Halifax Overdraft - Changes to Accounts £1 a day

[sigsoldboy]

Sorry if this thread is elsewhere but I have just come home to a lovely letter for Halifax telling me how they are going to extrort more money from me.

 

Apparently from the 6th December Halifax will now charge £1 a day for every day we are overdawn, by my calculation I will now pay double the amount I did before. I payed about £18 a month in total in interest. Now I think I will be nearer to £41.00.

 

Halifax offerd me the OD when times were better and I had a better paid job, to provide a comfort zone I accepted, but I then lost my job last summer and I now earn much less and struggle to pay my credit card, now my interest is double !!

 

Is there any Bank / Building Society people can recommend, any way to get away from this horrible horrible bank?

 

(p.s. When complaining in a branch recently about a charge that should never have been the teller said there was no point complaining, 'Nobody cares'. Please god let there be a half decent bank out there)

[sigsoldboy]

Thanks for the advice do you know if any other Banks are planning to go the same route, it actually makes sense for the banks to make a mint this way, again from the poorer elements of society.

 

I dont want to change bank to find them all following suit but if one does usually all follow. The way of the Cabal.

[sigsoldboy]

yep, £1 a day for every time post 12pm I have an arranged overdraft facility in use. £5 a day for unarranged.

[sigsoldboy]

It would be great if anybody could get a OFT template ready. It is true that as they are replacing it with a staning charge and not interest what is the legality of this ?

 

Also this starts from the 6th Decmeber, that is less than two months notice what is the legality of that.

 

The best Idea I have heard is the idea of closing the account at the existing T&C's ? Can you do this and how ?

 

Also has anybody else heard any details about other banks heading the same as yes there are really only 6 banks left.

 

If the Bank actually paid me back the charges they owe me I would actually give it straight back to them to pay of my overdraft.

 

Moments like these I think of Goldman Sachs, enough of a bonus pool to pay all thier staff globally £315,000 each. Sorry off topic but Im v.frustrated.

[sigsoldboy]

Hi everyone, please go to the Dowing Street petition web site were I have started a petition to the government. I am awaiting the approval but the its short link is halifaxcharges and the title is As 43.4%

Shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group should the government

allow Halifax's new Overdraft charges

Details below:

 

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to As 43.4%

Shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group should the government

allow Halifax's new Overdraft charges

 

Halifax has recently informed customer that they will be

charging a flat 'fee' for the use of authorised overdrafts.

This equates to £1 per day the customer is using an overdraft

below £2500 and £2 over £2500. This is a move by the bank to

unfairly charge people who are in financially weaker situations

and as such the Government should step in to stop the bank

undertaking this change due to come into effect on the 6th

December. The interest breaks down as such:

 

£0.01 Overdraft: 3,650,000% £100 Overdraft: 365% £100

Overdraft: 73% £500 Overdraft: 36.5%

 

This is clearly very high rates of interest and most people

with overdrafts between £1 and a £1000 will see a minimum of

double the previous charges.

 

Halifax literature claims this is a fairer way for customers to

understand charges; it appears to be a move by the bank to make

excessive profits from the less fortunate who live within

overdrafts or are not able to clear thier overdraft, such as

post graduates, the unemployed, the less wealthy. The

Government must take action.

 

Lets take some positive action.

 

Many thanks,

[sigsoldboy]

Link: Introduction to e-petitions | Number10.gov.uk

[sigsoldboy]

Sorry I may have jumped the gun on issuing the thread....wanted to get it up as soon as possible.

 

I'm waiting for the Petition to come up, I submitted it at 1pm (ish) so depends how long they take to approve it. I'll keep checking but its great people want to sign it.

 

I've also written to my MP on WriteToThem - Email or fax your Councillor, MP, MEP, MSP or Welsh, NI, London Assembly Member for free

I've used that before and had a response.

[sigsoldboy]

Just read the T&C's again and if you do put a £1000 pound into the account a month they will pay not pay you any interest. So basically they take you money for free.

 

I do so they give me £5.00 in return. So that could be a positive.

 

I just checked my statement and last month I paid -0.38 p in bank charges, Interest on paying in minus interest on paying out.

 

On average im 7-8 days in my overdraft facility at the end of a month and never more than £100, so this will now be a negative -£3 or an extra £36 pounds a year in charges, compared to my prior £4.56.

 

Halifax are going to spin this, they now give £5 in interest, and only charge £5 a day for unarranged overdrafts, so if you do go over you no longer get the £35 fee but instead £5 a day, so as long as you are not over your overdraft for more then 7 days, this should be cheaper.

