Gildster vs First Direct

[Gildster]

Hi all, going to send of my letter to FD tomorrow - i have just added up the amount they have taken in charges and fees and it comes to £1,292.09, which is quite a shock!

 

Some months they were taking £100 in excess overdraft fees along with £30 of the standard overdraft fee. I know that i should be charged a reasonable amount - as i am costing the bank money, but this is just silly - so hopefully i can claim some of it, if not all, back..

 

Wish me luck..

[androobe]

Claim back the lot, INCLUDING the £30 overdraft fee. This is NOT standard, it's an unlawful penalty charge. You are costing the bank a couple of pence at most, and they're chaging you interested for that. Don't let them get away with it.

 

Good Luck!

[bookmark1976]

I didn't know that you could claim back the overdraft fee. From what I've read on here I thought you could just claim the excess overdraft fee. The overdraft fee is something you have agreed to??

[androobe]

You're right you can't claim for an overdraft fee, if it's an arrangement fee, but First Direct call their charge for going OVER your overdraft an overdraft fee. You would only pay an arrangement fee once every six months or a year (unless you increase your overdraft) and as far as I know they haven't charged arrangement fees for smaller overdrafts for a while (anyone else correct me if I'm wrong here). So, if it's a monthly charge, it's almost certainly for going over your overdraft. The excess overdraft fee is charged the 2nd and subsequent times you exceed your limit in any one month.

 

Hope this makes sense, but let me know if not!

[Gildster]

Thanks guys, the letter will be in the post today - i'll keep you posted as to what happens..

[bookmark1976]

Oh no! That means that I've added my charges wrongly and they owe me more than I thought. Maybe alot more!!!! What shall I do??

[androobe]

Send another prelim letter stating it replaces the original. Something along the lines of "I refer to my letter of XX/XX/XX. I have now discovered that there are further charges with you have taken from my account unlawfully... blah blah" Obviously you need to give them 14 days from your new letter, but other than that it should progress fine.

[Gildster]

Excellent newsl, got my letter back from FD today, and they are offering £50 less that what i stated above, i'm happy with that so i've accepted the offer..

 

 

Thanks for the form letters and the info that's on these boards - if anyone i know has any trouble with banks in the future, i will certainly direct them this way!

[nibyrne]

That was quick. Well done!