Bank charges

Am I one of a minority who think the whole thing is a bit cheeky?

Think of the analogy:

1. A mate lends you £100 and tells you to pay it back when you can (interest free overdraft)
2. He tells you that you can borrow more, but will charge you each time you do.
3. You continue to borrow money until you have a debt of £1,000 and owe £350 in costs.
4. You sue the guy and are entitled to the whole lot back, plus interest.


Effectively these people have had what amounts to nothing less than a free savings account for the last x years, with not a clue or an interest on how to manage their finances while the rest of us who have genuine interest in trying and keep in the black get little or no reward (most current accounts pay <1% interest AER).

Originally Posted by mpaton2006

blah, blah.....these people...... blah, blah

You have a very unfortunate turn of phrase.

Originally Posted by mpaton2006

Am I one of a minority?

Yup. But I can't find a law that protects you from yourself.

Banks are very sneaky and some of the charges are just plain illegal. I have just recovered over £1000 back from charges over a 6 year period.

Visit http://www.fairinvestment.co.uk/unfa...k_charges.aspx for some info.

Dan

The fact is that the banks charge way more than it costs them in administration. The banking code states they can't do this and not one of the banks wants to go to court as the court will most likely rule in favour of the individual and that will set a precident.

A lot of the time it's the excessive charges that push people further into debt which means more excessive charges which means more debt and on and on and on...

Originally Posted by mpaton2006

Am I one of a minority who think the whole thing is a bit cheeky?

Probably.

I suspect you would be the first to complain about any other charge you incurred where the law/banking code whatever it is said it had to be a "reasonable" amount to cover the costs of the company charging you and they basically extorted and extra £30 a time out of you.

You are confusing issues. This isnt about people going overdrawn and being charged this is quite simply the fact the law/banking code says those charges have to be reasonable and actually proportionate to the costs. Whereas the banks have basically extorted money out of people who can least afford it.

Oh and your presumption its all simply about people fecking up their finances is way off the mark. Ive had direct debits go out on the wrong day before my salary went in. And Ive had payroll issues following a change of payroll companies where I got paid half my salary. Fortunately, I didnt go overdrawn, but I could have been one of many people where timing is critical and something as simple as that has seen £100 in bank charges before they know it.

Perhaps before you post, you should engage brain and consider that some people have incurred these charges through no fault of their own.

I know it happens to some people, but in my experience, the people who get hit with the huge charges are the "crediteurs" who spend everything they haven't got. I personally know two people who this applies to. One of them stands to get back close to £5000.

For those people, they should be punished. People with generally unfortunate circumstances such as those you describe should be refunded appropriately.

Originally Posted by mpaton2006

I know it happens to some people, but in my experience, the people who get hit with the huge charges are the "crediteurs" who spend everything they haven't got. I personally know two people who this applies to. One of them stands to get back close to £5000.

For those people, they should be punished. People with generally unfortunate circumstances such as those you describe should be refunded appropriately.

You should try living on 13 paydays a year, will be 2K overdrawn this month but back in credit next month. The banks cant seem to deal with my situation coz when I set up a second account to take the right ammount out every 4th Friday they couldnt do it as they could only work in weeks or Months not Lunar months. Causes my wife all sorts of heartache and many rows at this time of the year when Im waiting for my "free" month on most of my bills

H

Originally Posted by the_runt69

You should try living on 13 paydays a year, will be 2K overdrawn this month but back in credit next month. The banks cant seem to deal with my situation coz when I set up a second account to take the right ammount out every 4th Friday they couldnt do it as they could only work in weeks or Months not Lunar months. Causes my wife all sorts of heartache and many rows at this time of the year when Im waiting for my "free" month on most of my bills

H

I've been there, getting paid every 4 weeks. You can never setup bills to come out of your bank the day or so after you get paid, it's a complete nightmare.

Luckily now, I'm paid the last working day of every month, so bills are setup to come out within the first 5 days of the month

Punished?

The fact is Martin that banks have been ripping people off for years. Either a charge is valid or it isn't. A court has no power to substitute a charge wich it considers fair under the circumstances. If £25 ofr a letter isn't fair, then the charge is zero.

I used to defend mortgage early redemption fees for a living. I never lost one, because borrowers never knew the right questions to ask. I suppose I could make life difficult for some lenders