Being charged for a charge for a charge

[ClaireBee]

Just looked at my bank account and I am overdrawn by £18.50 as I had an item paid back a month ago and there was not enough funds in my account. I was originally charged £25 for that when it occured and that charge took me into the red and now I have found out that I have been charged yesterday another £25 for the original charge making me overdrawn with no overdraft (I never received a letter about this). I have just spoken to the bank and they have said that as I have gone into the red again as of yesterday that they are going to charge me another £25 in the future. Burst into tears when I got off teh phone as I feel like I am now in a perpetual cycle of bank charges - I am now going to be chrged £75 in total for an item that was only £56.11. At the time there were 2 charges impounded on my account at £25 each - they did refund one but now they have charged me for the £25 charge that they did leave on my account taking me into the red and now they are going to charge me again for this one taking me into the red. Spoke to lady and she said that I could pay money in to my account over counter to avoid charge but not easy to do at 4:30 in the afternoon. I am really upset and as would prefer that £75 to be spent on baby ratehr than stupid pointless bank charges!!! I am due to give birth next week and can do without this upset! The bank know of my current situation as I wrote them a letter about 3 weeks ago regarding this and I explained then that I was 8 months pregnant. Went to hospital last night as I was so distressed and baby started to move like mad and I got really concerned. Please give me advice as the bank are not interested.

[jan001]

Hi Claire

Congratulations on your forthcoming baby and please try not to get too stressed about it, I know how you feel though.

I am in a definite never ending cycle of bank charges at the moment, as my bank (Lloyds/TSB) keep charging me £90 a month for going overdrawn which, if they had not started charging me in the first place, I would not have gone overdrawn.

I am not the best to give advice as I am new to all this claiming myself, but am sure someone more experience will reply because this is an excellent web site.

I am in the process of sending a final letter to my bank before starting court proceedings to claim back £1070 which the bank has taken off me.

You should look at the facts and questions which help you understand the process of claiming your bank charges back and there are excellent template letters you can use. People on this web site are really helpful and you will always get an answer to any questions you may have.

I hope all goes well with the forthcoming birth.

Love Janine. x

[ian cognito]

Unfortunately the banks don't seem interested until you take some action against them, I know its probably the last thing you feel like doing right now but I would follow the step by step instructions and start by sending them an Subject Access Request, one of 2 things will happen:

1. if you only have this £75 in charges, they may pay up after a couple of letters because it isn't worth the hassle.

2. You will find they have had a LOT more than £75 over the past 6 years and you will have a nice claim in to treat yourself and your baby!

Either way they will pay you back. Good luck with it and try not to let them get to you, relax and look forward to your new arrival, they're only a bank after all...

[furndire]

My daughter had the same problem earlier this year. Luckily she told me about it before totally got out of hand - the sickening thing is that they will not allow a small overdraft as a buffer zone. We are on the L b a (letter before action) stage which will be sent this week.

[ClaireBee]

Have had enough - have emailled the Guardian money section about this. Am going to go to press about this and show Alliance & Leicester up for what they really are.

[MARTIN3030]

Welcome to the forum Claire.
The advice above is correct......You can get these charges back but must know how ti do it,by learning and following the steps.
The press would probably be mote interested to hear your story AFTER you have won your charges back.........no time like the present to start.........

[ian cognito]

Just niticed, the A&L name mentioned, If you have read through the A&L threads you will know that they will close your account when you pursue these charges, incase you didn't thought I'd warn you to have a parachute account set up.

[nodd1]

Hi
I am another one new to all this and getting fed up with constant charges. I am with First Direct and i have just sent in first letter and have had a response so am waiting for info now.
But i have just been looking at a recent statement and found i have several charges and not sure if i can claim for all of them one is overdraft fee and the other is excess overdraft fee, which are adding upto between £65 and £80 plus then an interest charge as well.
What is legal and what isn't before i go claiming for the wrong thing.
Many thands

[LizzyB]

Hi Nodd1

I, like you, am new to this. I received a statement yesterday from Nat West, advising me of £35.00 "card misuse" and £40 charges. I was told eventually by the lending department that the £35 was due to the bank having to honour my purchases due to not enough money being in the account and the £40 was made up of £28 charges and £12 charges because i hold an advantage gold account, which apparently is one of the worst accounts for charges. I was over my limit by £32 and have been charged £75! If you get an answer to your query, let me know, as I am unsure also as to what I can claim back, as none of the charges are for returned DD or standing order etc.

Could anyone advise me if they have won a case against NatWest.

Thanks.

Liz

[MARTIN3030]

Many thands for posting Nodd

Do you have an agreed overdraft ?

Are any of these charges ones which you have agreed to ?

What is the frequency of the charges.......are they all monthly and are they all the same ?

[MARTIN3030]

Originally Posted by LizzyB

Hi Nodd1

I, like you, am new to this. I received a statement yesterday from Nat West, advising me of £35.00 "card misuse" and £40 charges. I was told eventually by the lending department that the £35 was due to the bank having to honour my purchases due to not enough money being in the account and the £40 was made up of £28 charges and £12 charges because i hold an advantage gold account, which apparently is one of the worst accounts for charges. I was over my limit by £32 and have been charged £75! If you get an answer to your query, let me know, as I am unsure also as to what I can claim back, as none of the charges are for returned DD or standing order etc.

Could anyone advise me if they have won a case against NatWest.

Thanks.

Liz

Lizzy welcome to the forums.With a gold account you can claim all the charges with exception to the monthly service charge.This is the charge that you pay to have special features from which you would not normally expect to benefit from on a normal current account.
This fee can vary from 10 to 12.00 per month.
Please read the faqs........there is things there you will need to know for your claim procedure.....and thats advice to you both !!

[nodd1]

Originally Posted by MARTIN3030

Many thands for posting Nodd

Do you have an agreed overdraft ?

Are any of these charges ones which you have agreed to ?

What is the frequency of the charges.......are they all monthly and are they all the same ?

No i agreed to a £20 arrangement charge to up my overdraft limit but i don't believe i have agreed to anything else....these charges have happened at least the last 2 months...but i havn't looked back any further yet! They have been £30 excess overdraft fee and £25-£30 overdraft fee.
Nicky