Unauthorised Overdrafts

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I usually support the bank on this and say frankly if you don't want the fine, arrange an overdraft before going overdrawn. But...

£150 a month? There is absolutely no way this can be argued to be even approaching reasonable. Is that the standard charge for your account?
 
[TW]Fox;13010368 said:
I usually support the bank on this and say frankly if you don't want the fine, arrange an overdraft before going overdrawn. But...

£150 a month? There is absolutely no way this can be argued to be even approaching reasonable. Is that the standard charge for your account?
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Yeah I do agree on them but sometimes they verge on the stupid - I had a relatively small £30 fine on my account once, quickly rectified it but got charged /again/ for having "activity" on the account! Was a rather fun explaining that to the bank - "I put my account back into the black, but because of the activity you charged me again, and then pushed me into an unauthorised overdraft, then proceeded to charge me /again/ for the sole pleasure of you pushing me there! - erm Mr. Halifax gimme my money back!"

Got charged two lots of fines, one for making sure the account was squared up, and another because the first one of these fines pushed the balance into the unauthorised overdraft.

Rich
 
EirePlane said:
surely the fact that it was UNauthorised means he wasn't given permission?
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Well that is what I'm trying to find out.
Now I've known numerous people who have managed to go into the red on a regular basis.
After doing it once, hitting an unauthorised overdraft, they spoke to their bank and were immediately given an authorised overdraft - thus solving the immediate problem.

It's just if anything ever came of a claim I would say one question will be "Did the OP do everything he could to try and avoid the charges?"
If a simple request for an authorised overdraft would have solved the problem but the OP didn't go that route he would be asked "why?"
 
Christ I thought it was bad enough being charged 30 quid for going overdrawn but 150 quid is an OMG moment!

When you told the bank about your situation and they said they would put a note on your account, did they mention anything about not charging you?

If they didn't they will pull that out the hat along with the small print in all their terms and conditions.

Would definately question the amount though - as you say, I would feel a bit peeved getting stiffed that much!
 
I used to go over mine pretty often and barclays only charged me ~£30 every day (max 3) that I was overdrawn. It's now been proven to be illegal and the owe me a pretty hefty amount back!
 
http://moneysavingexpert.com is a website to ask on. In the past you might claim back charges but now Im not sure


The banks are trying to bankrupt the owners of this site as they have been very successful in supporting claims :

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

Charges Returned
Bank Amount (sum)
£0
A and L £2139164
Abbey £981541
Barclaycard £87819
Barclays £2147483647
BOS £130210393
Capital One £300567
Co-Op £200224
First Direct £540126
Halifax £2473684
HSBC £3355129
LloydsTSB £2709280
MBNA £228551
Nationwide £855674
Natwest £2780923
Other £552922
RBOS £1219496
Smile £136283
Virgin £20081
Woolwich £221587
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I agree with penalties for those who go over any authorised overdrafts etc but that amount seems excessive to say the least. A few pounds if it's paid back within a month etc, but £150 - how much did you go over by and how often did you do it in the course of a month?

Personally I'd move bank. The only time I went through my overdraft was thanks to a bank running my DD twice instead of once. Oddly I didn't get £150 compensation :)
 
silversurfer said:
http://moneysavingexpert.com is a website to ask on. In the past you might claim back charges but now Im not sure


The banks are trying to bankrupt the owners of this site as they have been very successful in supporting claims :

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/
Click to expand...

Are those numbers actually real? they seem phenominally large! If Barcleys was true, and the fine was the £150 in the OP, rather than the normal £30, that's 14million fines issued. If it was the £30 that people seem to talk about, that's 71million fines....
 
Kitchster_uk said:
Surely you must have used your account multiple times every month, knowing you were way over limit to rack that up...
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Wasn't a case of racking I'm afraid, just a one-off fine, every time. That's why I question it.

I wouldn't mind if there was justification, they had just told me they were charging 150 every time. Never asked me if I wanted an unauthorised overdraft, just gave me one, then fined me for it.

Someone I work with said they had a similar situation but couldn't do anything because it's in the terms of having their formal overdraft. I'm just reading through my full terms now.

It's pathetic though, why give someone more money if you're going to charge them 150, just give them 150 less or don't give it to them at all. It's purely done so that they can make as much money as possible.

But as I said, I don't mind being fined I just want to know that it was justified. If I make a mistake then I accept being fined, but I don't think 150 a month is justified. If it's in my terms then fine, shame on me.
 
HSBC charged me about £12 when I accidentally went overdrawn a few years ago ... a mile from the £150.
 
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