Cashminder Account Terms & Charges

john10001

Hello.

Sorry to be a pest but I had another quick question regarding the Cashmind account with Co-Operative Bank.

I have been reading details of the charges and terms.

In the Charges adobe document it says:


Unpaid item fee

[FONT=Helvetica Neue LT,Helvetica Neue LT][FONT=Helvetica Neue LT,Helvetica Neue LT]This charge may be applied if standing orders or Direct Debits cannot be paid due to lack of funds.[/FONT][/FONT]
£15


Waiver

[FONT=Helvetica Neue LT,Helvetica Neue LT][FONT=Helvetica Neue LT,Helvetica Neue LT]We will not charge you any unpaid item fees for items that we return to prevent your account from becoming overdrawn (or for the duration of an overdraft which lasts six consecutive working days or less) providing that you had kept your account in credit for the previous 366 days.[/FONT][/FONT]


Am I reading this wrong? The waiver seems to cancel out the Unpaid item fee? So if a standing order or direct debit that is present on your account and you don't have enough funds in your account on the date it is set to leave, it simply wont be paid as this is an account that doesn't have an overdraft and they wont allow you to go overdrawn, correct?

Given the waiver which says they won't charge, I am the unsure how you could be charged the Unpaid Item Fee and not certain about the ambiguous words "may be applied".

Can anyone offer any clarity on this? Is there something I am missing? If the account doesn't have an overdraft, which these types of basic accounts don't, then it is impossible for you to go overdrawn as they simply wont allow it, so your account is "always" going to be in credit.

Cheers,

John

jendan2304

I've got a cashminder and it is possible to go overdrawn. If you spend below the 'floor limit' in e.g. Tesco petrol station (and Aldi do this as well) they authorize the transaction without electronically asking the bank if the funds are available. They are then requested the next day or next working day. you then carry on spending as you think their is suffiicient funds and what do you know, couple of days later you're overdrawn. This seems to happen to me as I've got a joint acct and whilst I can do my sums, I don't necessily know if my husband has drawn some cash or put petrol in etc.

When this has happened in the past, a quick phone call always puts the stop on any fees. I've never been charged in 8 years. This has happened to me a few times in that period.

other than that I can't fault the coop. They've been brilliant with us, providing us with a financial advisor and always there for support.