£170 per month charges - advise welcomed...

derekb1

My daugther cannot manage money to save her life! I know it, she knows it but the bank seem to prey on this - want do you think..?

18 months ago she had rung up a £1K overdraft (authorised) and was in mess. I went to the bank branch with her, paid off the overdraft and we asked the bank to remove the overdraft facility so she could not get into this situation again.

Whenever I've asked her since she was sworn that she has not got an overdraft however it has all come out now. Technically she hasn't got one but the bank still let her withdraw cash, honor card payments and S.O. etc so she thinks she's alright (that's how people like her think). I have looked back over her statements and she has regularly been overdrawn and has been hit with £100 to £170 per month charges for the last 16 months(presumabaly because its now "Unauthorised"). Her income is only £1,100 per month, rent £400 per month so the charges now guarrantee that she will go overdrawn every month. So she has slipped into the classic of a credit card to make up the difference!

My instinct is its her own bloody fault but the charges do seem disproportionate and are after we specifically asked them to stop the facility.

What are my prospects for making a claim?

KKmatters

I wouldn't like to comment on claiming but if you requested the bank remove the overdraft facility and they're still allowing payments to go through I would imagine you could complain to the bank and ask given your earlier request if they could waive the charges. Alternatively ask if they can set a reducing overdraft in order that she can repay the money without impacting too much on her disposable income - set it at say £1000 and the following month £900 until it's eventually 0 at least this way the charges will be less.

noh

The bank can remove the authourised overdraft facility but most are unable to remove the unauthorised overdraft facility. Even if they could your daughter would still incur returned item fees.

Your instincts are correct it is her own fault.
She needs to change her thinking otherwise she will get deeper in debt throughout her life however much you bail her out.

derekb1

noh wrote: »

Your instincts are correct it is her own fault.
She needs to change her thinking otherwise she will get deeper in debt throughout her life however much you bail her out.

I know. Its like a disease or a mental illness (actually thats another story) but there does seems to be a whole industry out there preying on idiots like her (she is sold unsuitable mobile phone contracts, she signs anything in the street from those chuggers, subscribes to lovefilm, pays gas through a pre-pay meter thing that they want to charge her to remove if she changes, give her an overdraft she doesn't want but can't help using etc.).

Wywth

derekb1 wrote: »

...My instinct is its her own bloody fault but the charges do seem disproportionate ...

What are my prospects for making a claim?

None whatsover of a successful one if that is to be the basis.

Refer to the Supreme Court ruling back in 2009