Bank Charges: Fine v Payout Poll

teddyco

My wife and I have had a current account for over 20 years and have never had a problem of insufficient funds or going into arrears, not even once.

I am from the old generation when folks had to balance their cheque book to make sure they didn't go into arrears and we do it by habit. I would assume that there are many other's on this site who do the same?

One problem with trying to get an accurate picture by using online banking is that banks don't keep an account accurate up to the minute. Some transactions take days to post on the online account, so keeping a ledger for us is essential. As a result, I can tell you to the penny what is in our account.

I also HATE Direct Debits and think this is one reason so many people are in trouble with these penalty charges. It's easy to just set it and forget it...........then people get lazy with their finances because everything is on 'auto-pilot' and late fees start popping up.

When I look at the state of the UK economy, I can think of many other more pressing issues that I would rather see change.

1. Force banks to introduce 35 year, fixed-rate mortgages with no early payment penalties rather than play Russian Roulette with variable rate mortgages and risk losing our home when interest rates go up.

2. Our government needs to lower taxes on petrol, and give more tax breaks for everyday purchased items that folks require.

3. Cut services to the NHS like Dental care, and stupid medical procedures, but lower the National Insurance taxes and give us a tax rebate to help younger folks start building some savings. This would allow folks to seek private dental services that most already are forced to use.

4. Get rid of this embarrassing Tax Credits System that pays too much to some and not enough to others and then demands repayment when the Inland Revenue makes a mistake and pays out too much. Joke!

5. Get rid of this non-elected, temporary Prime Minister Gordon Brown and put someone in office who will lower taxes and give small businesses more incentives by lowering corporate taxes.

6. Stop spending so much money on our school systems and spank children when they are naughty. Then take that money and spend it on our road and rail system that currently causes UK business to lose billions due to traffic jams and congestion.

7. GET OUT OF THE EU and tell them very kindly where they can stick their ridiculous rules and regulations on 'straight banana's' and 'patio heaters'.

8. Global warming is a myth and the result of irregular solar activity. Even the bible indicates this: Read Revelation 16:8 -
"And the fourth angel poured out his vial UPON THE SUN; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire."

Or............you can listen to men like Bill - I did not have sex with that woman - Clinton, who claims that global warming is real and caused by man. This false doctrine is very convenient for governments and energy corporations who want to scare people into going along with their tax rises and hikes in electric bills.

ccastley

I have to say I agree with a lot of your suggestions for reform Teddy (apart from the spanking - I behaved in school without corporal punishment and a lot of this crazy behaviour we are seeing as far as I can tell has come on in the past ten years - a reform in discipline and more punishment for parents who fail to teach their kids respect is more appropriate I think - and I'm a parent), and I am in my twenties!

Though I have to admit to falling prey to many bank charges due to irregular wages, job losses (both my husband and I) direct debits varying wildy from what I expected with no notice and sometimes if I'm completely honest just plain bad organisation and budgeting.

I would prefer the payment not to be honoured, regardless of the consequences and for me to deal with the fall out. As many people have pointed out, in these cases you tend to be a) charged for a failed payment b) charged an unauthorised overdraft where applicable and c) often charged by the company who failed to receive the payment as well. So I would rather take option c) than be triple whammied thank you very much.

I think it's laudible that the banks charge you these inordinate fees in the name of 'admin' when they are the first to tell you it's all computer generated. Often when I have been charged money has been paid in less than 24 hours later to take me into a credit balance, but that matters not to the banks who have been too greedy, for too long in my opinion.

At the end of the day, yes, they provide a service, and yes, are entitled to charge us for misusing our account when we have indeed agreed to the Terms and Conditions, but surely these fees should be comparable with the work involved for the bank?! £25-£35 for a service which is done by a computer is a bit rich, and I have to wonder what 'admin' is actually involved...

On a related but different point: does anyone have any idea when we can expect this case to be over?

Crystal

timmons

I notice that over 90% of voters would prefer no charge and having to find a different method of payment - However I hope that this figure will not be used to assume this is a genuine perception for the whole UK population. By the very name of this website, 'money saving' is the aim, so of course, most people who view the site would prefer no charge. Others who value their time as much as their money may find it more benificial to pay the fine but have the payment made. Those people are less likely to be viewing this site and therefore not vote in the poll.

