UKC

I've just been charged £25 for overdrawing by £10 in my Barlcays account, and they wont do anything about it - even though I hold 2 current accounts and a savings account with them.

Which bank would be better to deal with? That wont charge me a stupid amount for being very slightly overdrawn?

In reply to SoHotRockstar:

Nearly all banks will charge you for going over your arranged over draft limit.
The way to get around this is not to.

Mb

Ps Natwest charge the same I think

In reply to SoHotRockstar:

How quickly did you put the money back in? All banks will charge you a similar amount for going over your overdraft limit.

In reply to SoHotRockstar:

moneysavingexpert.com is a good website for all things financial and money saving. The website will recommend a good bank to switch to.

In reply to SoHotRockstar:

I've banked with Smile for ages, it seems pretty good...

In reply to SoHotRockstar: Why don't you just get an arranged overdraft? It doesn't cost anything and it saves you £25 every time you go over. I don't think there are many banks who don't charge if you go over your limit. I have a £500 overdraft and have never been charged a pennie - I go over most months!

In reply to Charlotte in Anni's Basement:

HSBC doesn't They let you go £50 overdrawn (or over an agreed overdraft) before their fees kick in.

In reply to SoHotRockstar:

First Direct are very good. They give you a free overdraft facility.

In reply to MaxB:
First direct wanted to charge me £150 for changing the size of my overdraft facility

In reply to Matthew B:


Phew!

In reply to Charlotte in Anni's Basement:



unless you are a student - in which case they freeze your account and send the bailiffs around to collect.

In reply to satori:

will they take payment in kittens and parrots?

In reply to CJD: I think (Correct me if I'm wrong) that HSBC take payment in the form of Reels of cotton and Button Mushrooms - in Shanghai I believe that an entire Fox is acceptable also.

In reply to CJD:

lol. only if suitably despatched and packaged.

to the OP.

HSBC have always been very good to me.
i seem to recall that they may have changed T&Cs a while back to remove the £50 buffer zone. - i'm not sure, i never used it anyway.

as everyone else says - get a free overdraft facility, and keep it in reserve!

all banks charge. what they also do is keep a record of how you manage your account.

this is their internal risk management system and it may be important later on if you wish to take a loan with your bank etc.

In reply to MaxB: I found First Direct to be crap. They also would not let me gain access to my own personal account when I split from my partner cos we had a joint account. They only let me have access when the joint account was closed.

I promptly changed banks...

In reply to Postmanpat:

???? That's crazy! Ah well, always been good to me.....

Im with Barclays and have never had a problem with them, been with them since I was about 14. Managed to blag a Visa Debit card when I was 16, not that Electron crap they give to people, and now have standard Connect and Barclaycard.

Not happy with the Barclaycard online though, for the first 3 months the maximum online payment is £100! (2.5% of the card limit!) Also they wouldn't up my credit limit when I had worked out how to transfer funds around to get a 5k loan on 9 months interest free to buy a motorbike, had to take out a personal loan in the end. This has prompted me to get an American Express card, where I expect the customer service to be exceptional, hope im not dissapointed!

Have just opened one of those eSavings accounts with First Direct purely because of the interest rate and hopefully the conditions will help me save money (interest paid monthly, and no interest any month you withdraw), no problems so far, but only been 2 weeks!

I think people winge too much, if you want an overdraft facility arrange one. To ensure fairness banks have to have fixed rules. If you think going £1 overdrawn should be acceptable but £100 isnt, where do you draw the line? £50? what about £50.01??? etc.

Matt

In reply to SoHotRockstar: hsbc have always been good to me. my overdraft limit is £1500, and it has gone to over £1600 without them charging me. it is a student account though, dont know what they're like otherwise...

In reply to Matt Pedley:

Barclays are absolute crap, in fact they are the worst of a bad bunch when things go wrong with an account.

All those people who say they have good banks, well while you have money in them earning money for them fine. Once you lose your job, fall ill or a dozen other mishaps is when you find out how bad your good bank is.
Been there, got the badge.

In reply to SoHotRockstar: bargain mate, VW took a payment 2 days early, halifax charged me £30 for paying it and £39 for going £6 over my agreed overdraft, am now trying, with little sucess to get that paid back by VW.

Sounds like there all as good/bad as each other!!

Although it shouldnt be any trouble to arrange an agreed overdraft limit on your current account, as long as you don't consider it additional money to spend. I keep meaning to get mine reduced, currently its at £3000 which I have no intention of using and am more concerned about the risk of theft/fraud. Need to limit it to £500-1000 for emergencies only.

A guy at work had money stolen from online banking with Halifax, and they were not very helpful in resolving the situation. I think he finally got the money back eventually. This put me of online banking for quite some time, but now took the plunge as im spending all my money each month without realising!

Matt

as far as I know the only true free overdraft is with alliance and leicester, they don't even charge you interest on your overdraft. Plus you get free annual travel insurance and you and a mate get credited £50 if they also switch. Which is why I am switching to them!