 

It seems to me they are balancing the books in preperation for the court ruling on charges, just more inventive ways of ensuring the gravy train continues.

 

If you have money however, this probable will not affect you at all.

[sigsoldboy]

I've spoke with Watchdog and they are definely doing a show on this. Not sure if its this week but they filmed on Monday so it may be. Lets see if they can offer and advise also.

[sigsoldboy]

Petition is on-line

 

Petition to: As 43.4% Shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group should the government allow Halifax's new Overdraft charges. | Number10.gov.uk

[sigsoldboy]

40 Signatures on the Petition so far need to get that up the listings as soon as possible. Great point about the google listing and to cath3672 this forum is a great place to get advice and information from excellent users. Keep this thread alive and see if we can make enough fuss in a very short time to at least be heard. We must take positive action and get involved otherwise this banking farce will continue and with the spin as said earlier, the majority of customer will be better off. Mmm.

[sigsoldboy]

I'm going to attempt to open another account this weekend but I fear I will be in the same boat as bigyeti. I dont earn a lot of money and even though for the last 3years I have been a very careful and never miss payments my credit rating is still low due to a default a long time ago im still paying off.

 

Thanks Bookworm for the great work, if I can move account I will attempt the cancel at the old T&C's i.e I do not accept the new conditions and will post as soon as I can my results.

 

I still think our best chance to get this registered with government through contacting your MP's and the petition. Petition to: As 43.4% Shareholders in Lloyds Banking Group should the government allow Halifax's new Overdraft charges. | Number10.gov.uk

 

OfT is great but will take a looooooong time for any action.

 

Thanks as well to Watch dog for showing this but again its just not that easy for all of us to hop and move account.

[sigsoldboy]

Would anyone here like to appear in a short film/documentary about the halifax charges ? They just require 15-30mins of your time, you must be in London and give your time for credit. Please e-mail [email protected] (the production company) for details.

[sigsoldboy]

Hi Anxious, a very worrying turn of events, having an overdraft I cant repay either its concerning to read such a post and would like to clarify a few points with you:

 

T&C's section 27.

 

Section 27.2 states that they will "decide whether or not to continue to provide it (arranged overdraft) or not" at your review point. So when was your review point ?

 

They can change your overdraft if section 27.3 applies:

Failed to fund your account

breach of conditions

Your circumsatances have changed for the worst

reasonably believe that the risk of lending has increased

reduction of overdraft is necessary to prevent you getting in further debt (LOL bunch of wan*ers)

 

Did any apply to you ?

 

Section 29

 

29.5 At any time we may required you to pay us the whole or part of any overdraft, interest and fees or charges which you owe on your account.

 

having read this for the first time, it is worrying. I hope others can suggest solutions other than just debt transferal but I would seriously suggest contacting your local CAB, getting your name on the 10 downing street petition, writting to your MP, moving your mortgage etc etc.

 

sickining.

[sigsoldboy]

Hi Bookworm, yup totally with and I think understanding our rights is the first step (hence why I got onto this forum). Can Anxious refuse the new T&C's ? If he/she has closed the account and does not have an overdraft then should he/she not pay the new Fee ?

 

If Anxious is agreeing to pay the overdraft off and closes the account what is his rights in reagrds to continuing interest payment ?

 

I would not recommend this approach but I defaulted on my Barclays overdraft by moving house and ignoring them (Not intentionaly I moved bank and just put it off and off). Barclays eventually sent my debt to a DCA who dont charge interest, so I pay a lesurly £40 a month back on my £2800 debt.

 

The Bank racked up £1000 in charges, but I can negotiate an agreement with the DCA after 2 years of being a pain in the arse to wipe £1000 off the debt if I repay in one go, eliminating the charges the bank gave me and no interest on the repayment. I've been saving outside of the agreement with the DCA to achieve the total amount to repay it at netural cost.

[sigsoldboy]

550 Signatures on the petition now, which is good but need more to get noticed.

[sigsoldboy]

Glad you got feedback from your MP Chris, I still have not heard back.

[sigsoldboy]

Filming tomorrow for a short news pop which I hope may get some attention. If anybody is in N.London tomorrow and avaliable mail the team @ [email protected] only need people for 5mins if your in the neighbourhood.

[sigsoldboy]

I believe they launched a different account a while back that you paid for that had these charges, the fuss is that most of us never chose to have this account, we also dont chose to have these fees imposed on us but may not always be able to transfer banks.

