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how exactly are these overdraft charges unfair? they're there in black and white in the documentation you were given when you opened the account.
live within your means. pay no charges.
Unfortunately, about 12 months ago, i had to pay to fix my boiler. This left me £45 into my unauthorised overdraft. I was charged £40 for this.
As it was the beginning of the month, all of the subsequent direct debits for phone, home insurance & water (the rest had come out on pay day before the boiler problem) were taken out but also charged at £30 a time. This left me £130 into my unauthorised overdraft + the amounts for the actual bills.The month after that, i was obviously left short due to these charges. I was then charged a further £90 for being overdrawn. After that point, it has preceeded to spiral upwards as each month, i was left more and more short by the charges. Currently, i go about £300 a month into my unauthorised overdraft and at last HSBC have capped the monthly charges at £152.50.
As i said in an above post, i have spoken with them on several occasions about getting a loan to pay off debt rather than just being charged for having debt but they have declined 4 separate applications.
I fail to see how either of you can call this situation in such a black and white manor.
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They amount to penalty charges, which are unlawful.
What if they were £50. What if they were £100. What if they were £10,000.
People are forced to have bank accounts - Various laws (and combinations thereof) require employers to pay into bank accounts, and for benefits to be paid into bank accounts.
Sometimes, people fuck up, and go overdrawn. Penalising them for this is unlawful.
The combination of having to have an account, of having no choice in account, and being bent over a barrel and buggered, is what makes it unfair (as per UCTA at UCCTR).
Good point, well made.
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Soul - its godamn awful i agree, but several decades ago you would have had no choice but to have SAVED up the cash to pay for the boiler repair. No other option existed.
I agree but i wasn't alive until 86 and didn't have a bank account until at least 99 so i fail to see how that's relevant. You also fail to see the fact that November / December are pretty shitty times not to have a boiler. Especially if said boiler heats your water & house.
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I'm still going to look at setting up a bank.
"Bank of Bodie" and "Doyle Investments".
Got to be a winner. Solid returns for solid investors. No arse rape charges. I'll put that in the small print for when people open their accounts.
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HSBC are charging me roughly £150 a month at the moment. I applied for a loan to clear my debt (including one credit card as well). The monthly loan repayment was £99 and they declined my application based on that fact that i couldn't afford it. Utter, utter cunts of the highest degree. They all deserve to burn and die.
Unfortunately, about 12 months ago, i had to pay to fix my boiler. This left me £45 into my unauthorised overdraft. I was charged £40 for this.
As it was the beginning of the month, all of the subsequent direct debits for phone, home insurance & water (the rest had come out on pay day before the boiler problem) were taken out but also charged at £30 a time. This left me £130 into my unauthorised overdraft + the amounts for the actual bills.The month after that, i was obviously left short due to these charges. I was then charged a further £90 for being overdrawn. After that point, it has preceeded to spiral upwards as each month, i was left more and more short by the charges. Currently, i go about £300 a month into my unauthorised overdraft and at last HSBC have capped the monthly charges at £152.50.
As i said in an above post, i have spoken with them on several occasions about getting a loan to pay off debt rather than just being charged for having debt but they have declined 4 separate applications.
I fail to see how either of you can call this situation in such a black and white manor.
This is exactly what happened to me, I accidentally went over once without knowing, and they charged me £8 or something stupid, then everything happened at once similar to soul, and i had to go over again, for a matter of days before i got paid again, this time they charged me in the region £80, and henceforth i kept going over my overdraft due to be being left short every month becuase of their charges and the charges got bigger and bigger, i tried applying for a loan, but the one they offered me to pay off my student overdraft completely and my credit card was at something ridiculous like 25.4% APR so i told them to go fuck themselves. luckily i have in the past month, finally been paid back £300 owed to me by a previous house mate, and have managed to break free of the downward spiral of fees.
seriously, for people on a tight income, just 1 or 2 unfortunate slip ups can cause a spiral of chaos in charges. they are cunts.
