£12 over limit charge - unfair?

User_101122

I'm not sure on the exact figure now, however I worked in customer relations for NR some years ago, and they were billed about £450 for cases which went beyond adjudicator stage.

However they used to get the first ten for free or something daft like that.

[Deleted User]

OP ask for an increase in your credit limit?

YorkshireBoy

tight4rse wrote: »

You're right, only complaints reviewed by an ombudsmen are chargeable.

However a customer and the bank can appeal if they disagree with the adjudicator's decision and it is at this stage that the FOS will levy their fee.

If it's got as far as an adjudicator it's already chargeable isn't it? (see the link in my post)

So effectively all a customer has to do is disagree with the adjudicator's decision if it goes against them. This then lands the bank with a potential bill far in excess of what it would cost to resolve the matter.

See above.

Those that shout the loudest get heard and Heatonlad hasn't got anything to loose by giving it a go.

Best not to shout too loudly if these are business transactions on a personal account though?

I'm not sure on the exact figure now

£550 (see the link above).

I'm not sure on the exact figure now

25 now (see the link above).

jonesMUFCforever

OP if you want to pursue this other than a friendly phone call to see if they will refund (gesture of goodwill) you may find that they will no longer want your business and close your account.

User_101122

OP if you want to pursue this other than a friendly phone call to see if they will refund (gesture of goodwill) you may find that they will no longer want your business and close your account.

I think it's unlikely they'd close his account for complaining. They're more likely to close the account for exceeding the credit limit. If they are going to do that they'll do it regardless of whether he complains or not.

Try the friendly approach at first but if that doesn't work he's nothing to loose by raising a formal complaint if he doesn't get a result.

All we're trying to do here is get somebody with some of basic customer service skills to cancel a £12 charge and for the op to take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

That way everybody's happy.

User_101122

If it's got as far as an adjudicator it's already chargeable isn't it? (see the link in my post)

My bad. Replace Adjudicator with front line.

So effectively all a customer has to do is disagree with the adjudicator's decision if it goes against them. This then lands the bank with a potential bill far in excess of what it would cost to resolve the matter.

Again replace adjudicator with front line.

Best not to shout too loudly if these are business transactions on a personal account though?

To clarify my advice was to shout about the over limit fee, not what you use the card for. I can't see somebody asking for a fee back triggering an investigation for what the card is used for.

chattychappy

z1a wrote: »

It will be in the Ts & Cs that you read when you signed up.

Oh come now. We should all know by now that just because something is in the T&Cs doesn't make it lawful or enforceable. Lawyers often draft contracts knowing that something probably wouldn't stand up. That's why contracts usually have a "severence" clause.

Some years ago, it was standard practice to have a term that said you would be charged £25 for a missed payment. Turned out that that didn't hold up.

Ditto the business of CCs saying they couldn't cancel CPAs, despite a change in law (Payment Service Regs) which meant they couldn't refuse such an instruction from a cardholder.

Deleted_User wrote: »

Not really. The fees were reviewed and the stance from the regulator was that anything £12 and under didn't cause them any particular concern.

Indeed, but it was more nuanced than that. Originally it was a law student that challenged the charges as being unlawful under the EU inspired UTCCR1999 regs that had been brought into UK law. The OFT took over the complaint. The gist of the UTCCR1999 was that a penalty can be no greater than the cost of the breach to the injured party. Penalties aren't meant to be profit centres. The OFT said that for charges of £12 or less, it wouldn't intervene, presuming that such a charge would be aligned with the costs involved. Above this it would. It was at pains to emphasise that whether or not a charge is justifiable would depend on individual cases, ie a charge of £12 or less wouldn't necessarily be lawful, and in some circumstances a charge of greater than £12 would be OK. It wasn't meant to become a standard - which is, of course, what has happened.

The UTCCRs were recently repealed and replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

So yes, by all means challenge the fees. Ask them to refund the charge, saying that it is disproportionate to charge £12 considering the amounts involved. Ask them to justify it by reference to the costs incurred by them as a result of your breach. Did they phone you? Did they send a letter? I doubt whether it cost them very much at all.

Jasonh2015

They won’t increase your limit and it seems pretty clear cut. You’ve gone over your limit and they’ve applied their charge. It’s highly unlikely the FOS would see in your favour. Use it as a learning lesson.

cajef

HeatonGuy wrote: »

probably due to having to take cash out in an emergency.

even though I'm over the limit due to their action, not my mismanagement.

Trying to work out how it is due to their action and not your mismanagement.

HeatonGuy

cajef wrote: »

Trying to work out how it is due to their action and not your mismanagement.

I am not performing a transaction that takes me over the limit. They are.

I cannot know, until they apply the interest, how much they are going to apply, and therefore can do nothing before they apply it (other than making an early payment) to prevent the balance going over if it is close to the credit limit.

As such, it is their action, their transaction, that takes me over their limit.

It feels like they are making a profit from their own application of interest