Be careful of Alliance & Leicester current accounts.

kiwi-fi

Hi,
I have an A&L current account which Martin is recommending at the moment. Think very carefully before opening one. I just went £13 overdrawn and was charged £25, then they charged me an additional £25 when this was for over 5 days. Then they charged me another £25 as this then went onto the new statement, and another £25 for still been overdrawn after 5 days within the new statement. In total I was overdrawn by just £13 for 17 days. And to date being charged £100.

The only reason I knew I was overdrawn was by getting the statement today 23rd May dated 16th May ie over 5 days so I had no chance of avoiding another charge.

Because I do not have an overdraft facility on my account my card blocks me from going overdrawn by even £1. It gets refused (or has in the past). I opened the account without an overdraft facility so that I could't go overdrawn, to protect against fraud. (You can have an overdraft facility but you have to pay an annual fee for the priveledge, together with interest, unlike most other banks who only charge interest on arranged overdrafts.)

How my account went overdrawn in the first place is a complete mystery as there were no transactions that weren't by card, so it should be impossible. And my account is always in credit, so them doing this to me makes me really cross. If I don't have more money go into my account in the next few days before they take these charges, these charges will take me overdrawn again hence will start the whole cycle again. Also, when you phone they refuse to put you through to anyone senior.

I am now going to have to go through all the hassel of trying to reclaim my money.

So if you are considering opening an A&L current account then I would advise you think carefully before doing so.
Fi.

robnye

i have an overdraft with A&L since i openede the account 3 years ago - but i dont get charged by them to have the facility!

Garnet_Gem

I had a current account with A & L until they charged me £25 for accidently overdrawing for 1 day. They would have charged me £5 a month if I took out an overdraft with them. I don't overdraw (except that 1 time) they refused to refund or halve the charge so I refused the offer and closed my account. I realise that I was to blame and would have had no objection to a penalty of £10 or so but to be so inflexible after banking for 10 years with no overdrawals made me angry.

Stephen_Leak

robnye wrote: »

i have an overdraft with A&L since i openede the account 3 years ago - but i dont get charged by them to have the facility!

Yes, but just wait until you "make use" of it.

Sarahsaver

I would agree OP they are a nighmare. Got an A&L account after natwest wanted my card and chequebook back when i reclaimed my bank charges. Just added up how much A&L have cost me since banking with them for one year.
£343. :eek:
I have never been overdrawn by a huge amount and they even said they have a buffer zone of under £10 but they have never applied that to me!
Also they too 2 weeks to clear a cheque I paid in recently. They had the cheek to say 'it is a small amount'. Yep right, £150 of small.

abitrubbish

I have recently opened a Premier Direct current account with A&L (the one recommended by Martin). It came with a £1,000 overdraft with NO monthly charges and 0% interest for a year. All cheques I have paid in have cleared within 5 working days.

My only complaint is that I'm not allowed to open another one for myself (it is a joint account).

robnye

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

Yes, but just wait until you "make use" of it.

sshhhh.....thats the secret....

mleonard79

Hi Everyone,

The £5 fee for having an authorized overdraft that some people are mentioning is a charge that applies to an account called the "Choice" Account which is no longer available to new customers and hasn't been for some time as far as I'm aware (which isn't a bad thing as it's not exactly a great account to have.) There is no fee of this kind attached to the authorised overdrafts offered by the more recent Premier and Premier Direct Accounts - only the interest applied each month is payable and you do get up to £2,500 at 0% for the first year you have the account as well but you would have to use the overdraft matching facility to get this in all probability. I actually think the Premier Direct Account is the best current account for you if you need an overdraft as it has the lowest rate (5.9%) - if you do go into unauthorised overdraft, however, the fees are steep as they are with most banks unfortunately.

Regards

Michelle

full-time-mum

We've just closed our accounts with A & L. OH wanted to do it over the phone but didn't have a pin number. We still closed the accounts last week and yesterday were sent a number for telephone banking.

Also know a couple of people who had problems with escalating charges - they fought back and won.

chesky369

I've an account with A&L, with a free overdraft. I've happily used the facility and will continue to do so until they start charging - after the first twelve months. Then I'll either renegotiate the free overdraft or not use it and keep well within my funds.

masonic

Well I made use of my overdraft last month for the first time since the 0% rate expired. I've been charged 2p. Outrageous, I say!