Loan Charges for Late Payments

blue_haddock

Yes i have been in circumstances where i've hardly had two pennies to rub together. Do you know what i did to get out of those circumstances?

I didn't blame anyone but myself, i got out there and grafted to earn more cash and i cut back on as much as i could. Now i sit here in a comfortable financial status and am able to afford a decent standard of living.

DaisyFlower

dragonfly1977 wrote: »

Well said, standupguy! It's is very off putting when people make judgemental comments. I am new to this site and have been very hesitant to post questions in fear that someone will judge me for my financial situation and if it wasn't for people like you i probably wouldn't bother, but the advice i have received just by reading other peoples posts is invaluable, so thank you.

blue_haddock, unless you have actually been in that financial position it is really unfair to judge others, do you think we enjoy struggling financially on a daily basis? Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control and it is often the fees that the bank charged in the first place that get people into even more financial difficulty, just because they may have gone over their limit by pennies.

My bank used to charge £8 per day for being overdrawn ... now it's £25 per day! Do you think that is a fair amount??

There are many people in financial trouble, most of whom live beyonds their means or borrow more than they can afford to pay back etc.

Do you think the banks and loan companies should say - dont worry, have our money interest free??

If you borrow the banks money and they state they will charge you £25 a day if you do so then why complain - the terms are quite clear. Same goes for late payments.

I sincerely hope that the banks come out of the OFT case being able to charge customers still who abuse or take advantage, otherwise banking will cease to be free for those who manage to live within their means and we then suffer for other peoples attitudes.

standupguy

The terms may be "quite clear" but are they fair?

The Office of Fair Trading doesn't think so!

blue_haddock

Whether you think they are fair or not they are quite clearly stated within the t&C's when you open an account.

If you do not wish to be charged that amount you have two options 1) Don't open the account or 2) don't make late payments.

Surely the whole point of a penalty is to discourage people from doing something? If they only charged you £2 for a late payment everybody would be at it and they'd have no business. Charge £25 and the vast majority of people will pay on time as they should and those that don't will have to pay the price.

petermb_2

DaisyFlower (Yesterday), dannynixon (26-05-2008), dmg24 (25-05-2008), MissMoneypenny (27-05-2008), neverdespairgirl (27-05-2008), _Andy_ (27-05-2008)

so what lenders do you guys work for? it would be nice to know so that us mere mortals can tread wearily when we rant.

dannynixon

haha, I'm a teacher and do not work for a lender

standupguy

I see Barclays are the first Bank to amend their charges which was announced yesterday - £35 down now to £8 - so even the banks now admit the charges were not fair.

I have to say £8 is a more reasonable penalty.

There is business and there is greed - do not confuse the two!

petermb_2

standupguy wrote: »

I see Barclays are the first Bank to amend their charges which was announced yesterday - £35 down now to £8 - so even the banks now admit the charges were not fair.

I have to say £8 is a more reasonable penalty.

There is business and there is greed - do not confuse the two!

Do you really think they will admit they are unfair?

This was the exact term used when one of the lenders wrote off one of my client's loans, which had a balance of £22,000 at the time. "We do not agree in any way with your arguments, however as a gesture of goodwill we will consider the account closed and will return the deeds to the borrower's property"

Lovely people.

artbreak

good luck, disregard negative comments. Yes we have our fair share of similar problems. You must stay determined in your request to be dealt with fairly. Jon

dragonfly1977

DaisyFlower wrote: »

There are many people in financial trouble, most of whom live beyonds their means or borrow more than they can afford to pay back etc.

Do you think the banks and loan companies should say - dont worry, have our money interest free??

That's not what i was saying. I understand it is wrong for people to be going overdrawn frequently but how can they justify increasing the charges from £8 to £25??

And on the subject of charging interest, it's a shame it's not reciprocated when they have our savings!