lending, more irresponsible borrowing, as you never asked to borrow the cash, just took it.

You should just admit that it was you that was in the wrong and ask them nicely to waive some of the charges. I doubt they'll waive them all, they'll likely feel, not unreasonably, that you should pay more attention to the transactions on your account.