Abbey ripoff?

[Parrot of Doom]

[redacted]

[paulhol]

Hmmm i dont like this bit:

"What can you do?

The high bank charges Abbey has been charging may be illegal under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 "



MAY be illegal. If im going to lodge a small claims action i want to be damn certain its illegal.

There doesn't seem to be much (read: any) talk of why its illegal on there, just that it is and if you do as he says you can get £100s back.

[RobDickinson]

Its down to reasonable.

Is £35 reasonable charge for being £10 overdrawn/missed payemnt? or £5,000 overdrawn?

Small claims costs very little so your not going to loose out much, max claim is £5k I think, personaly I dont get billed for this sort of stuff often enought to bother.

[mybrainhurts]

The guy who forced a settlement out of Court is true. It was reported widely.

I've just missed a credit card payment date by one day, so I'm in for a £25 - £30 penalty, plus interest.

Thinks......hmmmmm

[Parrot of Doom]

*bump*

[TeamD]

I would argue that not only the the "charges" extortionate, but they do not approach their customers on a level playing field. So consider the following from the bank that fleeces you for a little bit extra:

You make a mistake and go overdrawn...

Initial Fine (oops is that charge?) for paying or not........£30
Unauthorised O/D charge monthly payment......................£28

Total, £58

They make a mistake...

£10 compensation payment.

Not reasonable or fair really, is it?

[mybrainhurts]

TeamD said:

They make a mistake... £10 compensation payment. Not reasonable or fair really, is it?

I once sent them an invoice. They paid it....

[alfaman]

I used to work for a large Retail Bank - don't think the charges are illegal . they are part of the contract with the bank for providing a banking service.

Current Account Banking in the UK is the cheapest in the World - many other countries charge per transaction or have a monthly fee for running a chequing account .

I'd agree the charges for uncleared items / unauthorised overdrafts can be steep - but they are totally avoidable .

I bank with Abbey too and make sure I have a big enough overdraft so that everything clears ... costs me nothing.


If someone gets stuck with £'000's of charges for exceeding their agreed overdraft for months on end, they are obviously not managing their account very effectively.



edit : If you just exceed the o.d limit as a "one off" they will often waive the charges if you threaten to take your business elsewhere.


>> Edited by alfaman on Monday 13th February 12:31

[slapmatt]

There's a reason bank charges are so high for bounced cheques, being overdrawn etc - they want you to off to another bank - cos you and your accounts are a massive pain in the ass.

Banks would much rather than nice, well off customers who pay their mortgage on time, take out insurance for all and sundry and basically need no management.

Banks don't want customers who's account needs constant maintenance

[Kinky]

Slightly off topic and apologies ... but I will NEVER deal with the Abbey.

I went to get a mortgage from them about 12 years ago - had the form completed correctly, had all supportin g paperwork required, including my last 3 payslips as documented on the form.

I went in on a Friday (looking scruffy) and presented the form/paperwork to process the application.

The woman who dealt with me clearly had no interest in me or the application, and this became clear when she came to validate my last 3 payslips.

"You've only got 3" she said.

I replied "yes - as that is was is requested on the form ...... right there", as I pointed to the statement of that effect.

She then got a pen, crossed out the word 'three' and wrote "6" next to it.

"It says 6" she said.

I walked out - vowing NEVER to deal with them again. I closed my accounts and moved to another bank.

The irony was that it was a small mortage - not massive, and WELL within my means.

Their loss, not mine.

Back on topic now, sorry.

K

[polus]

I can’t say I’ve had a problem since starting work several years ago but then I try not to spend beyond my means. Even when I was a student HSBC were great about being overdrawn. I went 2k in the red and they blocked my switch, organised a meeting with a financial adviser but didn’t charge me. The only charge I’ve had was about 20 for a cheque bouncing (again while I was a student) - but that was my fault for not ensuring sufficient funds were available.

