Bank Charges

celtic-cross

Hi a direct debit was attempted to be taken from my account but I did not have enough money to cover it so now the bank are trying to charge me £15 for an unpaid direct debit. The direct debit was just not paid and the bank were not out of pocket . I want to challenge it but need to know if they are legally allowed to do this.:j

DevCoder

Yes they are, you agreed to their T&C's and their published charges.

There were obviously administration costs to the bank in processing the failed DD.

You need to keep a closer eye on your finances, you know when DD's are coming up for payment.

celtic-cross

Thanks for your reply, however I keep a really close eye on my finances constantly however there is not enough money to cover it. I thought the direct debit was coming out later in the day and was putting money to cover it in the morining however it had been attempted to take it sooner than I anticipated. Anyway thanks again for the information.:j

bengal-stripe

If this has happened for the first time, phone up your bank, explain it was an oversight and you are sorry about that and ask them (nicely) to cancel the charge. There is quite a good chance, your bank will do it.

As a general rule, Direct Debits are taken in the very early hours of the morning. You are supposed to have the funds in place on the previous day at close of business.

grumbler

celtic-cross wrote: »

...I thought the direct debit was coming out later in the day and was putting money to cover it in the morining however it had been attempted to take it sooner than I anticipated.

Have a look at this recent MSE news: Take action on bank charges: Protect yourself from unpaid item fees

CKhalvashi

bengal-stripe wrote: »

If this has happened for the first time, phone up your bank, explain it was an oversight and you are sorry about that and ask them (nicely) to cancel the charge. There is quite a good chance, your bank will do it.

As a general rule, Direct Debits are taken in the very early hours of the morning. You are supposed to have the funds in place on the previous day at close of business.

This is correct, however if you're particularly profitable to the bank (either through borrowing or large savings) this is something else they consider.

I've only done it once (!), but when asked to transfer £160k of savings out, they quickly changed their mind.

CK

dalesrider

grumbler wrote: »

Have a look at this recent MSE news: Take action on bank charges: Protect yourself from unpaid item fees

This is to address the problem whereby banks often process payments, including direct debits and standing orders, in the morning. If a customer makes a deposit or receives their salary later in the day, this won't be in the account to fund the initial payment, so they can be hit with an "unpaid item" fee.

What this forgets is that some banks will look at the daily closing balance. So if you went over your limit in the middle of the day, but brought it back in line by the close of play. You do not get charged.

Simple answer is to move DD's so that they are not on the same day as wage credits.

Problem solved in one easy action.

grumbler

What you quote and what the OP was hit with is the unpaid item fee, not the fee for going over the limit.

Jarbuhu

celtic-cross wrote: »

Hi a direct debit was attempted to be taken from my account but I did not have enough money to cover it so now the bank are trying to charge me £15 for an unpaid direct debit. The direct debit was just not paid and the bank were not out of pocket . I want to challenge it but need to know if they are legally allowed to do this.:j

It should be in your terms of service. Usually if you overdraw protection that will charge you because they are paying for something you couldn't pay for yourself. At least they didn't bounce it which would cost you a whole lot more.

grumbler

My understanding is that they did bounce it and did charge for bouncing.