Bank charges not unfair. Bank wins first court case

kennyboy66_2

toonfish wrote: »

It's not about "bludging off poor people". Would you be happy to pay double the road fund licence, so that those that choose not to pay are allowed to get away with it, or an extra 20p for a loaf of bread in order that the shoplifters can help themselves?

Some of the charges are unwarranted, but as has been stated the bank will often refund these anyway - people running up £'000s in unauthorised charges are just taking the rest of us for a ride if they are allowed not to pay them.

Your analogy is simply wrong. At present most people who enjoy "free banking" and manage their account properly pay a tiny amount for what on the whole is a decent banking service in this country. The low rate of interest that they recieve in no way covers the cost / profit of running a current account service.

I believe there should be a charge for going overdrawn, and if you asked me to put a figure on it I would suggest it should be somewhere between £8 and £15.

It is the scale of the charges that is despicable. Charges seem to range between £25 and £60. Some charges are then multiplied up every day.

They are subsidising the majority of us who enjoy free banking and that can't be right.

Leon_W

Seeing as I started the thread perhaps I should clarify where I stand on the matter (I didn't really have the time to elaborate earlier)

Personally I think, as in kennyboys' post above, the scenario of being charged £60 to probably inadvertently go a few quid over your limit is simply ridiculous. There is also a post earlier where someones wages went in a day late and they got hammered for alsorts, again, unfair. It doesn't matter what the wrongs or the rights of it are as anyone with a modicum of common sense can see that there are circumstances that lead to the situation which were probably not deliberate.

On the other hand, if someone (as dunstonh mentions) goes around abusing a debit card, cheque book, cash card etc knowingly and repeatedly then frankly they deserve everything they get.

Regards

jamesd

Leon W, I don't see why wages arriving a day late makes a difference for a lot of people. I have three months worth of funds in a savings account with regular transfers set up from it to my bill paying account. Salary goes to the savings account and other places instead of being used directly to pay the bills. That three months of emergency fund isn't sitting there idle - it's protecting me all the time. I also have overdraft facilities arranged in advance to protect things even further. For those with the resources and ability to plan, bank charges are often voluntary payments due to neglect, if we ignore fraud and such.

Some people can't do this, and people on benefits are particularly vulnerable to delayed payments, in part because they may have arrived in the situation with limited financial reserves to provide a cushion to cover the delays. I've been here as well. It's a much tougher situation.