Credit card allowed over limit then charged - is this unfair charge?

the.new.me

The charge is fair as it's the customer that should make sure that no money is spent over the limit provided, the only time I had a refund was when it was fraud that caused me to go over limit, they won't refund for the customer going over the limit.

dealer_wins

Its always someone else's fault these days lol

Cell

I've just noticed that RBS have actually made one or two small concessions in relation to late payments and over limit charges. Essentially they give you a chance to make a small mistake and put it right.

Fees & charges
Helping you to manage your account
A credit card has many benefits but to get the best from it, you need to be organised with your monthly payments otherwise you could end up paying fees and charges.
The two main fees you need to know about are:
Late Payment Fee – this will only be charged if you're late paying your monthly bill
Over Limit Fee – this will only apply if you go over your credit limit in any statement period
Both of these fees cost £12.
Life can be busy and it's easy to miss your payment due date. Now if you miss this by a day, we wont charge you a £12 late fee. If you go over your limit by up to £12 we won't charge you a £12 over limit fee.

http://personal.rbs.co.uk/personal/credit-cards/manage-your-credit-card/how-to-avoid-credit-card-fees-and-charges.html

eskbanker

Cell wrote: »

If you go over your limit by up to £12 we won't charge you a £12 over limit fee.

Handy to know - however, from OP:

cas1703 wrote: »

I made a purchase not knowing it would take me £20 over my limit.

PeacefulWaters

And on the eighth day, God created personal ownership of spending decisions.

And lo, people were sensible.

andyfromotley

Well its certainly covered by their t&c's so to that extent it could be described as fair.

I actually think it would be fairer if they said to customers, this is your limit, you can not go over it, this card will physically not let you spend over what we have agreed with you we are prepared to lend you. Obviously this can be done, see the previous (very informative) post about on and off line CC's. No unauthorised borrowing, no mistakes, no excess charging. Now thats what i call responsible lending. (now theres a thought)

King_Of_Fools

andyfromotley wrote: »

I actually think it would be fairer if they said to customers, this is your limit, you can not go over it, this card will physically not let you spend over what we have agreed with you we are prepared to lend you. Obviously this can be done, see the previous (very informative) post about on and off line CC's. No unauthorised borrowing, no mistakes, no excess charging. Now thats what i call responsible lending. (now theres a thought)

The online debit cards can do this but at the cost of not being accepted in many places. It is not possible, for example, to use an online debit card in the old-style carbon paper impression machines (the reason they do not have raised numbers). There are many other systems where it would not be feasible to check every card transaction made - for example, Tesco only checks for card transactions above their floor limit (£100?) or where it has to be done for online cards. There physically would not be enough time to check every transaction at peak times. So whilst in an ideal world every transaction would be checked, it is not going to happen no matter how moral the banks feel.

PeacefulWaters

andyfromotley wrote: »

I actually think it would be fairer if they said to customers, this is your limit, you can not go over it, this card will physically not let you spend over what we have agreed with you we are prepared to lend you. Obviously this can be done, see the previous (very informative) post about on and off line CC's. No unauthorised borrowing, no mistakes, no excess charging. Now thats what i call responsible lending. (now theres a thought)

As a responsible borrower I don't go anywhere near my credit limit.

I repay my balance in full every month.

I don't want my card declining when networks are busy or computers fail.

Why do you want a system that does this?

G6JNS

cas1703 wrote: »

Hi,

I am in dispute with RBS over a £12 over limit charge.I made a purchase not knowing it would take me £20 over my limit. The payment was authorised by the credit card company.

I then received "overlimit fee". I queried this with the company and asked why it was not "declined" becuase if it had been I would have paid an other way and the charge would not have been occurred. They are standing firm and said it's down to me to ensure that I operate within the limit and they allow leeway as and when they like.

They have told me there is no way to put a clear barrier to stop this happening again.

My question: Is this ran unfair charge? By allowing a customer to go over their limit they know they are going to get the £ plus the extra interest so is this a way of the bank making more money?

Is it worth making this an official complaint and going to Ombudsman or am I stuck? I know I when over the limit but I thik they should have a duty to ensure that I am within the credit limit by not allowing transactions that take you over.

Many thanks in advance

It is not an unfair charge and is entirely your own fault. This is known as having to take responsibility for your own actions rather than looking for someone else to blame.

dzug1

andyfromotley wrote: »

Well its certainly covered by their t&c's so to that extent it could be described as fair.

I actually think it would be fairer if they said to customers, this is your limit, you can not go over it, this card will physically not let you spend over what we have agreed with you we are prepared to lend you. Obviously this can be done, see the previous (very informative) post about on and off line CC's. No unauthorised borrowing, no mistakes, no excess charging. Now thats what i call responsible lending. (now theres a thought)

And if they were to charge you for not letting you go over your limit would that be fair?


And things can still go wrong with offline cards - maybe less frequently but it does happen