New 'Arranged overdraft' fees; can I reclaim?

PennyPedant

I have been with NatWest for years and have always had a £500 arranged overdraft facility on my account. In May 2013 they sent me a letter saying that as of July they would be applying a monthly charge of £6 to this. Are they allowed to do this? These are not the terms I signed up for when I opened the account, and I have never gone over my limit. Can I reclaim the money, or is my best bet simply to switch banks?

BMN

Yes they can do this.

The terms you signed up for also stated that these terms can be changed and that they will give you notice of this (which they have).

On what basis are you looking to reclaim these charges? Financial hardship?

You can switch bank accounts (or open a new account), they may offer you a better deal on an overdraft facility.

bengal-stripe

The bank has given you the required two months notice, so the new conditions become binding. You could have closed the account and moved your business to some other bank. (Don't forget the overdraft needs repaying before you can close the account). Quite a few banks have changed their overdraft conditions in recent years (for example: charging a flat fee for every single day you are overdrawn).

Yes, you can change banks to one that gives you a better deal. But there is no guarantee, that your new bank won't change their conditions at some point in the future. As long as they give you two months notice.