Coopoerative Bank charges

rhinogilmour

Hello,

I am not sure if this has been raised here before but I am currently in a bit of shock about the charges I have had placed on my by Coop bank in the last month and wondered if this was affecting anyone else.

I have always gone over my overdraft limit a bit each month and have been charged around £25 each time which I can handle cos it serves me right for being so careless. Last month however they reduced my overdraft limit. I think they must have also changed their terms and conditions cos I am sure I have never been charged like this before. First of all they took out around £50 in charges which I was not expecting cos they were not detailed in my statement, this then sent me over me overdraft limit. They then charged me £35 each for 3 payments after this point. This totally £150. I only found out when I got home (was on holiday) and found three letters saying they had taken the subsequent charges out of my account after the effect.

Also I am paying for the account, it is the privilege acount which I pay £6 per month for. Also after that they took some more payments out of another account and I anticipate them taking more charges out this month cos I went overdrawn last month. This means a total of £230. It makes me want to cry.

I amy have had a ten minute screaming fit at someone at their call centre which was probably not fair but I just feel so powerless and have lost all trust.

Are there any guidelines on alerting customers to bank charges prior to their extraction. If I had known all of this was going to be removed I could have done some cunning money moving. As it is I am just completely broke this month.

Any advice on normal practise in terms of bank charges appreciated

tru

This happened to us a couple of years ago. We spoke to the call centre, laid it on thick "oh but the kids have a school trip, how am I supposed to tell them "no" ' :rolleyes: They knocked a couple of charges off but said that was all they were authorised to do. They gave us a number for their credit centre (I think that's what it's called) and they knocked half the charges off.

newfoundglory

Yeah, I was about to say that you might be able to get the charges halved out of good-will. I think its quite unlikely that you will get them all taken off because it doesn't seem likely that the bank is at fault.

If you think (or know) the bank has breached the T&C of the account or they haven't acted like they should, then you should complain in writing. If you don't get the resolution you want from this (which if you are honest probably isn't going to be getting all the charges taken off) then you can always say you will complain to the Ombudsman service; which would usually be enough to get a bank to take a complaint more seriously, as although its free for the customer it costs the bank something like £250 - which in your case would be more than the fees they are charging you!

However, if you have been overdrawn before you shouldn't keep doing it - it simply shows the bank you are unable to manage your account properly. Given the fact we have internet banking these days which can be accessed from anyway in the world I don't believe there is ever a really good excuse for anyone to continually go overdrawn.

davidcampbell

rhinogilmour wrote:

Hello,





Are there any guidelines on alerting customers to bank charges prior to their extraction. If I had known all of this was going to be removed I could have done some cunning money moving. As it is I am just completely broke this month.

you should be given notice before they are debited yes.

you need to find out why the took out the £50 you were not expecting and what notice you should have been given (usually 14 days). they dont necessarily have to be on the statement, could be any form of notice given.

if you didnt get this notice then you have grounds for complaint.

however i would suggest you read your terms and find out where you stand.

it may be that because you happily break your terms every month that you have previously been given notice that should this continue to happen then the charges will be immediately debited.

if that is the case then you are stuck. and i wouldnt be at all suprised if they remove your overdraft completely as you dont appear to be able to manage it.

DC

realaledrinker

I would suggest that the charges are likely to be "correct" as they will have been automated & can quickly accumulate as often one charge causes another to kick in.

I have banked with the Co-op for several years & despite the odd c0ck-up would say generally that they live up to their ethical stance. A good sob story is therefore your best bet.

Here is the relevant charges off their T&Cs for Unauthorised Overdrafts:

Monthly service charge £25.00 per month

Daily charge (charged for each day your unauthorised balance increases - up to a maximum of 5 days per month). £15.00 per day

Debit interest rate 2.21% per month, 29.9% EAR**

Unpaid items £35.00
This charge may be applied if cheques, standing orders or Direct Debits cannot be paid due to lack of funds or where you use your cheque guarantee facility or Visa debit card to create or extend an existing overdraft.

Easy to see where your charges are coming from!

Maybe you should speak to their Debt Management department today before your situation gets further out of hand. If you speak to banks openly & honestly, they will be more than willing to try & come up with a plan to get your accounts back on track.

Best of luck

Park_Ranger_2

Just a question about daily charges. I do a lot of my banking with Smile, the internet arm of the Co-op. Last week I completely forgot that I had a direct debit due. Smile refused to pay it and charged me £20. This took me over my o/d limit. So they slapped on a £5 daily overlimit fee. Luckily I checked my account the following day and brought it back into credit. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the practice of charging fees on fees has been is either no longer legal or breaks the conditions of the Banking Code.
Has anyone any thoughts on this

Kev