Banks win Supreme Court case on overdraft charges

one mum, one dad, two kids, fixed income that just about covers everything. thats the average working class family in england.

car breaks, money spent on clutch, car needed by mum for school runs and dad for work, not enough money for a bill, "charges please"

next month, pay bill money for month before, mum and dad working all hours so no room for extra income, funds still short due to paying off last months, without charges they could catch up over two or three months but nooooo,

not enough money in account to cover bills due to clutch breaking previous month and snowball effect "charges please"

and spiral.

too many of you are completely simplistic or just completely arrogant in an "im all right jack" way. im not sure which.

If you cant afford to run a car dont have one.
It doesnt matter if you earn £50 a week or £500. Live within your means.
 
Couldn't this be solved (as my mum did when she was bringing up two kids alone on a fixed income) by going in to the bank, explaining the situation and getting an authorised overdraft and so avoiding the charges? Sticking your head in the sand and hoping that all the charges will just stop seems to be about the only way you can rack up thousands of pounds of charges.

many people are unable to get overdrafts due to insufficient income its even worse now.

so in answer to your question, no. And generally the family`s I mention don't stick their head in the sand, they contact the banks, repeatedly, asking for help, if not begging for it. I know this for a fact because my mother was one.

one disgusting example of a charge she could not get them to refund, she gave £3 a month to the NSPCC, it sent her £0.50p over... £39 in charges please.

in the end I reclaimed £2200 from halifax over six years and charged them compound interest, total payout after six months of work by me was £3400.

If you cant afford to run a car dont have one.
It doesnt matter if you earn £50 a week or £500. Live within your means.


right, mum or dad should just give up there job that's miles from their home with poor/unreliable/expensive public transport.

don't talk rot please.
 
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Sorry but why is she spending £3 a month on the NSPCC via DIRECT DEBIT if she is that close to being in the red? Come on.
 
I've just been through mine

NPower: Can pay for free online (great, don't even have to get off my arse and go to the bank)
Thames Water: As above or you can pay over the phone.

So that's my gas, electricity and water sorted.
Have you looked at whether they discount it for direct debit payments? Or as it's otherwise known, charge extra for non-direct debit payments. :p

From the npower site
After you've been with npower and paid by monthly Direct Debit without a break for 12 months, you'll receive a discount off your energy bill. Stay with us and continue to pay in this way and you'll get an £100 annual discount if you buy both gas and electricity, or £20 if you buy just one fuel.
 
Have you looked at whether they discount it for direct debit payments? Or as it's otherwise known, charge extra for non-direct debit payments. :p

From the npower site

I can't see anything suggesting that to be honest, maybe you can?

http://www.thameswater.co.uk/cps/rde/xchg/corp/hs.xsl/574.htm

most companys will charge you a fee for using your card these days. bt, british gas, virgin media will all charge between £3 and £5 per transaction.
 
one disgusting example of a charge she could not get them to refund, she gave £3 a month to the NSPCC, it sent her £0.50p over... £39 in charges please.
yep it's disgusting that she should be charged for setting up a direct debit, for something she didn't need to pay, and something which would have been more cost effective if she'd dropped £3 in a tin rather than signing up for a direct debit.

terrible example
 
yep it's disgusting that she should be charged for setting up a direct debit, for something she didn't need to pay, and something which would have been more cost effective if she'd dropped £3 in a tin rather than signing up for a direct debit.

terrible example

not when she has been giving her £3 a month for the previous 4 years without incident. only when my stepfathers company started running into difficulty without him letting on just how bad it was, did problems start to occur.

he deserved to lose everything, she did not. In the end she lost her cheating husband, her house and her income through no fault of her own beyond being a trusting caring timid wife.
 
Good news for those of us who value free banking though.
I’ve never had a bank change in my life but I see the system as it stands a farce.

Banking is either free or it’s not. If it’s not free then everyone should be pay rather than lumbering a few with unfair and arbitrary punitive charges.

The idea that reducing unfair unauthorised overdrafts charges will make everyone pay for the mistakes of a few people that can’t mange their money properly just isn’t true. Unauthorised overdrafts in reality cost the banks very little and the charges should reflect that.
 
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not when she has been giving her £3 a month for the previous 4 years without incident. only when my stepfathers company started running into difficulty without him letting on just how bad it was, did problems start to occur.

he deserved to lose everything, she did not. In the end she lost her cheating husband, her house and her income through no fault of her own beyond being a trusting caring timid wife.
Sorry but that's the fault of the a-hole husband nothing to do with the bank charges. She didn't have enough money to cover a direct debit ergo she shouldn't have had a direct debit in the first place. The circumstances are irrelevant, especially when they regard a completely unrelated reason why she didn't have enough money.
 
most companys will charge you a fee for using your card these days. bt, british gas, virgin media will all charge between £3 and £5 per transaction.

BT is £1.50 a month, a bit better than a bank charge.
Virgin Media, they charge a whopping fiver so I might suggest moving broadband providers if you can't afford it, there are plenty with charges nowhere near that high and plenty of cheaper broadband providers full stop. Unless we're talking about a TV package here?
 
Exactly, which makes it even the more stupid to expect them to and leave the direct debit free to bounce.

What? If they don't pay it, who's expecting them to?

Are you missing the point on purpose? A failed DD doesn't impact them financially one bit, so the £30 charge for it is ridiculous.

You're just making things up if you go on about people expecting them to pay it for you.
 
I’ve never had a bank change in my life but I see the system as it stands a farce.

Banking is either free or it’s not. If it’s not free then everyone should be pay rather than lumbering a few with unfair and arbitrary punitive charges.

The idea that reducing unfair unauthorised overdrafts charges will make everyone pay for the mistakes of a few people that can’t mange their money properly just isn’t true. Unauthorised overdrafts in reality cost the banks very little and the charges should reflect that.
I do agree that the charge amounts are unfair and should be reduced, but I don't see it as unreasonable that there is some penalty.
 
Unless we're talking about a TV package here?
If we're talking about a tv package then get rid of it...? if people are living on the very brink of their means such that a £30-40 charge is going to unrecoverable from then they shouldn't be throwing money at luxuries such as cable tv.
 
yep it's disgusting that she should be charged for setting up a direct debit, for something she didn't need to pay, and something which would have been more cost effective if she'd dropped £3 in a tin rather than signing up for a direct debit.

terrible example

**************** What's your issue? You must work for a bank and have shares as well. :rolleyes:

Personal attacks are strictly against the rules.
 
What? If they don't pay it, who's expecting them to?

Are you missing the point on purpose? A failed DD doesn't impact them financially one bit, so the £30 charge for it is ridiculous.

You're just making things up if you go on about people expecting them to pay it for you.

Sorry I haven't really got a clue what you're on about. Until you explain to me the benefit of leaving a direct debit going when you are so close to the breadline then I'm out.
 
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