Bank Charges - Who's best?

mark07

Sorry if this topic has already been discussed, but I am new to the forum.

I am a Halifax current account holder and have recently been fined £60 for going overdrawn on my overdraft for two items.

The way they work it is they charge £30 for each item paid by themsleves when overdraft is exceeded. They take this charge 7 days later irrelevant of whether or not you have the money to cover it. If not, you then get charged the interest at the unauthorised rate, plus another £30 unauthorised o/d charge.

This therefore could end up costing me over £120 in charges. This I feel is the Halifax quite literally pulling my pants down and .....you know the rest!!

My question therefore is: Which Current accounts from other banks charge the smallest overdrawn over your overdraft fees?

M_Thomson

mark07 wrote:

Sorry if this topic has already been discussed, but I am new to the forum.

I am a Halifax current account holder and have recently been fined £60 for going overdrawn on my overdraft for two items.

The way they work it is they charge £30 for each item paid by themsleves when overdraft is exceeded. They take this charge 7 days later irrelevant of whether or not you have the money to cover it. If not, you then get charged the interest at the unauthorised rate, plus another £30 unauthorised o/d charge.

This therefore could end up costing me over £120 in charges. This I feel is the Halifax quite literally pulling my pants down and .....you know the rest!!

My question therefore is: Which Current accounts from other banks charge the smallest overdrawn over your overdraft fees?

The answer is all banks have amazingly cheap charges. Stay within your limit and you won't incur one!

johannamse

I am with Lloyds and they only charge £10 for each misdemeanor - but I havn't been bad in a while, so please read terms and conds.

emma_b_4

hi i know how you feel this kept happenin to us
what i did was sort all my DDs to one day of the month write that amount in HUGE letters on the calendar and make sure its in the bank!! and draw out CASH not switching as this can take a while to come out, ive learnt the hard way!!!!it is very annoying but all banks charge you! could you not up your OD so you have a buffer zone.but dont spend it!!!!!!!!

catalonia13

mark07 wrote:

Sorry if this topic has already been discussed, but I am new to the forum.

see my post - 'Halifax charges - £39', and many others on a similar theme, I would obviously say you should challenge them (anyone else who had been ripped off in such a way would!) but there are others who disagree, on the basis that its our own fault.... but the fact is - these charges are not enforceable in law - what people think is entirely another matter! Good luck

Rafter

Under the unfair contract terms rules in company law, banks can only charge you for the actual costs to them of you breaking your overdraft limit.

Presumably they will charge you interest for the period you are overdrawn, so the cost of money is taken care of.

The only other costs therefore are any letters or phone calls they had to make.

£10 should about cover it - I suggest you make them an offer and if they refuse make a formal complaint and copy it to the office of fair trading.

As M Thompson says though, the best way is not to go over your limit. I suggest you increase your overdraft limit to cover this risk and always leave yourself with a buffer.

Some banks (for example First Direct) offer text message banking which tells you when you are overdrawn or near your limit, giving you time to transfer funds from savings or elsewhere.

Good luck.

R

dchurch24

Sadly though, First Direct have just started charging for this service - it is a shame, but not unreasonable to do so.

Fedz

You may be also able to increase your overdraft limit but this may defeat the object.

With all due respect it would be more prudent to focus on incoming/outgoing finances so you can stop yourself exceeding your agreed overdraft limit. Imagine the money you could save

The MSE sub-forum Debt-Free Wannabe is very helpful.

Kind regards

safari_2

The answer you're looking for, now that the holier-than-thous seemed to have calmed down, is Nationwide.

I haven't paid a penalty charge in 10 years and I don't intend to start doing so. But I refuse to give my custom to banks that are charging illegal penalty fees to their customers, most of whom don't have the knowledge or stomach for a fight.

Rafter

Text messages are going to cost, but probably a lot less than an unauthorised overdraft fee.

Fedz, my point was to create an authorised overdraft that you have no intention of ever using to avoid fees rather than encouraging greater debt.

Fedz

Rafter wrote:

Fedz, my point was to create an authorised overdraft that you have no intention of ever using to avoid fees rather than encouraging greater debt.

Yeah I totally agree with you Rafter. I have also done the same. My point was if you'r going to increase your o/d limit you have to be strict at not to keep breaching it - self discipline.

On a side note: my Co-Operative basic bank account (unlike my Halifax full current account) doesn't have the o/d facility. So what I've done is (best I can) maintain a float of £150. I also have a ISA with the former bank and if required can just top-up the basic bank account via the on-line banking for easy maintainance