[sigsoldboy]

Got turned down for an account by Nationwide, only offerd me a cash card which is no use for me.

 

So I'm stuck with the Halifax, seems there is nothing I can do. So will have to suck it up for the time being and start saving like a saving beast fueld by saving juice.

[sigsoldboy]

Blueotter: I think you should be able to get any cash card account with a bad credit score. I have a 3 year old default on my credit score that I am paying off but as its on my record nobody else will give me the facilities I have with Halifax, i.e. Overdraft and a debit card. If you want to move account to get rid of the overdraft charges from Halifax good luck and please let us know if you have any success. I have had none.

[sigsoldboy]

Received a response from the Government today:

 

Read the Government’s response

 

The Government is aware that some banks have made changes to current account charging structures, but it is important to stress that the Government does not set terms and conditions for personal current accounts.

 

Some concern has been expressed that a flat daily fee may make overdraft borrowing more expensive. That is likely to depend on the way that consumers manage their account. Some consumers will be better off and others may pay more for overdraft facilities depending on the pattern of their borrowing.

 

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced, in October 2009, that it has reached an agreement with the main retail banks to make personal current account costs more transparent and the process of switching accounts easier. This follows the OFT’s 2008 market study, which identified a number of problems including hidden costs to consumers through opaque charging structures, which meant that the market did not work well for consumers.

 

Borrowers who may be adversely affected may wish to consult their bank about the best account to suit their needs, and how to minimise their exposure to overdraft fees. Alternatively they may wish to look more widely across the personal current account market. The OFT is taking steps to help consumers understand and compare the costs of bank accounts through new advice and tools, including an interest calculator on its Consumer Direct website at: Consumer Direct.

 

In addition, if any customer is dissatisfied with how their bank has dealt with a complaint, the Financial Ombudsman Service may be able to help. They can be contacted on 0300 123 9123 or at [email protected].

[sigsoldboy]

Arrghhh. just wrote a long post and pressed back space by accident and lost it....!!

 

Anyway can't type it all again but I wanted to share the following:

 

1) Halifax told me that the overdraft charges apply to all accounts whether you have upgraded or not.

2) If you don't upgrade, like me you, don't get your £5pcm.

3) You can upgrade to the 'Ultimate account' and cancel it any time as long as

a) You do not use any of the facilities on the account with the exception of the overdraft.

b) If you do cancel and downgrade your account you may lose the £300 overdraft so you need to be in a position to pay that off.

c) If you use any of the insurance or other supposed free bees you can not get out of those agreements for one year or change account.

 

I asked for the T&C's to be sent to me and made it clear to the gentleman on the phone I was only considering an upgrade because for the next couple of months I need to use an overdraft and it would be cheaper be on the Ultimate account. I will have the money to pay the overdraft back in April and intend to close my overdraft at that date, so I would want to move away from an Ultimate reward account. I did not want any of the other facilities on the account but that £7.5 cost of the account was cheaper than the £25 I paid in Feb on charges.

 

The chap agreed. I have so far only received from Halifax a letter telling me that I wanted to move to the reward account and as such I needed to sign and return this letter. No T&C's like I requested. I have requested twice now and they have never turned up.

 

Conclusion I am making from this is that the idea you can move accounts and the power is with the consumer is bogus. If I sign up to an account I'm stuck with it paying £12.50 pcm. That is not exactly consumer freedom and the bank do not seem to want to give me my T&C's before I agree and the call centre people to be honest do not seem to understand the legalities or what it is your signing up to. You are supposed to be able to cancel your bank account and move to any other supplier at any time, that is the point of fair competition, if Banks move to this model we could face the situation where you are stuck with your bank for 'n' period of time, like a mobile phone.

 

Question I have to the forum is if you upgrade to the 'Ultimate' account and take out the Insurance for example why are you stuck with the reward account, who owns that debt...Anybody have a copy of the T&C's or know where I can get a copy to study ?

 

Also Your need to be aware you may not get the full £300 fee-free overdraft.

[sigsoldboy]

Anybody having any results with FOS?

[sigsoldboy]

I've had a response from the FOS - what an utter waste of time.

 

Very disappointing. It seems more and more power to the Banks. Banks won the unfair charging case, now banks can change terms and conditions "for any valid reason" with only 30 days notice. OFT should change its name to the Office for the Protection of the Banking Industry.

 

The greatest [problem] ever, make sure people can not survive without your service, make sure your service costs you zero (print money for free), make sure your can charge what you want and that any group set up to regulate you have absolutely no power over you. Something something DARK SIDE !!