Alliance & Leicester change overdraft policy

Gytha_Ogg

Bloody typical - just switched my account to A&L a month ago because of the great overdraft rate and now this!

I do use my overdraft quite a lot so to be honest I'm not too bothered, maximum of £5 a month is OK for me. Plus the credit interest is huge compared to my old account.

I feel bad for those who only go overdrawn very rarely for pennies a time though, that's a huge rate increase.

Grade_A_Reject

Might be easier said than done but if you only go overdrawn by a couple of a quid then it only takes a small amount of self discipline to make sure that you maintain a credit balance then you won't have to pay a penny. That's my plan.

a1974red

i have just been charged £75 by A&L as i ended up having to use a cheque from my a &l account which i wasnt planning to (as the practitioner wouldnt accept my debit card from the account i wanted to use and i had to pay her a cheque from my a&l account and pay the money back in later)
i paid the cash in at the post office and they said it would be straight in (wrongly....although i do remember seeing advertising about the Post office being like having 1000s of extra branches?) and the next thing i knew was i was charged £25 for a cheque without correct funds.....today i have looked at my statement online and saw that i am then to be charged another £25 for unauthorised overdraft, and another £25 for it being over 5 days???
but i paid the money in the day the cheque was drawn -26th and the money eventually cleared on 28th....so not 5 days??

basically i'm getting charged £75 to have used my cheque and paid the exact same cash in at the post office next day!!!!
i even called them the day after the charge and IF they had told me about the extra £50 costs i 'could' have applied for a temporary overdraft, but i didnt ask (as i didnt realise)....hence the extra £50!!!

the thing is i ONLY use this account for my childbenefit money (about £200pm) and i NEED the money for the kids dinner money/clothes etc and i CANNOT do without £75 ( ....am so cross and upset...

and they wont even consider giving a refund until this 'review of bank charges' court case is over..... think i will be closing the account......

regards
jo

MarkyMarkD

You paid the cash in on the NEXT day, not the same day.

If the recipient banks with A&L and banked the cheque with A&L on the same day as you paid them, it will have cleared the moment it arrived at A&L's processing centre - normally the next day and quite possibly before your cash got there.

How many times do people need reminding of current account terms and conditions which state that you must have funds in your current account by close of business on the working day BEFORE an outgoing payment clears?

There's no guarantee any cheque will take 3 days to clear - it will almost always clear quicker if it's banked by someone who also banks with the same bank.

YorkshireBoy

MarkyMarkD wrote: »

How many times do people need reminding of current account terms and conditions which state that you must have funds in your current account by close of business on the working day BEFORE an outgoing payment clears?

In the case of paying in cash at either the Post Office or A&L, it's two working days...

26.6 If You pay in cash over the counter at any Alliance & Leicester branch or through the automated system at the Post Office®, the money will normally be available so that you can withdraw it on the same day. However, You must allow at least one clear Working Day from the time We receive the cash before You use it make any payment (such as Direct Debits, standing orders, bill payments or cheques).

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/currentaccounts/ec03964.pdf

MarkyMarkD

When I say "funds in your account" I mean available funds in your account.

I don't believe that your interpretation of that wording is correct. If you deposit cash, it is immediately available - just look at your available balance next time you do it. The "one clear working day" means that the payment out can occur the next working day IMHO, not the second working day after the deposit is made.

System

I have just moved to the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. Their Gold Current Account pays decent interest on credit balances and their overdraft rate is currently around 9%. They have a deal where they will do 0% on overdrafts for six months if you let them switch accounts. They switched mine perfectly and it is so nice ringing their contact centre and actually recognising voices so you are on first name terms. When they see my first salary payment in my account they have agreed to increase the standard £500 overdraft to the £1500 I have requested to match my old bank, so I can then close it. The girl I spoke to about this asked me to send in my last 6 months bank statements, marked for her attention, and she said she would personaly attend to the matter. She rang me back the next day to confirm receipt and explain what would happen next.

Secure messages sent via the online banking service are also attended to promptly and efficiently.

They are a breath of fresh air in the banking world.

BenL

That was close, I used my authorised o/d this morning. Luckily the charges, sorry usage arrangment fees or whatever structure hasn't changed yet.

I had a quick look on the A&L premier direct account website and looked for a date of the structure changing.

Hhhmmm very strange, didn't see the new structure listed at all.

New customers applying and in the switching process will be upset - especially if the switch starts to go wrong and payments go from the wrong place.

masonic

BenL wrote: »

New customers applying and in the switching process will be upset - especially if the switch starts to go wrong and payments go from the wrong place.

*New* customers won't have to worry about this until the end of their 12 month interest free overdraft. Also, the guarantees relating to charges incurred through using the switching service should still apply.

Lavendyr

They still haven't bothered to tell me about the changes yet :P