Hi loz, My (limited) understanding of bank T&C's is that they cover all accounts, including loans and form part of the binding contract between the bank and its customer. That's why they have to issue them every few years by either a total re-write or through a notice of variation. Good luck

Ioz, check out section 2 of the latest T&C's as it gives clear authority to share data. The law also allows firms (not just banks) to vary the terms of their T&C's by giving 31 days personal (letter, email etc) notice of the changes. Again, good luck.

Apologies Ioz, I misunderstood the Data Protection bit. Good luck with your fight.

First read the terms and conditions which you can find on their web site. From memory they have the right to share data either between companies or with external data agencies such as Experian or Equifax. The Government is actively forcing banks to share more data so think twice before instigating any sort of action in Court as this is not something you will find covered by the charges issue. Good luck

It also depends who passed the charge. The charge may have been levied by the Australian bank, not HSBC. More details would be useful.

Hmmmmm, I'm going to try and be open minded here and see both sides. People dont value things that are free. I'm old enough to remember that when Midland bank introduced free banking it set in motion a trend that all the other banks took up so as not to lose market share and profit. In most of the world banking is not free and we, the public, have to pay for having an account. Sounds strange but its true as I remember it well. Up until 5 years ago I was living in Canada and the banks there charged for everything. Now, I'm not for one moment trying to justify the obscene amounts of money that penalty charges add up to in many cases and dont believe that it is either fair or moral to charge someone £100's of pounds month in month out without either: 1) freezing the persons account and getting to the bottom of why they cant manage their finances, forcibly if needs be as in the long run they are doing you a favour by stopping you living beyond your means or 2) limit the amount you charge to a reasonable sum each month. Now, whats reasonable? We all want something for nothing but in the real world anything of real value (apart from the love of your family etc) comes at a cost. Its no point saying that if it costs them only £2.50 to bounce a cheque why should they charge £37 because no-one complians about buying a YSL shirt for £50 which was made in a Hong Kong sweat shop and sold to the UK retailer for £4. We have got value and cost mixed up here. It might only cost them £x pounds to pay me over my limit but thats worth a lot to me when I'm in a restaurant eating with my girlfriend and didnt realise I'd gone over my limit but the bank paid the bill for me rather then refuse payment and so made me look like a dickhead in front of her. On the other hand, why dont they just increase my overdraft automatically if they think I'm good for the money rather then just wack more charges on? Where are all these claims and OFT enquries etc going to lead us? If it turns out that the charges have all been unlawful then we will all probably ask for our money back, costing the banks billions of pounds? This will then be offset against profits and the Government will take a bit hit in tax revenue. What will Gordon (or whoever will be in number 11 next year) do? Probably claw some or all of it back through higher taxation or reduced spending on social services. What will the banks do then? Either change the small print so that the charges are no longer penalties, end free banking and make the money up by charging for everything (think about it, having to pay for every cheque, switch transaction, direct debit, cheque book and card, statement etc) or simply bounce everything and not let anyone have any excess overdrafts, calling in guarantee cards for those that cant or wont control their account. Maybe they might do all of them! Its a nightmare scenario for everyone in the short term but the banks will profit in the long term by being handed the excuse they need to get rid of free banking. Can you see them giving up the chance to make more money? What if they decide that because they cant charge penalty fees any more they might as well stop paying people over their limit and rigorously enforce their terms and conditions (no excesses etc) so as to reduce bad debts AND get rid of free banking? What if they lobby for making overdrawing a crime like it is in some States? In many parts of the world overdrafts are very different to what they are here. Just check out Google and have a look what people have to pay abroad. What am I leading up to here? I'm not too sure myself, but from whats being said on this website the banks will lose if taken to Court and that the alternative to what we have now will be a lot worse if we are not careful. We have been put on notice and the future is in our hands.

Check to see if the loan facility letter states that it is regulated undr the Consumer Credit Act. If it does then you Managed loans is regulated so as long as you make the monthly repayments from your new bank without fail nothing can be done. If you miss a payment for whatever reason and dont make good before final demand is issued then they an take action to recover it.

It varies from bank to bank but as a rule, if you are receiving benefits, a UK national and not in work you can insist on a basic bank account. If you are in work and fail their credit score due to judgements and/or a poor credit rating its very unlikely you will get an account.However, if they refuse it will be difficult to get them to change their minds and you have no way of making them.

Hi, Any bank can close your account for no reason whatsoever on giving you 31 days ( I think) notice. Its the same with any non CCA regulated debt, such as an overdraft. If you fail to repay they have the right to take legal action to recover any monies owed. Whether they do or not is another matter but open another account somewhere else to be safe. Good luck