LTSB onto a good thing

Adam2579

Hi all, Seeking some advice on LTSB giving me a right royal shafting. It's the end of the month, I don't have a lot of money. The begining of next month arrives & my DDs are taken from my account. However, say I had £100 in my account, a DD goes out for £250, I get hit for a £30 charge for unauthorised overdraft, which will be taken from my account on the first day of the next month.
The problem is, because of the banks clearing system, money paid to me by my employer (from a NatWest acc) doesn't clear into my account for a few days, so I get charged £30 for unauthorised overdraft which will be taken from my account on the first of the month when there's no money to cover it, so I get a £30 charge which will be taken on the first day of the month - and so on.
As far as I was aware, I was paid by BACS (that's what it says on my payslip), but according to LTSB the funds transfer is done by Bank Giro Credit (BGC), which takes a few extra days to clear.
My boss says as far as he was aware, NatWests funds transfer system was BACS (he's looking into it for me).
I need to know; Who is to blame here & who do I go to (if possible) to claim back these £30 charges?
The options are:
1. My boss, for not checking the payment method.
2. LTSB for repeatedly putting charges on my account when they know I don't have any money in there & repeating the process in order to gain themselves more money.
3. NatWest, for not using BACS, which is the preferred method of funds transfer. Dare I suggest that they're working in conjunction with other banks to generate more revenue for their industry?

What are people's thoughts on this issue?
Thanks in advance for your help

brownbabygirl

Can you make a negotiation and get all your DDs to be taken say on the 7th of each month?

YorkshireBoy

Adam2579 wrote: »

I need to know; Who is to blame here & who do I go to (if possible) to claim back these £30 charges?
The options are:
1. My boss, for not checking the payment method.
2. LTSB for repeatedly putting charges on my account when they know I don't have any money in there & repeating the process in order to gain themselves more money.
3. NatWest, for not using BACS, which is the preferred method of funds transfer. Dare I suggest that they're working in conjunction with other banks to generate more revenue for their industry?

How about a 'none of the above' option?...

4. Yours, for not having a cash buffer in either the current account or a savings account (allowing instant transfers) linked to it.

5. Yours, for not arranging an agreed overdraft to cover such an eventuality.

6. Yours, for having your DD's set to collect too close to pay day.


Regards claiming the charge(s) back, you ask the bank. If they refuse, you sue them (apparently).

Homework

Your wage, your money and your account that gets charged.

Protect yourself and take responsibility. It's your life don't let anyone take your money from you.

Don't blame your boss if its BACS or BGC or anything. Find out what date you get paid! Ask everyone else when they get paid. THEN.....

Set your direct debits to come out after you get paid.

No problem with the bank, no problem for your boss and no problem for your creditors. Best of all no problem for you.

Some banks do not nice things but if they have charged you for not having enough money in your account one month you can guarantee they will keep doing it. You can stop that happening by changing the dates of your direct debits.

Call them up and say I now get paid later in the month can I get the date changed and they will do it.

If you have been getting charged then put the amount aside you would have been paying in charges next month and build up a buffer in your account.

You can control this situation

Kilty_2

Lloyds TSB just list BACS transactions as BGC on statements and such - they take no longer than at any other bank.

Three working days.

Adam2579

Thanks all,
To respond to the 'none of the above' options;
1. If I earned enough to have a cash buffer at the end of the month or savings, I wouldn't be asking for advice.
2. My LTSB account is a parachute account for dealing with my HSBC overdraft. Because I got myself into problems with that OD, I don't want another one.
3. I had moved my DDs (obviously need to move them further).

Does anyone have a template letter/appropriate wording for getting these charges back? How solid is the advice to sue them?
If TLBSb do indeed just list BACS payments as BGS, & I've been told (by them) that its a different method of transfer that takes longer, do I have a case that they're simply lying <insert expletive of choice>.

One person I work with has a NatWest accs & their money appears same/next day.
Someone else has a LTSB acc, & guess what? They get paid late too.
The pay cycle is run on the last friday of the month & it's frequently the following weds/thur before it gets to my acc.

LittleVoice

What do your written particulars of employment say about payment of your monthly salary? This should say when you should be paid, not when the money leaves their account. They need to ensure you are actually paid (ie have the funds) on the day they specify in the written particulars. (Of course, if they paid you by cheque you could have that in your hand and it would count as being paid but it would not be cleared in your bank account.)

tom188

If TLBSb do indeed just list BACS payments as BGS, & I've been told (by them) that its a different method of transfer that takes longer, do I have a case that they're simply lying <insert expletive of choice>.

No. Probably the person you spoke to was ill informed. This AFAIK, even in these enlightened times something someone can be sued for.

The way I see it you have three things to persue.

1. Have a frugal month to build up the necessary cash buffer, if you cannot move your standing orders/dds to after pay day.
2. Check your contract of employment to see if your employer is adhering to them. I have never heard of a system when you are told when your money will leave their account and the not when the money will arrive in your account. In my case, for example everyone is paid on the 25th, or friday before if this is at the weekend. If they are taking you up the garden path then this is matter for your employer to sort out.
3. Move to NatWest. If the money does indeed leave your employers account on the last friday of the month, you will be paid the next tuesday/wednesday under the Bacs system (depending on whether they adhere to the natwest bacs time deadline on the friday). This is not the fault of Natwest or LTSB, it is just the way the british banking system works. If your colleagues are paid earlier than you because they back with Natwest, it is because these payments go straight from Natwest account to Natwest account, bypassing bacs.

In the meantime you can visit the relevant section of this site with regard to reclaiming. However my understanding is that banks are not being receptive until the outcome of the test case has been discovered and any appeals have taken place.

Homework

I agree having a buffer is difficult when you have not much money but it saves on charges so saves you money in the long run.

Have a really tight month taking lunch to work and not eating out or drinking. Anything you don't want ebay or if you have stuff have a car boot sale. Try and get a bit of overtime or a part time job for a few weeks and add to it any birthday money or Christmas money as it comes.

It is a lot of determined effort but the satisfaction comes by knowing they are not going to be taking charges from you.