Maybe this is different for a business where funds are tight but I’m not sure there’s much of an excuse for individuals especially when banks make it so easy with online banking.

Maybe its because I only have account with two banks…

What am I missing?

[toni896]

when I changed jobs and pay day, Barclays paid all DD's etc .. but only changed me for 3 that month. expecting more to come out the following month due to working of letter expected more the following month but no.
Semmed the only charge for a max of 3 in any given month

[tinman0]

i got into trouble with abbey national about 12 years ago. paid a fortune in bank charges, over a quarter of my salary was going in bank charges. whenever i got ahead they reduced the overdraft, which meant i ran into problems again within a couple of days or so.

i put up with it for far longer than i ever should, and when i got away i vowed never to go back.

[Ribol]

I think all banks are greedy thieving b@rstards but they cannot be blamed for people being no good at organising their own finances. When you sign up for an account you know the rules, they are clearly aimed at ripping us off we all know that and there is no attempt on the bank's part to hide it.

If after being made aware of those rules you end up paying penalties for whatever reason is it the bank's fault or the account holder's fault?

[lightstepper]

I am with Abbey - they are actually very good.

A while ago I went under my overdraft by a shocking £1.38 due to my company paying expenses late. Abbey charged me £60

They refunded it in the end after a bit of arguing.

You think they are bad - First Direct apparently charge £35 when you go under your limit, no matter how much then £25 PER DAY until its back to normal again... now I know we should all be careful with money but thats shocking!!!!

[tinman0]

Ribol said:

If after being made aware of those rules you end up paying penalties for whatever reason is it the bank's fault or the account holder's fault?

lets say someone goes bankrupt owing you a lot of money. in fact, so much money it puts you out of business? you get a low paid job to build yourself out of the debt.

how would you feel if you were getting slaughtered for charges whilst on the low paid job, and EVERY time you get ahead on your overdraft - your overdraft is reduced by the bank. this then leads to you paying them yet more charges because its too low.

its a nasty catch 22 that I hope you are never in.


people aren't bitching about the charges; they are bitching about the charges that consume all your spare cash, that then forces you to default again which triggers yet another charge.

[Ribol]

tinman0 said:

Ribol said: If after being made aware of those rules you end up paying penalties for whatever reason is it the bank's fault or the account holder's fault? lets say someone goes bankrupt owing you a lot of money. in fact, so much money it puts you out of business? you get a low paid job to build yourself out of the debt.

Fair play to them for trying to get themselves back on their feet but it is only as a result of taking a gamble that did not pay off. Had they taken the gamble and went on to make bucket loads of money I doubt they would be complaining about the bank that helped them get there.

tinman0 said:

how would you feel if you were getting slaughtered for charges whilst on the low paid job, and EVERY time you get ahead on your overdraft - your overdraft is reduced by the bank. this then leads to you paying them yet more charges because its too low.

I would not like it, but then without knowing the exact circumstances I am not really in a position to comment. I don't know of anyone personally that has had an overdraft reduced for no reason when they were playing the game.
What I will say though is that there are a good few people(I know a few) who choose to pay bank charges/overdrafts simply to allow them to live beyond their means. That is their choice, wouldn't do it myself but if it makes them happy good luck to them.
This is not aimed at anyone in this thread BTW just generally.

[TeamD]

Ribol said:

I would not like it, but then without knowing the exact circumstances I am not really in a position to comment. I don't know of anyone personally that has had an overdraft reduced for no reason when they were playing the game.

I do. Me. The fkers took my operating capital to "reduce their exposure".

[tinman0]

TeamD said:

Ribol said: I would not like it, but then without knowing the exact circumstances I am not really in a position to comment. I don't know of anyone personally that has had an overdraft reduced for no reason when they were playing the game. I do. Me. The fkers took my operating capital to "reduce their exposure".

me too.

now you know 2

[Ribol]

tinman0 said:

now you know 2

Oh well, that's it then, it must be true