Been charged 2x £35 unpaid direct debit

J4ffa

Right i have been charged 2 x £35 for Unpaid direct debit and been on to yorkshire bank to find out why and she said because its been unpaid and when i said the direct debt was only for £15 so how in hell do they get away charging me £35 fpr each one so £70 in total and she said thats what they charge. so i want to know can i claim this back as its seriously messed me up as im on jsa so get 140 a fortnight and the money goes towards my bills and what not which im now short

Cornucopia

You need to check that they have actually notified you in advance that this is the charge.

Then you need to check that the DD was compliant with the DD guarantee (correct amount, correct date).

Finally, just stamp your feet a bit.

I've often had charges reversed by making a fuss.

Failing all of that, the FSA (I think) established a principle that banks were not allowed to punish customers. So any fees should reflect the actual costs to the bank.

J4ffa

just going through all my paperwork now to see if i can find out

nonnatus

Hopefully this is the first time it's ever happened to you (you certainly sound indignant enough!)
If that's the case and you usually run your account well, just ask nicely for the charges to be reversed. I had the same problem with Nationwide when my wages got messed around. They could see it wasn't the usual way I ran my account and all fee's were given back in 24 hours.

If it's NOT the first time it's happened to you, then you'll have to suck it up and learn to live within your means a bit better

Hudson1984

yeah natwest allow me to screw myself up once a year and will refund a charge (providing I notice it early enough) so it's worth keeping cool and having a chat with them about it.

I thought the banks won that case? and as such didn't have to refund charges anymore - thought it was only credit cards that aren't allowed to charge (happy to be corrected of course) being as the charges will be in your terms and conditions they have in effect notified you of the situation for missing payments.

I would recommend looking at your direct debits and making sure they all come out on an appropriate date, always make sure finds are there on required dates i.e mine come out 1st of the month and i'm paid around 29th of each month so i'm always pretty safe

J4ffa

normally im in my overdraft as its hard to keep in the black when all ya get is jsa 140 every 2 wk gona ring them back up later when i have calmed down as nearly flipped out when i was speaking to them before

dunstonh

i have calmed down as nearly flipped out when i was speaking to them before

You are totally reliant on the goodwill of the bank regarding refunds. Flipping out at the staff member will not buy you any goodwill. It will just harden their stance. After all, it is you that messed up. Not them. So, going off at them is silly.

Hudson1984

been there buddy! when I was in my own money issues I was working three full time jobs in pubs earning minimum wage and got charged £600 in one week for missed payments and then over overdraft charges wasn't earning enough to cover charges so was very nearly at the end of my teather.

best bet is to calm down and go in to the branch if you can and have a chat. is this your first "offence"?

MrsPBikerChick

I think there's a rule that banks are not allowed to put you into hardship with snowballing charges, or is it that you can claim them back if you can evidence hardship? Either way, to be facing 50% of your fortnightly income going on charges seems obvious that it will cause hardship.

Assuming the direct debits were properly requested as per Cornucopia's advice ask your bank very nicely if they wouldn't mind refunding the charges, especially if its a first offence. Explain to them that taking the charges would put you into serious hardship. If they absolutely refuse to remove the charges ask if you can arrange to pay them over a couple of months so as not to cause you as much difficulty.

There's some info elsewhere on this site about bank charges and hardship which might be of interest: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/tag/Bank_charges_hardship

melbell

So you didn't budget the bank charged you as per the terms and now you want a refund for your screw up...


riiiiight.

Wywth

J4ffa wrote: »

Right i have been charged 2 x £35 for Unpaid direct debit and been on to yorkshire bank to find out why and she said because its been unpaid and when i said the direct debt was only for £15 so how in hell do they get away charging me £35 fpr each one so £70 in total and she said thats what they charge. so i want to know can i claim this back as its seriously messed me up as im on jsa so get 140 a fortnight and the money goes towards my bills and what not which im now short

You can't if the charges are appropriately levied in accordance with their tariff of charges you agreed to.

If this is a 'first offence' you may be provided a goodwill gesture ... but if I were a bank employee being met by an irate customer like you, I doubt I would show much in the way of any goodwill :cool: