Banks win Supreme Court case on overdraft charges

[Sawell]

well it's harldy hard to maintain a bank account, so you don't get charged in the first place

Pretty ignorant statement.

I'm a home owner and have maybe 10-11 direct debits coming out per month, not all of which come out on the same day. I have 3 streams of income, all of which come in on different days. On top of this I have to account for my living expenses etc on a day-to-day basis. I am constantly checking my account in line with DDs, payments made on cards, cheques to ensure that there isn't conflict but unfortunately sometimes it just doesn't work that way.

Ever had the situation before where you pop to the local shop, pay on card and then the shop doesn't actually charge your account for two odd weeks? A few of my locals are notorious for doing this. It's all very well in theory to remember every single expense coming from your account but it's too easy to forget and assume your current balance is correct. We do have lives to live too.

We live in a world where there are delays and mistakes in money transactions on a regular basis. Banks rely on this, it's how they make their money. It doesn't make Joe Average in the wrong for not keeping on top of every penny in the matrix called our financial system. We didn't always have this problem, yet we've always been human... so you work it out.

 

[Vidar]

Whilst your situation is obviously extremely unfortunate, doesn't it point more to a failing in the PPI industry, rather than anything to do with banking charges? Is it not the case that if the PPI covered you properly, then you wouldn't have any issues?

Insurance sucks though. I hate it



Agreed, this was a huge huge problem before and in my view the FSA needed to do more.

Agreed it is a failing of PPI however if my creditors where not hammering me with missed payment charges and the like my debt would have stayed as low as it was and not rocketed up, if my creditors including the bank where not so greedy my accounts would not have been passed on to 3rd party agencies.... further damaging my situation.

 

[Surfer]

not particularly surprised at this ruling.


same ole arguments brought up in this thread though. Part of the strategy of the banks is to make us "blame" each other ie good customers blaming poor customers for increased costs and the like. Heheh... i can just imagine someone running a business and when a customer comes in to complain that the product they ordered hasn't arrived when they were promised it yonks ago - the business owner/manager turns round and points to the other customer standing at the counter "sorry m8 its this dudes fault hes been taking up my time so i couldnt fulfill my obligation to you"

 

[gambitt]

Why shouldn't it be? I already pay the bank money in different ways.

How? Unless you have a lot of money in your account(s) then you are freeloading off the bank.

Is there a rule that says every service must have a directly relatable cost next to it? If so, how much do I pay for the service of my local park?

Local parks are paid for by taxes. Nothing in life is free for your average tax payer.

You talk to the bank?

Ever heard of those modern day Nazis known as "The Halifax"? They will tell you to write to Tesco to pay you the charges! And no, I'm not kidding.

 

[Abraham]

2. To the "play by the rules and you won't get charged crowd": What happens when you have say £100 in your account, spend £50 on Tesco online and a Direct Debit for £20 is coming out of your account the following day. Tesco accidently charge your card twice (yes this can and has happened) and it takes £100 out of your account. They can't put it back straight away as it takes a couple of days to clear. DD comes out the next day leaving you with a £35 charge and £25 overdraft fee. So this person has played by the rules. Now what?

Tesco refund the wrongly taken charge, and any incurred fees and fees as a result of those fees, not a chance in hell that they wouldnt do that.

 

[Moley]

I did a short stint as a volunteer for the Citizens Advice Bureau and often had to deal with people who were close to suicide over debt problems. Banks are often the worst behaved of all creditors and the first bit of advice I almost always gave people was to jump ship to another bank and get a basic bank account with them. Then move your salary to the new account, then cancel all DDs and SOs on the old account and manage the payments manually for 2-3 months. The old bank will often get quite vocal over you not having any money in your account for them to take but so what? What's the worst they can do? Bankrupt you? When a person is so far under that they are considering suicide, bankruptcy is nothing.

I've had my problems in the past too - during the dotcom bust I lost my well paid job and couldn't get another for 18+ months. Out of all my creditors HSBC were by far the nastiest - despite my being one of those customers who actually picked up the phone and asked for help. They stung me for £1200+ in charges - even though they knew I was in the process of selling my house and they would be completely paid off when the sale went through.

I was one of the first on the claiming back your charges bandwagon and made the sods pay back pretty much everything they had taken from me during my lowest hour.

If you are in debt, the bank is not your friend - they only speak to you because the government makes them!

If you are in debt and feeling truly low speak to the CAB, get some help - these creditors have much less hold over you than you think and you can get control of your life back!

 

[Abraham]

Ever heard of those modern day Nazis known as "The Halifax"? They will tell you to write to Tesco to pay you the charges! And no, I'm not kidding.

why shouldn't you, they're the ones at fault, not your bank

 

[RDM]

Ever heard of those modern day Nazis known as "The Halifax"? They will tell you to write to Tesco to pay you the charges! And no, I'm not kidding.