Thanks
Matthew.

chimp_choker

1234554321 wrote: »

P.S. can you honestly say you would not be the slightest bit embarassed if you had a transacion declined due to insufficient funds...im sure when it came down to it, many of you would rather risk the wrath of your bank than get to the front of the checkout with a trolley full of shopping...only to be told "transaction failed, insufficient funds"
How would you feel if this happened if you were with friends / colleagues / peers at the time?

for my ten penneth worth here goes. Firstly as you see from my sig tag I've a bit of a problem with debt but my current gripe is with the Alliance and Leicester bank. They actually charge me £34 for a bounced direct debit AND failed to pay the debit WHILST THERE WAS ENOUGH MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT AS CLEARED FUNDS !! Basically I put money in to cover the outgoings in cash and the A&L log their debits on the statements first then the credits. So for instance there may be say £100 in cleared credit in the account I put in another £100 making £200 in credit for a particular debit due say £150.00 but I get charges because the balance is £100 then they put the debit on the account so I go £50 .00 OD then the credit takes me £50.00 into credit. All in the same day etc. They take the £34.00 out of my £50 credit straight away. I've moved to the Llyods TSB because of this and was pleasently surprised at the "grace period" mentioned above however it wasn't mentioned that they had the 2discretion " to bounce the DD etc.
Somethiung else that's annoying me currently with the A&L and others banks is that if they granted a fixed £250 OD then I wouldn't be charged any charges as if ever I only go OD due to timings. Apparently the A&L make debits at 1 minute past midnight but don't process credits until the next "working" day. Therefore my mortgage payment can be debited at 00.01 and thus get bounced but then an auto bacs payment due the same day doesn't get added until after 9 am hence the "working day". In the meantime the A&L have scammed me for going into unauthorised OD.
Obviously the answer is to have good cashflow but in my position it isn't always possible as we are generally hand to mouth but paying off the debts.

1234554321.......... I'm not embarrased at all now. It was the first time but now I use a calculator and generally shop with cash but never have enough for a full trolley of shopping. I always have £50 on an asda "christmas saving card" and if I have to pay by card I will offer it to the till staff saying eeny meeny minny mo try that one and see if it goes..... some time it goes through but if it is declined I say fine, thought I was skint ...... then I use the back up of the asda card.... obviously in asda. The thing is it's down to banks finding new ways to charge us fees. They have had the gravey train for so long now they are starting to feel the pinch. To be honest, in my position if i was to pay £10 a month for a £250 OD or even a £50 OD and no penelty charges or fines then I'd take it but in my situation I ain't got a snowball chance in hell of getting that.

Oh and gbhxu I've got £16.01 in cleared funds and that has to last until wednesday next week so it's leek and taty stew for the next few days, lol.

chimp_choker

P.S. if you don't pay many bills by DD you get charged an "Admin fee" of between £5 and £10 per month.....

I too prefer standing orders for the same reason as above, varying the payments...

Claro_Clare

It's easy to overlook a due payment and go overdrawn in error - but I voted 'B' as I would want the option to decide what to do next. The problem is that usually you don't find out until the account that should have been paid writes or rings to complain. Banks should notify us promptly if they have not made a payment - but in my experience if they do notify, it is very slow - perhaps 10 days later. Not good enough. Banks get paid by us from the interest on the money we have in our accounts - and they should provide better services to help us manage that money.

littlepip60

I have just incurred a £35 admin charge with HBOS for refused payment of £2.62. £10 charge and would understand, asked them to do breakdown of charge and was told this is confidential info!! I sent back reply as follows;

Someone would write a small computer program that would monitor accounts.
As an action happens like for example account with £1.74 is requested by direct debit for £2.62.
The program would refuse this as insufficient funds available.
Next it authorises a letter to be sent to account holder, then implements a levy to withdraw £35 from said account in say 10 days.

Now I would expect that to take about 5 seconds and cost no more than £2.50 to £4.50 at the very limit.
Add the cost of 1 sheet of paper and 1 envelope, plus First Class stamp. Say 50p tops.

I am awaiting a reply.
I have now emptied said account and will see if they levy charge, as this would break the rule of not sufficent funds available to take £35. Will see what happens.

DannyD_2

Have the banks not considered a percentage penalty of the unauthorised borrowing based on the amount, surely this would be fairer to all parties involved.
In my view they should charge a percentage of the amount for example if you went over your OD limit by £1 you get charged say 10% = 10p and if it was to be a mortgage payment of say £500 then the charge of 10% would be £50.
This way the banks would get there unauthorised fees the creditors would still be paid their monies & the consumers would only be more careful on what payments were being debited & when. The problems and bad feeling starts when for being over your OD by £1 you get charged £35.

dunavfiddler

It is distressing if you get a fine and are charged. But I think it is important to ensure that you are never near the limit, either by having a suitably large overdraft of by carefully monitoring your account and not unnecessarily spending into your overdraft "buffer".

This said, automatically paid bills usually just have to go out on the day otherwise you will be in trouble with Landlords and the like.

So I would prefer the bills to go out on the stated day to ensure that the really important ones are paid on time and then ensure that I am never near the limit of my account. Don't assume the bank owes you any favours.

I just came across this site and there seems to be a lot here to help save money.

cashback69

Hi,
just like to say my bank, b.o.s dont pay the dd, cheque, etc if not enough funds and also charge £39 to boot..
neil:eek: