Anyone had bank charges from Halifax???

£30 charge for going £3.90 in the red as I have no overdraft. Has anyone successfully got this refunded? Any advice?

 

Not had dealing with the Halifax. But advice is clear banks are not allowed to penalise you for overdrawing. They are allowed to charge an administration fee. I would suggest that you write to the Halifax and remind them of this. You should also invite them to justify how the fee is used to cover administration. If you go to this effort there is a chance they may reinburse you.

 

Try this - Money Saving expert

Type in "Martin Lewis/ Money saving expert " to search engine (Sorry forgotton his web address). He has been campaigning for ages re bank charges... on his site he has a template letter that you send to the bank. Loads of people have battled the charges in this way & won. Not sure of all of the details, but the site is worth a visit on its own anyway.

 

Also try looking here...

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/bankcharges

 

RE: Try this - Money Saving expert

Ah I was trying to remember him too! I heard him on James Whale or Mike Dickin show other month I think. Good stuff!

 

The guy is so clever

He just knows how to work every system (legally).... and happy to pass his secrets on to the world. He's on Radio 2 quite often, and he is inspirational.

 

RE: The guy is so clever

All obvious stuff really. But yeh he is on the ball with it! But then that is how he makes a living. Very useful reference though.

 

Charged £40 for missing an £5.99 payment.

Very harsh indeed. Seen as i never knew £5.99 was coming out in the first place.

 

Has anyone thought that this current trend of clawing back charges from Banks could well eventually back fire on the public?

I agree some of the charges are hefty but wait a minute you are borrowing money that is not yours. Now if you came up to me in the street and said 'can I borrow a couple of grand', I gave you a couple of grand but then you took another £100 unexpectedly out of my back pocket without asking I would not be too pleased. The Banks will inevitably get their revenge- and money back - by either reducing interest rates, increasing charges in other areas of banking ......................or do away with overdrafts for anyone who cannot clearly manage their own finances.

Perhaps Mr McDonald might try and give a more objective view on his Tonight programme rather than the sensationalist spin he usually churns out.

 

In that case (the banks, in their superior position to Joe Public) should be honest about what they want to do and state that they will penalise customers for this or alternatively not stump up the money at all?

 

A certain amount of the responsibility rests on the customer to read the information they are given by Banks. It's called the principle of 'Caveat Emptor' (buyer beware). Customers will find they are given actual charges that are debited for going overdrawn, missed direct debit payments etc when they open an account in the literature provided. Now whether you or me reads this or not is another question. I agree some charges are excessive but I don’t believe the banks are the 'mother of all evil' that the media would like us to believe.

Solicitors, the Motor Trade, the Medical Profession (including Vets) etc etc charge some extortionate amount of money - yet in comparison to the bad publicity banks get - little is mentioned about these people when it comes to 'over charging'.

 

Trying to teach yer grandma to suck eggs telling me about caveat emptor mate!lol. I agree with u to an extent. But the simple fact is th banks are not allowed to penalise! They have no obligation to pay out. If they do then they may charge admin fee it is simple. At present the banks prefer to pay out then they can charge penalty. In effect they are making additional profits from the poorest in society.

The banks do not do too badly making billions from the clearing system.