Going into the red with First Direct

Nine_Lives

I have a regular saver with them. I set up payments to land in my 1st account a day before payment is due on the regular saver.

I would've sworn that i did this for March. Seemingly i didn't. Either that or it didn't work.

Payment should've been taken 25th March. I only noticed this yesterday, so immediately funded it with £300.

The payment was still taken, but it took my 1st account to -£299.00 with a D next to it in the online statement.

Is there a charge of some sort due for this?
Would there be a black mark in my credit file as going into the minus for over a week?

apt

Most First Direct current accounts have an overdraft limit of £500 of which the first £250 is interest free. If this is the case there's no damage apart from a few pence in interest charges.

Nine_Lives

It did have the £500 overdraft, but i removed this a year or so ago.

I clicked on the charges link, but it said nothing. I can't see them letting me go into the red for a week without anything against me.

I sent them a secure message. They'll probably reply back by tomorrow but i thought i'd just ask here as someone has probably done the same & can talk from experience.

YorkshireBoy

There may not be any fees payable, provided you haven't made a previous 'informal' request in recent months. Had your request been denied they'd have hit you with a returned item fee of £25.

The FD tariff doesn't seem to distinguish between arranged and unarranged overdraft debit interest rates, so it looks like you'll just incur interest at 15.9% EAR, ie not at circa 30% EAR as some providers charge.

You may get lucky, and benefit from their "discretionary policies" on overdrafts (see page 9 on the document linked below).

Disclaimer: I haven't had an FD account for a few years now, and the above is based on a quick scan of...

http://www2.firstdirect.com/content_static/pdf/rates-and-charges.pdf (page 9 for charges, page 2 for interest)

Nine_Lives

It seems i got lucky:

Thank you for your message dated 03-Apr-2013.

In the circumstances, we believe it would be beneficial to explain our overdraft policy to you.

Our overdraft policy enables us to provide a service that offers choice and flexibility for our customers, whilst ensuring that we continue to lend responsibly.

As such, you can request an overdraft in the following ways:

Formal overdrafts may be requested in advance and will be agreed and authorised (subject to status) until further notice.

Informal overdrafts may be requested by presenting a debit for payment such as an ATM withdrawal, cheque, Direct Debit or standing order, when there is not enough money in your account. These requests will be authorised (subject to status) for 31 days. If another informal request is received within the same period, this will be treated as a new request.

If an informal request is agreed, a £25 Arrangement Fee may be applicable and is non-refundable. This is irrespective of the amount, or duration, of the request in question.

For your information, fees are advised to you on a pre-notification of charges and interest statement. They are deducted from your account 21 days after the statement has been produced. However, if you have suppressed paper statements, this information can be found via Internet Banking by selecting the 'view charges' link at the bottom of the statement page. Please ensure you view this regularly.

In your case, an informal overdraft increase was agreed on 25-Mar-2013. A £25 Arrangement Fee was incurred on one occasion only due to the circumstances described above. Whilst we appreciate your frustration regarding fees in general, they have been levied for the service provided in accordance with our published Rates and Tariff.

That said, after careful consideration, we are happy to refund the fee in full as a gesture of goodwill on this occasion.

Moving forward, should you anticipate making frequent informal overdraft requests, or if you wish to discuss your account facilities to prevent future fees, please contact us on 08 456 100 100.

Regards

Banking Enquiries

Wont be making that mistake again!!

zerog

This happened to me, went to -299 too, but I noticed it before the day was over and immediately put it back into the black. I wasn't charged.

happy_bunny_2

They may mark your credit file as 1 payment late. They did when I had a DD returned. Best talk to them and ask them not to if they do.

Although I have been over my OD limit by £50. Got charged £25 but no credit file mark.

Nine_Lives

happy_bunny wrote: »

They may mark your credit file as 1 payment late. They did when I had a DD returned. Best talk to them and ask them not to if they do.

Although I have been over my OD limit by £50. Got charged £25 but no credit file mark.

What's best bet there then? Just send them a secure message response & ask them if they're marking my credit file as a late payment?

If yes then what, offer to pay the £25 instead of black marking me?

The_pc_tech

Phone and talk to them, they tend to be quite reasonable

Nine_Lives

So i hear. Unlike seemingly most people though, i prefer not to call.

The_pc_tech

That's up to you, was just thinking you might get more sympathy from them if you call and a quicker response too.