The City Diaries

[natweststaffmember]

BBC News - City Diaries: Should we challenge bank charges?

Martin Lewis takes a bit of a hit....

[charitynjw]

Re: The City Diaries

Laura (not her real name) works for a commercial bank in London
Supreme Court
"The bank charges issue is not over yet"

Despite the Supreme Court ruling last week on unauthorised overdraft charges it is reasonable to expect that this issue is not over yet.
Whilst I agree that charging someone £20 for going 54p overdrawn is particularly punitive, for every instance like this there are repeat offenders who go overdrawn by much more on a regular basis - which is a problem. Likewise, the charges you may rack up for having direct debits or cheques bounced would be notably more than £20 in most cases, so having your bank honour these payments I would think is preferable.
The principle of charging a punitive amount for late or non-payment is an established practice in sectors as diverse as DVD rentals to parking tickets. Consequently I don't really see why financial services are not allowed to charge a punitive fee for unauthorised borrowings. If you think you are going to go overdrawn, let your bank know and it is likely that the fee will be waived or reduced if it is reasonable.

Open mouth, insert foot, perhaps??

cnjw

[Jester]

Re: The City Diaries

Read the item in context. Remember, the people they are talking to stand to gain the most by the SC ruling. They are, after all, working with organisations that either are part of the Banking Industry or closely related to them. Things like this can affect the massive bonuses they get. These people live in a different world to the common folk like you or I !!