Bank problems!

[Sar]

Not a happy bunny atm.

I have a £6500 loan atm with Household Bank, and I had got into a little bit of arrears (about £500) about a year or so back, which I had made an agreement on with them that if I kept my payments up to date for 6 months then nothing would be done about it.

So I did, and a year later my account has been conducted perfectly - 10 payments of £300 and 2 of the minimum payment of £210. Despite that, because of the account type (it's more or less like a credit card without the card) I'm still £500 overdrawn atm, but as I said, this had been ok'd by them a year ago or so.

So 2 months ago I dropped in 3 cheques to them (which is how I'd been paying) and signed a direct debit to commence once the final payment (2 cheques were for £210 the final cheque being for £275) had cleared with the cheques. These cheques were to cover payments for October November and December, with the DD kicking in the following month (IE January).

So I checked my account yesterday afternoon, and lo and behold they've overlapped and 2 payments (the cheque for £275 and the DD for £210) have come out of my bank account (which is with the Ulster Bank), leaving me £202.31 overdrawn.

I spoke to Household yesterday afternoon and they assured me that this wasn't a problem, that I could call in and they'd refund me the payment for £275. I also spoke to my bank (the Ulster) and they said they were going to levy 2 charge of £30 on my account - one for an unauthorised referral fee, and the other for going overdrawn without permission. The UB told me to speak to Household and get these charges back off them.

So, I went in today and spoke to Household over the counter, and they told me, after a lot of waiting about, that they were going to do nothing because the account was in arrears (which as you'll remember had been ok'd by them). They were going to keep the £275 which I had been promised would be refunded, and I am going to be left with the extra £60 in charges. So basically I'm going to be £335 out of pocket because of an "error" on their part.

Does anyone have any idea if I can do anything?

My only option as far as I can see it is to cancel the DD now, and go back to paying by cheque. I'm considering post-dating the first cheque to the end of February, seeing as how they've fucked me over 2 weeks before Xmas by basically taking out a payment they weren't authorised to do - The £275 cheque cleared my UB account on 30/11 and the £210 DD came out on 5/12. So they already had their payment then went ahead and commenced with the DD payment anyway. To me it now looks as though this wasn't an error at all, but them taking an opportunity to take extra money out of my account to clear the arrears which I had made an agreement about with them previously.

To me they shouldn't be allowed to do this, as they already knew they had their £275 for this month, so to me it looks as though they've knowingly lifted money from my account without permission.

Do I have any comeback at all?

 

[WPKenny]

I might have got the wrong end of the stick here but it may depend on the date of the direct debit. Technically those two payments are in seperate months so if their billing period is at the start of the month then taking the direct debit on or around the 5th is normal and something you may not have realised. Just something to check into.

Oh and banks do suck ass with regards to their overdrafts etc. I won't bitch here but I understand your problem with them.

 

[Sar]

Nope Kenny - the DD was due to come out at the start of the month, but they've commenced it a month early. The cheques had all been dated for the last day of the month, as I get paid 3 banking days before the end of the month.

The DD was due to commence at the start of January from December's pay, which I don't get until the 21st.

 

[Tom]

Change your bank, and let them know why. Fuck them.

Then get a loan at a cheaper rate, and use that loan to pay off the remaining debt. Fuck them.

 

[Wij]

Get in contact with the FSA and see if you have a case. Banks SHIT THEMSELVES if you mention the FSA

 

[Scouse]

if theyve verbally offered you something and you both agree then they cannot change their mind. talk to the financial services ombudsman. I'd ring and explain the situation to their helpdesk staff first and tell them, nicely, that if it doesn't get sorted out you'll continue down other lines.

Its costs them more than it's worth...and it's free to you.

Be nice tho. You always get further by going out of your way to make the chav on the helpdesk think it's a massive favour to do their job...

 

[Sar]

Cheers guys, the manager is going to ring me back on Tuesday, so I'll see how it goes then

 

[Chilly]

like fuck will he. He'll send you a letter in 6 weeks. Get an appointment with the **** and hold a gun to his head til he sorts it out*

*might land you in a spot of trouble...

 

[Marc]

If you were in arrears, im pretty sure the bank can take what they want, when they want even if they have agreed a repayment term for the arrears, but from what you have said it sounds like the arrears were cleared with the december cheque, am I right? Did you sign a direct debit mandate for the Direct Debits that were to recommence in the January? If so you should be covered, but if it was just a verbal agreement over the phone I wouldnt hold your breath

 

[Lazarus]

change your name by deed poll to

"Household Banks are Fascist Bastards"

and demand that they refund you by cheque made out to your new name

 

[Mey]

If I remember rightly from my training (I work at a bank) if you go to the FSA the bank has to pay for the review to be done..

But then again I may of just made that up, as I can't actually remember..

Obviously I’d give you advice as to what you could do, but then I’d loose my job for talking about internal procedures. Sorry.

In the immortal words of little Britain

“Computer says no.”

 

[Sar]

If you were in arrears, im pretty sure the bank can take what they want, when they want even if they have agreed a repayment term for the arrears, but from what you have said it sounds like the arrears were cleared with the december cheque, am I right? Did you sign a direct debit mandate for the Direct Debits that were to recommence in the January? If so you should be covered, but if it was just a verbal agreement over the phone I wouldnt hold your breath

The arrears weren't cleared with the Dec cheque - they had agreed to forego trying to get me to pay the arrears until the main balance was cleared.

