overdraft help!

[Ashtonian]

Hopefully someone here can offer some words of advice on this because going down to the bank later and pretty much fuming right now.

Basically last month my bank charged me 150 quid from 2 'paid' direct debits for the grand total of 32 pound. because of this my bank went massively overdrawn and obviously with me not getting paid for 4 weeks no way of paying it off.

now i have just checked the bank and it seems they have taken another massive amount of money from me, as in anywhere between 100-250, not sure yet. Now the reason why they have taken it is because i was overdrawn because of them taking the money in the process and any direct debits in that time bounced back because they took the money.

Here is the thing- i never asked for an overdraft and specifically told them when setting the account up that i didn't want one, 0 means 0 so to speak. I was told that would be the case so they have taken it to themselves as a bank to give me one anyway, on the basis of massive charges. One of the direct debits i even paid manually knowing full well the money was not in my account. The other that started this took the money out on the wrong day.

They did not notify me of any charges. No letters or anything to tell me they would be taking the money. Therefore whatever they have taken from me is a shock to say the least seeings though they didnt tell me about it.

They have now taken a massive amount of my wages which leaves me in a very difficult position for the next 30 days because obviously it is only the 1st of April. I have bills to pay that that have taken all of this money from and now i cant pay them, this includes council tax, utilities, stuff like the tv and even travel to and from work not to mention food.

So is there anything i can do here? Id there anything i can say to try and get my money back? Any advice? As i said its going to proper do me over if they have taken a big lump sum of money off me and not sure how i can get through the month at the minute...

 

[ijjysmith]

Hello mate

I work in banking so might be able to help.

Sadly though it sounds like it's just the way it is.

Depending what bank you're with will depend how overdraft charges work. Some will charge you a daily amount (these are the bellend banks) for going over your agreed limit, other will be a one off monthly charge.

Sadly you will have been informed at some point in Terms and Conditions of your account what your charges are or will be.

However, some good news, depending on how often this has happened to you, you may be able to claim these charges back, but that really can depend on who you get at the bank when you go in.

 

[evilwebby]

If you have online banking it's easy to check exactly how it's been broken down.. or just ring them for an explaination.

An overdraft is just a borrowing facility built on top of your current account. Have you checked the terms of the overdraft? It sounds more like some sort of unauthorized overdraft facility rather than an agreed one, in which case I could see the charges being punitive. £150 for dipping into it sounds rather excessive - it wouldn't surprise me if they authorized the payments but added some hefty fees on top. Normally if you have an agreed overdraft set up there will be a monthly one-off charge if you dip into the overdraft, but this is normally quite small (something like £10), and interest on a small sum like £32 is negligible.

Unfortunately this is the way debt works - you end up paying interest on top of other interest (and fees).

 

[Phenom]

Hello mate

I work in banking so might be able to help.

Sadly though it sounds like it's just the way it is.

Depending what bank you're with will depend how overdraft charges work. Some will charge you a daily amount (these are the bellend banks) for going over your agreed limit, other will be a one off monthly charge.

Sadly you will have been informed at some point in Terms and Conditions of your account what your charges are or will be.

However, some good news, depending on how often this has happened to you, you may be able to claim these charges back, but that really can depend on who you get at the bank when you go in.

Do claiming the charges back actually still work?

I should do that, got charged stupid amounts of money when I was an apprentice.

 

[Ashtonian]

The 2 DD originally were 25 and 7 (that came out on the wrong day for some reason) and i got charged 25 pound for each of them and 100 on top of that for my overdraft.

This time round no direct debits could come out because they had taken me into my overdraft. So presumably because they took that money out my account they will bill be another 100 for having another overdraft on top of anything that they rejected in the process because the account being so much over.

Basically i am stuck here! first time round i let my money pay but being billed even more (or the same) for the fact that they took the money out the account is what is really bothering me. The reason why i had another 'unauthorized' overdraft is because they took the money to begin with! plus i got no letter or anything to tell me in advance has meant i couldnt even try and sort it out with them.

 

[evilwebby]

I may be talking rubbish and someone who actually works in banking can correct me, but it sounds like the payments have been processed as an unauthorized overdraft.

In your position I would probably look to get a regular OD agreed - large enough to cover you, obviously - then at least that will stop the punitive monthly charges.

But, of course, it should go without saying, the banks want this to lead you on a slippery slope of overborrowing because that's how the make their money - don't play their game. Pay it back when you can and then cancel it (although if you're resonably sensible keeping it for occasions like this might make sense).

 

[ijjysmith]

Do claiming the charges back actually still work?

I should do that, got charged stupid amounts of money when I was an apprentice.

Yeah you can do.

Banks basically are petrified at the minute and if you make a complaint you'll nearly always get something!

But it does depend who you get!

 

[ijjysmith]

I may be talking rubbish and someone who actually works in banking can correct me, but it sounds like the payments have been processed as an unauthorized overdraft.

In your position I would probably look to get a regular OD agreed - large enough to cover you, obviously - then at least that will stop the punitive monthly charges.

But, of course, it should go without saying, the banks want this to lead you on a slippery slope of overborrowing because that's how the make their money - don't play their game. Pay it back when you can and then cancel it (although if you're resonably sensible keeping it for occasions like this might make sense).

Yep - it does sounds like that.

 

[Ashtonian]

Yeah you can do.

Banks basically are petrified at the minute and if you make a complaint you'll nearly always get something!

But it does depend who you get!

Right, i'm going to go down the bank on my lunch so any advice what to dsay to them?

 

[Phenom]

Yeah you can do.

Banks basically are petrified at the minute and if you make a complaint you'll nearly always get something!

But it does depend who you get!

What's the best template to go off, was going to use the Martin Lewis one a while back?

 

[coollino]

Swear I read somewhere they can charge a 'reasonable' fee around 26quid or something. Anything more and may be able to claim back.

 

[ijjysmith]

What's the best template to go off, was going to use the Martin Lewis one a while back?

Martin Lewis is a bell.

Anyway, if you're making a complaint odds are you'll have to go through whatever bank you are with's Complaint procedure. Which are, to be fair, much better than they used to be.

 

[Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian]

Apparently EVERYONE is allowed to claim back 1 set of charges per year, happened to me, only time I've ever been overdrawn and it was by about £1.16 resulting in charge for letter and being overdrawn & a failed payment, they had taken a direct debit out at the start of the day and then a cheque for about £350 had cleared at the end of the day.

I rang them and they said thats how they do it, payments out at start of business, credits at end, they then informed me about being entitled to claim 1 set of bank charges back.

 

[Phenom]

Martin Lewis is a bell.

Anyway, if you're making a complaint odds are you'll have to go through whatever bank you are with's Complaint procedure. Which are, to be fair, much better than they used to be.

He is indeed but he has a template which you just fill the blanks in and send it off, quite successful as well apparently.

 

[ijjysmith]

He is indeed but he has a template which you just fill the blanks in and send it off, quite successful as well apparently.

I don't know of it mate, but yeah, if it's worked then go for it.