Co-op Bank - charged for insufficient funds (Under 18)

MinishMan

I'm a 17 year old currently studying A-Levels, so my bank account is generally pretty lean, but I've always been quite good with my money; saving up for something I really want then getting it. But just this last week I've needed some things off ebay, for myself, and I have bought something for a friend, and I got the timing of money going into my account, and paypal withdrawing it, horribly wrong!

I also didn't quite understand paypal (but now I do!). I suppose rather naively I assumed that they would contact your bank to see if you can pay the amount they request, then if you can't, use the backup funding source (mum's credit card) that you have to add to become verified. But no, they just withdrew the money from my bank account, but because I have no overdraft the bank refused it and charged me £30 for the inconvenience it must have caused them!

Anyway, this has just happened three times; twice on the same day when paypal withdrew the money a day before it cleared into my account from my friend's, and then it happened again because ebay decided this would be a jolly fine time to call up last months selling fees (£4:something), but because I had gone overdrawn, because the co-op had just charged me £60, I was charged another £30.

So naturally I'm straight onto MSE, scouring the recent articles about all this, and one mentions that banks will generally give you a couple of free hits. So I phone up the co-op to ask if they will let me off this once. I mention everything I can think of to help my case; I'm young and I've been loyal for the past 5 years, but the customer rep says straight off, no way: It's in the T&Cs (which it is, I checked, they sent me them) and it's your error not the banks.

So really I'm just wondering what you think I should do? Should I ring up again and be more grovelling/forceful? I did say at the end of the conversation that I will put in a claim because the charges are totally ridiculous, but of course I have no idea when I'll actually be able to file the claim, and I really can't afford to just lose £90

Thanks for any help,

Alex

Orford

This can be attacked on two fronts. Firstly in the OFT judgment on Thursday. The banks had claimed that their charges were in fact fees for a service, and that their customers received a service even when their cheques were bounced or payment was declined

Judge Andrew Smith found that :

"If a bank declines to pay upon a relevant instruction, it supplies no, or no relevant, services by way of considering, processing or otherwise dealing with it,"

"I am unable to accept that either the paid item charges, and guaranteed paid item charges, or the overdraft excess charges, are the price or remuneration, or even a part of the price or remuneration, that the customer pays," he added.

In other words, the bank is perfectly entitled to to decline payment where there is insufficient funds, but cannot charge for that 'service' since it is not a service

Secondly it is unlawful for the bank to offer credit (ie to go overdrawn) to someone under 18

MinishMan

OK thanks very much for that helpful reply.

I will be on the phone to them Monday after school, and if I am refused again, a letter will be in the post Tuesday morning

soolin

You are not allowed to hold an ebay or paypal account under the age of 18 so I'm not sure whether having giving incorrect info to open both of them will make it easier or not to get the charges back from the linked bank account.

MinishMan

Well the ebay and paypal are registered in my mums name, but paypal is linked to my bank account because she never actually uses ebay...

MinishMan

I phoned them up just now, stated that charging me into overdraft was unlawful, and the girl didn't seem to have any qualms with it, but said that I had to write a letter because there "was a procedure" yada yada. Letter about to go into the post.