And yes, the DD was to start in Jan.

 

[Marc]

The arrears weren't cleared with the Dec cheque - they had agreed to forego trying to get me to pay the arrears until the main balance was cleared.

And yes, the DD was to start in Jan.

Reading your first post, it says you signed for the DD to be taken in january. If the mandate defo had a january date on it then I would think they have broken the banking ombudsman that they are bound by as you didnt give them authority to take that payment in december. I would contact the Financial Ombudsman Service myself.

Also, what id suggest as you are still in arears is to set up a second current account with a different bank. If your wages are paid via bacs, get your wages paid into this new account. Then transfer from this new account, the amount of the monthly direct debit, to the account its taken from a week before its due to come out.

 

[throdgrain]

The FSA are a collection of ***** by the way.

 

[Sar]

Spoke to the manager yesterday, and explained to him about my agreement with them that the arrears would only be payable once the main balance had been cleared - he rang me back yesterday evening and has agreed to refund the money + bank charges

No need to mention the FSA or Ombudsman at all (thankfully)!

Thanks guys

 

[TdC]

result! well done Sarreh old bean, glad it didn't come doen to threats and other nasties

 

[`mongoose]

Glad you got it sorted for christmas matey

I'd hate to have that sort of thing drag out all over the holidays...

M

 

[Sar]

Plus that and we got the cheque for the wife's claim for £2500 (from some tit who wrote off our car when he crashed into the back of her when she was stationary at a roundabout) today as well.

xD

Should be a good chrimbo tbh

 

[Sar]

So I called in yesterday to get my cheque. I waited around for 45 minutes, and the manager eventually told me he couldn't give me the cheque.


!



So he then told me to write a cheque from my own Household Bank chequebook and pay it to myself.

Blaahdy ell.

 

[TdC]

eh? I don't believe I understand

 

[tris-]

hmm, wouldnt that mean your balance is going to stay exactly the same?
am i wrong or is that like getting £10 out of the account and putting it back in 2 seconds later?

 

[Sar]

The account currently sits at £6583.

I write myself a cheque from my Household Account, and pay it into my Ulster Bank account. My Ulster bank account looks more rosy, and my Household account goes back up to £6793.

Daft, but meh.

 

[TdC]

oh, I see. something has to happen to your account so they can reset it?

not bad btw. my account is at -500odd

 

[Tom]

My account is over 5 figures again

The bad thing is I owe about £70 000 on a mortgage, £2000 on a credit card (building up the debt to xfer it), £8000 on a loan, £5000 to the taxman, £2000 to the VATman.........

Merry Christmas tbh

 

[WPKenny]

Just noticed a little issue with my bank account today.

Logged on to do my random checking of finances and noticed it was a little lower than I expected. I noticed a £1,000 payment to EGG PLC. A little odd I thought since I don't have any dealings with EGG.

I phone up Natwest and they ask me all the security questions and I tell them I have no dealings with EGG and certainly didn't authorise the transaction. So she transfers me to another department who're sending me out a form to confirm that the payment's not authorised and I should get the money back in 7 days or so. She even offered me an instant extension of my overdraft so I wouldn't be without the 1k while they're sorting it.

Both people I spoke to were very straight forward, clear and polite.

She was able to tell it wasn't a physical card purchase and it was either over the phone or online and as such was most likely to be a mis-keyed card number.

So on the surface it seems completely straight forward. She even says that one I sign the forms I probably won't even hear from them again, I'll just get the money back.

At least that's the theory.

 

[Sar]

And the saga continues.....


After our brave rebel alliance had confronted the evil empire last month, and had been assured that drawing a cheque from the evil empire's account in the rebel's name would be honoured, the rebels received said cheque back again this morning.

Unpaid.


So the rebels confronted the evil empire once more, and threatened em with the FSA.

At which point the empire fell silent "Oh.......right, ok."


So the empire have until Tuesday afternoon to recompense the rebels in full or the empire will be crushed under the mighty fist of the FSA!

Tune in next week for the next thrilling installment of:

BANK WARS!

 

[Panda On Smack]

Wank Bars!

 

[old.user4556]

Wank Bars!

Interesting business idea.

 

[Lazarus]

Just noticed a little issue with my bank account today.

Logged on to do my random checking of finances and noticed it was a little lower than I expected. I noticed a £1,000 payment to EGG PLC. A little odd I thought since I don't have any dealings with EGG.

I phone up Natwest and they ask me all the security questions and I tell them I have no dealings with EGG and certainly didn't authorise the transaction. So she transfers me to another department who're sending me out a form to confirm that the payment's not authorised and I should get the money back in 7 days or so. She even offered me an instant extension of my overdraft so I wouldn't be without the 1k while they're sorting it.

Both people I spoke to were very straight forward, clear and polite.

She was able to tell it wasn't a physical card purchase and it was either over the phone or online and as such was most likely to be a mis-keyed card number.

So on the surface it seems completely straight forward. She even says that one I sign the forms I probably won't even hear from them again, I'll just get the money back.

At least that's the theory.

did you ask for the interest back as well?