Yeh I was charged £26 on 31st January for the use of my overdraft in December, and was due £31 at the end of February for the use in January. I called up and they've refuned £35 of my charges, so I'll still get charged something at the end of February. It's an absolute cock up! Joanna

Hey everyone, Been reading thru all the posts etc and been using the templates. I've not sent anything away yet, but wondered if somebody could have a look over my proposed letter? I've just finished studying Contract Law as part of my Law Degree so I probs could put a lot more Contract Law cases in there which would basically back up the principle of not being able to accept the conditions without express agreement, and them not being able to use silent as agreement. I don't use my HBOS account anymore due to problems I had with several bank charges, so I changed over to Llloyds TSB and so far so good. I obviously have an overdraft on my account which was at £750 but I've paid £500 into it, so only £250. But was charged £26 at the end of January for the days I used the overdraft in December 2009, and at the end of February they are going to charge me £31 for the January usage. I called up Customer Services and had a total rant and half, and the silly woman on the phone just didn't have a clue. I honestly haven't received any letters from HBOS about this new £1 charge this and about dropped down dead on SUnday when I checked my account and seen the charges!! Anyway, long story short she's going to refund £35 into my account and pass my complaint onto the complaint team. But as I've got a bee in my bonnet about the bank and as they've ripped me off about the bank charges before, I'm putting my foot down and not letting them do it again. Just gonna copy & paste the letter here, would appreciate if anyone has any suggestings on tweeking it / adding comments. Thanks in advance..... Joanna I refer to my telephone call of Sunday, 7th February 2010, and also to the correspondence which you advised you have sent out, but was never received by myself, in which you advised that my regular overdraft would be subject to a £1 per day charge from December 2009. I wish to state my refusal of these unilaterally imposed terms. The agreement between you and me was that this overdraft was provided without a charge apart from the interest it attracts, and I have no wish for this to change, nor have you given me a choice in the matter. I am in a situation where I can not just pay off my overdraft and leave, which effectively leaves me at the mercy of your iniquitous charges. I can advise though that since October 2009, I opened another bank account with another bank due to all the unnecessary unauthorised overdraft charges which were put on my account. I did make a complaint and called Customer Services several times but the charges were never refunded and I was so fed up, I decided to take my banking needs elsewhere. Please be advised that I am reporting the matter to the attention of the Office of Fair Tradings, as I believe your actions: Contravene the Consumer Protections from Unfair Trading Regulations Act 2008 and are in fact prohibited under Part 2, section 3.-(3)(a) and (b): "(3) A commercial practice is unfair if— (a) it contravenes the requirements of professional diligence; and b) it materially distorts or is likely to materially distort the economic behaviour of the average consumer with regard to the product." I also believe your actions contravene the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999, section 5. (1) to (4): 5. - (1) A contractual term which has not been individually negotiated shall be regarded as unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer. (2) A term shall always be regarded as not having been individually negotiated where it has been drafted in advance and the consumer has therefore not been able to influence the substance of the term. (3) Notwithstanding that a specific term or certain aspects of it in a contract has been individually negotiated, these Regulations shall apply to the rest of a contract if an overall assessment of it indicates that it is a pre-formulated standard contract. (4) It shall be for any seller or supplier who claims that a term was individually negotiated to show that it was. and I also refer you to Schedule 2 "INDICATIVE AND NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF TERMS WHICH MAY BE REGARDED AS UNFAIR"; 1) Terms which have the object or effect of – k) enabling the seller or supplier to alter unilaterally without a valid reason any characteristics of the product or service to be provided I don't consider the "simplification" you claim is your primary reason for this change to be a valid reason. Furthermore, I don't believe that your changes pass the test of transparency, as you have failed to give clear examples of what that daily charge equals in terms of the interest rate this equates to under typical amounts. Indeed, I believe that translated in a percentage, those rates would put your average loan shark to shame. Please feel free to correct those figures, but this is what I have seen reported: £0.01 Overdraft: 3,650,000% £100 Overdraft: 365% £500 Overdraft 73.5% £1000 Overdraft: 36.5% Furthermore the change is going to hit the hardest the people in the worst economic situation, as those who can afford it will leave in droves whilst those stuck in the living-in-the-overdraft trap will be the ones worst hit, unable to leave and hit for those fees month after month after month. In a lot of cases, it may lead people to try and raise additional funds by taking on consolidation loans to pay off the overdraft, when they may not be able to afford it in the first place, which would amount to irresponsible lending and/or a breach of the OFT's guidance on Unfair Business Practices 2.6 (b) "pressurising debtors to sell property, to raise funds by further borrowing or to extend their borrowing". Whilst I can't be sure of this happening, it is not inconceivable that quite a few of your customers will turn to you to find a way to solve the issue and may get talked into additional borrowing against common sense and OFT guidance. Finally, I believe that this very material change to your Terms and Conditions is a direct breach of the FSA waiver to which you agreed. I also wish to point out that I was told that “because I did not call when I received the letter(s) (these be the letters which I didn’t receive) to say that I didn’t agree with the terms, that they were automatically accepted.” As I am sure you are aware, silence does not constitute acceptance. Please refer to the case of Felthouse v. Bindley (1862). I reiterate to you my absolute refusal to this change of charging regime and await your proposal to resolve this issue. You can simple not put in place Terms and Conditions when I have not expressly, by word or by written correspondence, my agreement to these conditions put in place. I fully intend to pay the overdraft back at with a minimum payment of £75 per month and I reserve the right to make extra payments as and when possible. I am happy for the account to stay open until the account is settled in full. However, I reiterate that I do not accept the proposed charges regime, any attempt to levy the £1 per day overdraft charge or the ridiculous £5 per day unauthorised overcharge fee without our explicit consent in writing will be disregarded and will be reported to the FOS for investigation. I am more than willing to consider any counter offer you may wish to make should you choose to not accept my proposal. I feel that this is a fair repayment scheme and I am in no doubt that the court will agree given my income and outgoings. I repeat just to make sure there is no ambiguity in my absolute refusal to accept this change of charging regime and that I wish to close the account. I await notification of the closure of my account plus your acceptance of, or a counter offer to my reasonable overdraft repayment scheme. Yours faithfully, Me