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@Soul and Tiswas: Hexacterly.
I do live within my means (now) but i've struggled in the past and run up against problems very similar to Soul.
These days i'm much more careful and in a better sirtuation overall but the occasional mishap with my four-weekly pay cycle and monthly nature of all other bills can still cost me hundreds in penalty charges.
I notice also in that story that someone states that all you have to do is "make arrangements in advance" with your bank to avoid charges. Also not true. As described by Soul above, unless you're positively rolling in it anyway the banks are generally verrry reluctant to agree any additional lending these days. I've had applications to extend my overdraft in exactly these circumstances declined many times leaving me no option but to go over the limit. On one occasion i was able to tell the bank several days in advance that I unless some arrangement was made, a forthcoming direct debit would take me over my overdraft limit for a couple of days leaving me unable to access cash during that time. They declined to do anything to recognise this and I was forced to withdraw cash in advance and even further overdrawn that I would have otherwise with all the attendant charges and blah blah blah phonecalls from a call centre in India telling me off about it like an automated mum.
Very annoying.
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They amount to penalty charges, which are unlawful.
What if they were £50. What if they were £100. What if they were £10,000.
People are forced to have bank accounts - Various laws (and combinations thereof) require employers to pay into bank accounts, and for benefits to be paid into bank accounts.
Sometimes, people fuck up, and go overdrawn. Penalising them for this is unlawful.
The combination of having to have an account, of having no choice in account, and being bent over a barrel and buggered, is what makes it unfair (as per UCTA at UCCTR).
at no point are people forced to use their accounts to set up direct debits, etc, which may result in unauthorised overdrafts beyond their control. Money's tight? pay your bills by cheque. in my experience the charges for late payment on utility/council tax bills pale in comparison to these accidental overdraft charges. in my experience landlords/estate agents are also pretty lenient if payments come in a few days late.
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how exactly are these overdraft charges unfair? they're there in black and white in the documentation you were given when you opened the account.
That makes them clear, not fair. I could put an unfair clause in an employment contract - that would be clear to the new member of staff, it wouldn't necessarily be enforceable. The government could pass a law that if you RLJ, your bike will be crushed. They could advertise this in every paper, on every TV channel, and send a letter to every household in the country - that would just about make it clear, wouldn't be that fair though would it? ffs
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Thats right, you fucking bank loving rodent.
I was wondering when you'd pass comment, Balki. Welcome balk.
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........ so i fail to see how that's relevant. You also fail to see the fact that November / December are pretty shitty times not to have a boiler. Especially if said boiler heats your water & house.
shitty indeed Soul.
...its relevance though is that its forgotten.
cheque book stubs and monthly bank statements used to be the only means of monitoring how much ££ was in your account. Now we have online, phone, hole-in-the-wall and mobile technology. I agree the banks are greedy. But I want banking to remain 'free'. I want the responsibility of my £££ to be mine, not the banks.
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My limit was arbitrarily removed when I was with HSBC, despite asking them not to 6 months previously... I was sent a new booklet that would've contained the change if I had read all 16 pages of it (small print), bah.
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now credit cards give me money for nothing (AMEX is the best)
I just got my new one sent out. The last one ended up in London somewhere and I'm not collecting it if they can't post it to my door. As for the original topic, I've argued my way out of most of the bank charges I've received over the years. Moved my gf's banking when Barclays wouldn't pay her insurance claim.. suck my sphincter Barclays.. now someone else is getting all her fees..
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If everyone had accepted a "token" amount rather than kick up us fuss then there'd be no court case and no potential for change... just saying.
Soul
kipsy
braker
handtightenonly
Mrlemon
hamster
Markyboy
Balki
edscoble
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JonoMarshall
hippy
EEI
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No payout for me then (banks win case)
Posted by
@dooks
Ha. True. It's not always that easy though is it? I know I dun bad but that's not the issue.