Barclays overdraft charges

[paaltjes]

 

I have an almost dormant account with Barclays Bank in Isle of Man. I have this account for over 30 years, because I used to live there. Since a couple of years Barclays charges £5 a month for this account. There was always sufficient funds to pay for this. For several reasons I have not been able to monitor this account for some months. I have been moving country and have informed Barclays of the change of address. I have not received any statements for several months. A few days ago I logged into the account and to my horror I noticed that I have gone overdraft for about £350.-- I have not uses the account since the end of 2011 and the overdraft and charges are only so high for not having enough funds in the account to pay the £5 monthly fee. I have informed the bank of the change of address in March but have not received any statements or correspondence. The bank has my valid email address. Is there anything I can do to recoup (some) of these excessive charges?? I know I at fault not monitoring the account properly but I am amazed that charges can be so high for such small amounts. Any advise would be welcome.

 

[slick132]

Hi Paaltjes and welcome to CAG

 

Firstly, I'd want to know why Barclays started charging the £5 per month. Were you made aware of this from when the charges started and did you agree to it.

 

You say you've been moving country - are you in the UK of elsewhere. If outside the UK, the bank may not issue statements to an oversees address outside the UK.

 

Have they piled default charges onto the a/c ?

 

Of the a/c balance of £350, how much is default charges ?

 

If they were unable to send you statements following the change of address notification you sent them, they could have contacted you to warn that you'd not be getting statements.

 

However, they have grounds to say you were at fault for not monitoring the a/c by online access.

 

Probably your best chance of sorting this is to try to negotiate a reduction in the default fees, on the basis of their failure to communicate effectively with you.

 

[paaltjes]

I was living in Holland for some time and got my statements by mail every quarter. Because the IoM account is an offshore account, a £5 monthly fee is charged. I was aware of this and do not have a problem with it. When I last used the account there was a positive balance of about £20, this was end of 2011. Now the balance is minus £349 all made up of default charges. Because of the move, which did not go smoothly this time, I totally forgot about the account, until I got a shock on Friday night. I have already transferred funds to the account. I am just surprised that banks can charge such huge amounts, even if it is my own fault for not monitoring the account.

[slick132]

Hi Paaltjes,

 

Because you've already put money into the a/c to cover the charges, you are less likely to get the charges reduced.

 

However, there's nothing to stop you challenging the amount of the charges and asking the bank to refund them. This may result in them agreeing to a partial refund, which is better than nothing.

 

Have a look here - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/announcement.php?f=260&a=220 You could tell the bank you consider the default charges to be excessive in relation to the level of each individual £5 transgression and therefore challengeable under the BCOB Regulations.