A different Bank Charge Problem

dcclanuk

Hello guys, long time lurker, first time poster:D

I was wondering if someone could advise me on a weird banking problem that has arisen.

Basically, this is what has happened:

I have approximately £2100 in my account, and I wrote a cheque to my dad for £1800. Balance remaining should be approx £300.

Then my dad accidently used MY CHEQUEBOOK, to write a Cheque to Jarvis for £2000. [Instead of his chequebook, which had enough funds].

So, today I got a letter from BARCLAYS [we both have a Barclays account by the way], saying they charged me £35, for not having enough cleared funds in my account!

Firstly, I don't think I should pay this £35 at all, since I HAVEN'T SIGNED THE CHEQUE!!! Surely it's the Banks fault for even processing a cheque without MY SIGNATURE!!!

Secondly, IF I am forced to pay the £35, should I reclaim unfair charges? We as a family HAVE NEVER gone over the limit, and this is the first time, so it would just be claiming unfair charges for £35. Would a bank actually respond?

P.S. I know someone working for Barclays, would it be beneficial to go through him?

Beate

If this is your first offence, ring them up, explain the situation and ask them nicely to refund the £35. If they don't play ball you will have to start writing template letters.

dcclanuk

Beate wrote: »

If this is your first offence, ring them up, explain the situation and ask them nicely to refund the £35. If they don't play ball you will have to start writing template letters.

Even though I DIDNT SIGN THE CHEQUE?

Beate

As I see it, you have two issues with the bank - one is the cheque they should have never processed because you didn't sign it, and the second is the bank charge they slapped on your account for going overdrawn.

You want the £35 back, right? So phone them and explain the situation and ask them to refund the charge a) because they had no right to process the cheque and b) because it is a punitive charge which is in no way related to the actual cost of allowing you to go overdrawn.

At the end of the day it does not really matter with which argument you get the £35 back, does it?

dcclanuk

Beate wrote: »

As I see it, you have two issues with the bank - one is the cheque they should have never processed because you didn't sign it, and the second is the bank charge they slapped on your account for going overdrawn.

You want the £35 back, right? So phone them and explain the situation and ask them to refund the charge a) because they had no right to process the cheque and b) because it is a punitive charge which is in no way related to the actual cost of allowing you to go overdrawn.

At the end of the day it does not really matter with which argument you get the £35 back, does it?

If they will just give it back to me that easily, then its not a problem. However, £35 is over the top, but they can still charge me like £5 as that is not over the top! I dont want to pay them a single penny, hence I came on here for advice, before I go to the bank later:o

Beate

Everyone always asks for the whole amount back, as no bank has yet said what the actual costs are. The advice on this board is to try and ring the bank first if it is a first offence or only one charge. See what they say. This forum here deals with how to get bank charges back.

If you want to focus on the cheque issue (at the end of the day, your account is £2,000 short because of this), then it might be an idea to ask on the Current Account board what they think you should do about that.

dcclanuk

Beate wrote: »

Everyone always asks for the whole amount back, as no bank has yet said what the actual costs are. The advice on this board is to try and ring the bank first if it is a first offence or only one charge. See what they say. This forum here deals with how to get bank charges back.

If you want to focus on the cheque issue (at the end of the day, your account is £2,000 short because of this), then it might be an idea to ask on the Current Account board what they think you should do about that.

oops... my bad... wrong section I guess... can mods please move this to the correct section then:j

LozBingley

Beate wrote: »

If this is your first offence, ring them up, explain the situation and ask them nicely to refund the £35. If they don't play ball you will have to start writing template letters.

I agree with Beate, the bank should give you the fee back if you ask nicely and explain the situation, especially when you point out they are at fault by trying to present the cheque against your account when it was clearly not your signature!

Tozer

LozBingley wrote: »

I agree with Beate, the bank should give you the fee back if you ask nicely and explain the situation, especially when you point out they are at fault by trying to present the cheque against your account when it was clearly not your signature!

This could be a little more complicated - you may be at risk of the bank saying that you did not take adequate care of your chequebook in that someone else was able to use it. You weren't mugged afterall!

I would suggest that you point out the good faith mistake and ask for them to take recissionary action to put everyone back into the position they were in before the cheque was written - time is of the essence if the cheque was written to a third party although you don't mention this.