A & L Hanging me for the vultures

Lavondys

HI

Im a full time carer for my wife and therefore im in reciept of carers allowance. I have a £50 overdraft and went £1.69 overdrawn. I didnt know this as alliance and leicester do not have a cash point nor a branch within 60 miles of me! I dont have regular access to the internet.

I got a letter telling me that i had gone overdrawn so when i could get away as i am the only carer my wife has and we have no one else i went and deposited £5 to bring myself back under my limit as i had arranged for my carers allowance to be deposited into this account.

I thought that was the end of it so imagine my utter disgust when i got a letter telling me that i was going to be charged!!! I rang them up but they refused to talk to me because i had forgotten my pin, so issued me with another which took 10 days to come through.

I received another letter letting me kindly now that i was going to be charged £100 for going £1.69 overdrawn. See the following:

25 MAR 2008 PO CASH 25MAR £100.00 £15.19
22 MAR 2008 OVERDRAFT USAGE FEE 06FEB-05MAR 7 DAYS AT $0.50 £3.50 £-84.81
22 MAR 2008 EXCEEDING OVERDRAFT LIMIT FEE 06FEB-05MAR 20 DAYS AT $5.00
£100.00 £-81.31
20 MAR 2008 BANK CREDIT £48.65 £18.69
17 MAR 2008 BANK CREDIT £20.00 £-29.96
04 MAR 2008PO CASH 04MAR £2.00 £-49.96
22 FEB 2008OVERDRAFT USAGE FEE 07JAN-05FEB 21 DAYS AT $0.50 SUBJECT TO A MAXIMUM FEE
£5.00 £-51.96
20 FEB 2008 £5.00 £-46.96
11 FEB 2008 £5.19 £-51.96

I eventually managed to get through and explained what my role was and was advised to send in proof of benefit and i was told this would suffice and i wouldn't be charged in return i got not a promsie of no charge but they sent me out a means tested form. I tore this up!!!!! I rang them up, they just didn't want to know. They kept driviling on about there's nothing they could do blah blah blah. I got so wound up i shouted down the phone at them "IM ON FLAMMIN LOW INCOME BENEFIT YOU MORONS". I was promptly cut off!!

And what they did. Charged me the £100 and now ive found out that they slapped another £15 on as well because when they took their charge of £100 i went back overdrawn for 3 days!

So its cost me £115 and i only get £50 a week!!! and that as soon as i could i had deposited funds to make sure that i wouldn't get charged but THEIR charges has caused all this trouble.

What are my rights with this, i know i have a claim but i cant afford to lose money like this.

Can anyone point me in the right direction.

Thanks

JohalaReewi

I would change banks quickly to one that you can visit and have a proper phone conversation with. It would seem that you are not going to be able to keep ahead of the A&L overdraft fees. Having opened a new account with another bank you can have your benefits paid into that instead of A&L so you will get access to your money again. You can close the A&L account and then contest the fees they have built up. All the time your money goes into A&L, it will just vanish into a black hole.

YorkshireBoy

JohalaReewi wrote: »

You can close the A&L account and then contest the fees they have built up.

You won't be able to close an account whilstever it has a debit balance, so the charges and any overdraft will need to be repaid first.

Also, if the regular income is moved away from A&L, they may invoke their "overdrafts are repayable on demand" condition.

dunstonh

What are my rights with this, i know i have a claim but i cant afford to lose money like this.

Why do you think you have a claim?

A&L have moved to a revised charging structure on unauthorised overdrafts which is deemed to be acceptable under law. A number of the banks have changed to this style.

Most banks refund charges if its your first time and you ask nicely. If you are a frequent offender or go in all guns blazing and are rude you are less likely to get a refund.

Lavondys

Dunstonh: I guess as your an IFA then you're going to busy with this new charging structure. Do you bank with A&L? Im just pig sick of being taken for every penny i have. They did it when i was working (Damn hard i might add) and their doing it now. I only have one other bank here which is Natwest and id die before banking with them.

How on earth you can call that revised i will never know. I may as well pull my pants down and just let them get on with it.

dunstonh

Do you bank with A&L?

Nope. Wouldnt touch them with a bargepole.

vix2000

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You won't be able to close an account whilstever it has a debit balance, so the charges and any overdraft will need to be repaid first.

Also, if the regular income is moved away from A&L, they may invoke their "overdrafts are repayable on demand" condition.

But they can't get blood from a stone. Transfer your payment to another bank so that you get your payment and go to citizens advice about the charges. Pay your od off at £1 a month if need be. Trust me, all banks are the same.