Charges for going over an overdraft limit

[woodpop]

hello there

first of all, thank you so much for your time with this site - you guys are a godsend.

i have been banking with barclays for about 8 years now. i have an overdraft facility which i consistently go over in the last week of the month (the week before my salary goes in). upon asking for an extension - i'm always told, that until i can show that i can stay within my limit for an extended period of time - i will not be eligible for an extension.

obviously, if i could stay within my limit for an extended period of time, i wouldn't need the extension anyway . . . aaaaaaarrrggghh !

so of course i've been being charged up to £75 / month for going over my agreed limit. i'm going to start proceedings to recover these costs as outlined in your BRILLIANT site - but i wanted to know whether the amount you were over your limit at the time of the applied charge makes a difference to the eligibility of the (indiviual) claim.

i.e. if i exceeded my overdraft limit by £100 - is it then within the bank's rights to charge me £25 ? i understand if i go over by say £4.50 - £25 is an excessive amount to penalise me by, but if i'm more than £25 over my limit - is it then not costing the banks that amount to cover this debt for me in the short-term ?

hope this makes sense . . .

cheers

woodpop

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[richardc]

Welcome to the Group. You should first read the FAQs which will answer all your questions - then come back.

[Seminole]

The issue is not the relationship of the penalty charge to the infringement but rather the relationship of the charge to the cost incurred by the bank in dealing with your breach of contract. For example, if a bank charges you £35 for a bounced transaction, does it really cost them £35 to deal with it. If it doesn't then the charge is a penalty that can be challenged.

Before going down the path of issuing proceedings you should make sure you thoroughly reqad the FAQ and relevant bits of the Library as there are some things you need to do before issuing a court claim.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[woodpop]

thanks for that.

i'm still a tad confused though - in my case - when over my limit, the bank goes ahead and honours the payment but then charges me £25 each time a transaction's made. might they turn around in this case and say that they are covering my debt in the short-term and assuming the debt is at least £25 - it is a lawful penalty ?

woodpop

[woodpop]

p.s. i read all the faqs over last night and today but couldn't find anything on this . . . soz !

[richardc]

The penalty is unlawful in that it does not reflect the true cost to them of your breach of contract