Interested charges pushing account over OD limit - extra charges allowed?

Basically, my account was 3 within my limit but an interest charge pushed it 2 over the limit. Hence, I got charged 30 for unauthorised overdraft.

Is this allowed? I'm sure I've heard that you can't get charged further fees if a bank charge causes these fees to be charged...

Tell them you want it refunded or you will claim all penalty charges for the last 6 years.

Worth a try but I was really looking to see if I had any legal basis for this...

Yes there is, see:

"The law is plain: any charges banks levy on their customers must be proportional to the actual costs they incur. The simple question is, ?does it really cost £35 to send an automated letter when someone?s gone

1p over the limit??

Thus write to your bank asking for a list of your last six years? charges, add interest on top and ask for a full refund. When it refuses inform it you?ll go to court under the small claims system. In most cases, the bank will simply pay out; one person received £17,500."

Enough is enough..! Is no-one going to stand up to this avalanche of whingeing by people who should no better..? What happened to personal responsibility..?

I have no sympathy for banks. But people who incur such massive charges do not deserve anything more than a basic bank account (and a nanny to go with it).

Now I hear that British Gas customers are whining because they fixed there prices and the price of gas has gone down. Duh..!

Enough is enough..! Is no-one going to stand up to this avalanche of whingeing by people who should no better..? What happened to personal responsibility..?

Its not about whinging, its about banks working to the law. They are going on about agreements, well they should work within the law or challenge the law which of course they simply refuse to do hence they end up paying every customer who claims.

1.5 billion by banking industry figures out today shows just how much responsibility they take. If they had charged sensible amounts i dont think anything would have come of the campaign to claim penalty charges but charging 30 to 35 for something that costs less than a fiver is total nonsense.

Recently a judge told a bank to prove thier case or lose them all. They lost them all. From your tone i assume you think that breaking the law is just fine? No bank has dared to challenge a single customer in open court. Why not?

It is *ab*solutely about whinging. How is it the bank's fault if people can't control their own finances and skate close to the edge of their limits?

Everyone knows the charges are there waiting to catch them, and there's nothing illegal IMO (whatever the well intentioned consumer protection laws say) about banks charging whatever they see fit for allowing people to spend the bank's money rather than their own.

People complain about the nanny state while at the same time expecting nanny banking.

Andrew McP

I think I once heard that too, however havn't come across a current reference. But what did you do with the 14 days notice of the interest charge? That is a requirement and may be why they think they can get away with the charge.

Jim A

If its not illegal to charge the LEVEL of penalties then why dont he banks make a legal case? Why is the banking ombudsman not only getting a very high level of claims which they say are never defended and every single claim made by the banking ombudsman on behalf of the thousands of claimants is settled by the banks?

If they were legal then and defendable why havent a single case ever reached the court and been defended by any of the banks? Next month will see the investigation against the banks finished and ive no doubt that they will be told to reduce penalties to a reasonable level.

ps.In case you think i have a greivance, i have not made a claim against a bank nor do i have a need to but i do think they should play fair and within the rules.

They always give the glib answer "all the customer has to do is call and arrange an increase in thier overdraft" I tried that once for the princely sum of 50 and was turned down flat and they then tried to charge me 30 when it went into the red (on the same day i paid cash in to cover the situation) by about 15 for literally hours. I went and made a fuss and got it back very grudgingly.

Thats the sort of unfairness and the excessive charges that really gets up customers noses.

Nobody gave a toss about 'the law' until programs on telly and newspaper articles kicked up a fuss. They paid up because that is what they agreed to.

I do NOT defend banks and their charges. I think they are often a rip- off.

BUT that is nothing to do with all these people who are too stupid to manage their finances responsibly. The banks just exploit their stupidity. I don't know where these people bank, but my bank already gives me a free overdraft limit: so to incur a penalty I would have to spend what I don't have, AND then some more..!

I could write to my bank and ask them for a list of all the penalty charges I have incurred in the last 6 years. I don't need to because I know the answer:

ZERO..!

Why not use the overdraft as a last resort, and stay in credit? I`ve got a

5k overdraft limit, and use it incase any bills come out a few days early. otherwise I stay in credit, and I don`t get charged by my bank. Because all these idiots are now complaining about being charged, the banks are going to have to look elsewhere to make their profits, with the likely result being the people who are able to control their finances being penalised because of the idiots.

Very often they don't even have to do that. I have the facility by default.

There are some borderline cases, but there are also people who systematically rack up disproportionate charges. It is a bit like some people prefering to pay parking fines rather than buying the tickets. Stupid, but some people do it..!

But how do you manage when you go to the shops with 30pds in your wallet and something you want costs 35 pds..?

The example i gave about the excess charge was in fact on my wifes account and was as a result of the bank taking away her overdraft with 2 weeks notice. It totally messed everything up for us both because it was at such a bad time (wifes ill health and other problems). It took 3 months and the combined efforts of the local branch manager for the head office to reaslise they had behaved like prats and suggested a way around the problem that they could have suggested in the first place.

If the banks had played fair and charged a sensible amount no campaigns would have been waged by customers and the media, all of whome are jumpting on the bandwagon. I agree with you that they will (already have in fact) look elsewhere to make up the shortfall but that only exposes the fact that the penalties are only supposed to cover costs not be a profit stream which is certainly whats its turned out to be when it nets them vast fortunes.

Nowadays we dont have an overdraft and dont have credit cards and never want another one (apart from a pre paid one) and this will prevent us ever having to trust a bank again.

The banks are breaking the law. It's as simple as that.

If someone walks down the street talking on their mobile phone they may be taking a risk but does that mean a mugger shouldn't be prosecuted for stealing their phone?

In message , Peter Saxton writes

Which law is that then?

I've a feeling the banks will eventually be found guilty of overcharging by the strict definition of the rules. My argument is that the rules are part of the nanny state we usually claim to dislike. It is not the bank's job to teach us how to look after our money, especially on free accounts.

I'm not saying banks are always right, I just think that the current 'blame culture' seems to put the emphasis on the banks rather than personal responsibility.

Andrew McP

It's more like somebody chosing not to buy parking tickets then amassing thousands of pounds in parking fines. Later a smart lawyer told them these fines may be illegal because of a technicality: cue shock, indignation and demands for redress.

You don't have to defend the banks to see the irresponsibility of some of their customers.

That`s entirely your choice. personally I`d much rather take advantage of the system and get paid to use my credit cards.

And without meaning to be unkind, it wasn`t the banks fault that you where overdrawn - it was your fault, and your wifes.

Common Law

Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd. vs. New Garage and Motor Co. Ltd.

1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations

Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982

In message , Peter Saxton writes

If they have broken one of these laws, why dont the CPS prosecute?