Tesco would be my first port of call as it was their error that lead to the charges. Big retailers like that are normally pretty good about it when genuine mistakes are made.

 

[gambitt]

OK let's assume it's not Tesco (I just used that as a generic example) and say it was an online shop of Mr Small Business Joe Ltd. You would end up having to write a few letters and probably go through the small claims court.

Can you imagine if it was Paypal?

 

[BubbySoup]

Why shouldn't it be? I already pay the bank money in different ways. Is there a rule that says every service must have a directly relatable cost next to it? If so, how much do I pay for the service of my local park?

If you run just a current account & savings account and never go o/d then yes, you will pay absolutely no costs for this service which is a ridiculous situation.

Can you name any other business sector that provides a service as encompassing as a bank account with no costs to the end user whatsoever?

Oh, and you pay for your park via your council tax.

 

[growse]

How? Unless you have a lot of money in your account(s) then you are freeloading off the bank.

I have a share account, I have a loan. I pay the bank more money than value I'm getting purely out of my current account. I also pay the bank when they don't give me LIBOR on my current account balance.

Local parks are paid for by taxes. Nothing in life is free for your average tax payer.

Yes, but my point was that this an amalgamated payment - I don't pay a park tax. The council makes money from parking fines and uses that to pay for parks - is that justified?

Ever heard of those modern day Nazis known as "The Halifax"? They will tell you to write to Tesco to pay you the charges! And no, I'm not kidding.

You know, there are other banks. And some quite friendly ones too.

 

[Skalaberg]

how nice it must be to have enough of an income that you can rely on it to cover all of your outgoings when something unexpected comes up. unfortunately millions of others are not in the same position.


not simples, not in the bloody slightest.

i think it's called living within your means....which unfortunately many appear not to comprehend or even want to.

 

[growse]

If you run just a current account & savings account and never go o/d then yes, you will pay absolutely no costs for this service which is a ridiculous situation.

Can you name any other business sector that provides a service as encompassing as a bank account with no costs to the end user whatsoever?

Oh, and you pay for your park via your council tax.

But people visiting from the next country can also use my local park, and they're not paying my local council for it. I'm subsidising their park usage. Is that a ridiculous situation?

Banks provide a free service which is subsidised by other services and products they sell. Is that somehow unethical?

 

[Sawell]

i think it's called living within your means....which unfortunately many appear not to comprehend or even want to.

So that would be.... staying with your parents, never having kids? Living within your means doesn't work, and shouldn't be expected. Yeah let's fake on experiecing life in case we get bank charges

 

[BubbySoup]

But people visiting from the next country can also use my local park, and they're not paying my local council for it. I'm subsidising their park usage. Is that a ridiculous situation?

Banks provide a free service which is subsidised by other services and products they sell. Is that somehow unethical?

That's a very nice analogy but seriously flawed. I mean, come on, how much is the tourism industry worth to most countries? I'm sure it covers a walk in the park you are paying for

 

[gambitt]

OK let's assume it's not Tesco (I just used that as a generic example) and say it was an online shop of Mr Small Business Joe Ltd. You would end up having to write a few letters and probably go through the small claims court.

Can you imagine if it was Paypal?

growse, care to have a stab at this one?

 

[mattheman]

To me it seems it should be simple contract law, terms of contracts cannot be used for parties to profit from the breach of a contract by a person. I don't want to pay for banking services either, that doesn't mean it's right to have penalty charges, if the banks wanted to they could refuse the transactions that impose these charges, they don't because they make money from them; which is wrong.

argee with your judgement

 

[Clum]

But people visiting from the next country can also use my local park, and they're not paying my local council for it. I'm subsidising their park usage. Is that a ridiculous situation?

Banks provide a free service which is subsidised by other services and products they sell. Is that somehow unethical?

Its hardly a free service is it. Banks use your money to make money for themselves.

 

[mattheman]

If you run just a current account & savings account and never go o/d then yes, you will pay absolutely no costs for this service which is a ridiculous situation.

Can you name any other business sector that provides a service as encompassing as a bank account with no costs to the end user whatsoever?

Oh, and you pay for your park via your council tax.

It isnt free banks make money from transaction charges, which means shops put up the price to cover that transaction charge that you pay and the ymake a little money on using your money .

 

[Vidar]

Bank: HSBC
Amount Reclaimed: £480
Amount they paid: £480
How long did it take: 2 Months
The story: I like so many have just read the Supreme Courts descision and my heart sank at the judgement so imagine my suprise that no less than 5 minutes ago a representitive from the HSBC contacted me to offer me a full refund of my charges as there was no doubt as to my financial hardship, because I am so over drawn they have even offered me a temporary overdraft increase so that I can access the funds and that my repayments of £1.00 per month will still stand!

If your in the same boat dont give up hope!