Upset and a bit lost...

Lo-Lo

Hi everyone,
I'm feeling a bit upset about the whole bank charges thing and don't really know what to do, I'm sure my bank is significantly breaking the rules - they charge but don't even send a letter for example!!

However, please allow me to explain the whole situation. My husband is at work at the moment so I don't really know who else to talk to about all this and it's been on my mind for a few months.

I've been with Abbey all my life (I know - but there has never been a reason to change and I'm always a bit scared of doing such things) and only ever had one charge before. That one I can't find the statement for, although it seemed unfair at the time - my student loan check should have cleared before my rent came out but didn't, but I can live with that...

However, a couple of months ago, we had saved enough for a deposit and were able to buy our first house. My sneaky private landlord decided in his ultimate wisdom to continue charging me rent after I'd left. This caused me (obviously!) to go overdrawn without my knowledge. I did not realise for some time and incurred about £160 of bank charges in that time - not just for giong overdrawn but for using my debit card. At £30 a time (often for transactions under £10!) this has really upset me - I do not have a credit card so that I cannot spend money I do not have, so why weren't the transactions just refused? I did not receive any warning about this from the Abbey and so mounted up more charges until I was unable to use a cash point at which time I discovered my landlords dodgy dealings and also the moounting debt that the Abbey charges were building up.

To be honest, you'd be lucky to notice you'd been charged by looking at your Abbey statement!

Then today, I happened to print off a mini statement (I've been keeping an extra eye on my banking since the landlord incident) and found that although I had about £130 in my bank and had made a couple of withdrawals in the last week, on the 16th I was charged £20 for unauthorised overdraft and 2 x £30 for 'clearance fee' immediately afterwards. Now I really don't understand how I could be charged this when I had at least £130 in my account PLUS the £80 that they've taken off me!!!

I just think it is beyond a joke and I'm a bit intimidated to to anything, but we're talking over £200 that has just disappeared in the last couple of months when we are trying to get used to a mortgage payment!!

Can anyone advise me please? Also, what do people think about being able to use debit cards when overdrawn (surely that defeats the object, considering how it was explained to me when I applied for it) and Abbey not incurring ANY costs from me going overdrawn (through no fault of my own?)

Thanks so much, it has made me feel a little bit better just writing this. I know it's not a lot of money compared to some people on here, but we are really feeling it!!

Thank you.

Tiredofbeingskint

Quite a few points there.................

Firstly, did you cancel the DD for your rent? If you didnt then the bank has no real compulsion to enforce the direct debit guarantee. If you did, then it shouldnt be a problem and you should be entitled to a refund. Talk to your bank if you havent already done so.

As for debit cards and going overdrawn, this shouldnt happen but can if the banks system isnt quick enough to allocate funds for DC transactions. Usually this happens when a direct debit comes out at the same time as allocated funds for a DC transaction. On the whole though, a DC transaction should check that you have funds prior to authorising payment in the store.

Lo-Lo

Thanks, yes I did try and get the rent cancelled so hopefully can get that sorted.

I think with debit cards that is the problem - I am already overdrawn because of DDs but did not know and then debit card transactions have gone through - is it worth just ringing Abbey and asking for the charges back on this basis?

January20

I used to bank with Abbey. I once went into the branch to discuss my account (charges etc) and the woman I spoke to cancelled and refunded a couple of my charges. She said she was only allowed to cancel a couple though.

Tiredofbeingskint

Lo-Lo wrote: »

is it worth just ringing Abbey and asking for the charges back on this basis?

Deffinately, banks thankfully are beginning to realise that the customers aren't always the cash cows that we used to be. Say to them that you are very dissapointed about the way things have panned out and hint to them that you are considering changing banks. That may well sway them into being a little more helpful

As for the rent DD's. If you cancelled them then you should be entitled to a full refund of the monies taken and all charges incurred as a result of this

(Land_of)_Maz

it also depends on the floor limit of the stores, some don't seek authorisation for anything under £20 and thereby they go through........ sometimes a blessing, or used to be, but not now we're all trying to be frugal! and honest!!

Chin up LoLo, everyone here has a story to tell and it helps just sharing sometimes. You'll get through this soon, and you'll feel so much better. There's always light at the end of the financial tunnell! Thanks to MSE MARTIN!!!

hooby_groovy

You can certainly try calling or writing to get those charges back quickly, although in my experience (not with Abbey, but they are all similar) they will try and stretch the process out and hope you get bored and give-up.

My advice would be to go through the whole charge reclaim process, start with the advice Martin gives on the home page and get your statements back and go from there. You will be able to claim all the charges over 6 years.

For future reference, try and leave a 'buffer' amount in your account (not always easy I know) by following some MSE suggestions. I have a 'mental minimum' which I refer to as zero funds in my account. This amount is greater than my maximum direct debit. This way I can never get an unauthorised overdraft or have a dd return. I'm not pretending its easy and its taken me a long time to get used to this but once in place its a great way of staying in credit. You just have to be extremely disciplined not to spend that cash.

I got this 'buffer' from the bank charges I reclaimed, and now after suffering at the hands of banks, I will never be caught in that position again.

Additionally I bank online and check my account every morning (I come in to work early to do so), this is conjunction with my excel spreadsheet listing every expense means I know preciseley where I am financially. Also I pay people by electronic transfer (increasingly common now) so I'm paying with cleared funds and not agonising over when a cheque might be cashed (if I need a cheque I go to my branch and get a bank cheque - again its cleared funds and taken from your account immediately)

I've learnt the hard way how to deal with the banks, claim back all your charges and use that as a springboard for future personal finance success!!

Lo-Lo

Thank you everyonr, it makes me feel so much better knowing I can talk to someone. I try to be so positive about everything but money worries like this really get to me.

Lo-Lo

Thanks again for all your help. Finally got an appointment in my branch and got all charges back this morning!