[jennamac]

Hey guys.
Hoping someone can help me out with this.
I bank with HSBC and have had an account with them ever since I was born.
I don't have an overdraft on my account.
About 3 months ago, my bank let me go overdrawn and then charged me £25 for doing it. I rang them up and although the man was struggling to understand me and I couldn't understand him, he tried to explain that they accept some transactions on your account to save them being returned to the sender and leaving me with even more charges. So even though this made me angry, I accepted that maybe I should have been more careful.
But this month, I made a mistake again. My bank allowed me to go £250 overdrawn! But this was on a cash withdrawel. So surely, it costs me or the bank nothing at a cash point just to display, cannot fund transaction or something along those lines. When I found out what had happened, I emailed their complaints department but never heard anything back. Today, I have looked at my online banking and it says they are going to charge me £76.11 for this.
I just don't know what I can do about it. £101.11 doesn't sound like much but Im in a part time supermarket job and have my own place so every penny counts to me. I have sent them a quick complaints email again this morning just to ask if I am likely to ever get a response.
I'm not very good with anything legal so I don't want to open my mouth too much to HSBC before I know exactly what I'm talking about.
If anyone can give me any advise whatsoever then I really would appreciate it as I would like to try and get the problem sorted asap.
Another thing bugging me is that I desperately want to get away from their bank as they have really wound me up but as far as Im aware, you can't open a bank account anywhere if you have been overdrawn in the past 6 months... is this true?
Thanks in advance.
Jenna.

[Curlyben]

I'm afraid to say you are not alone. Welcome to the Bank charges debt spiral.

As has been reported in the UK News the OFT has, for the last 2 years, been conducting a test case on whether these "fees" are indeed lawful. The first part of this case has just been through the House of Lords for it's, hopefully, final appeal. This issue has also been raised in Parliament as well, so hopefully, with some heavy political backing, we may well be coming to the end of the battle, but as ever the war rages on..

So in your case, what can you do. Honestly there's not much you can do at present apart from accept the charges and reclaim them at a later date.

All UK High Street banks offer "Basic" accounts and these are quite straightforward to open. Certainly worth a look, even as a stop gap measure.

[jennamac]

So in your case, what can you do. Honestly there's not much you can do at present apart from accept the charges and reclaim them at a later date.

All UK High Street banks offer "Basic" accounts and these are quite straightforward to open. Certainly worth a look, even as a stop gap measure.

How would I go about claiming it back? And would I still be able to because it seems like a very small amount compared to what some people pay?

Do you think it may even be worth writing to HSBC on the off chance they might do something about it themselves?

Thanks.
Jenna.

[Curlyben]

Better idea would be to go into your local branch and talk to them rather than a call centre operator. TBH, they won't be very helpful especially as you have had more than one charge. They sometimes tdo refund single charges.

Otherwise you'll have to wait for the outcome of the OFT's Test Case as all claims are on hold.

[jennamac]

Thanks very much.
I will pop in today or tomorrow and have a word with someone.
I know my boyfriend got charged £33 for going £1 overdrawn for a day with his bank so he went in and they gave him the money back straight away as they thought it was ridiculous.
Thanks again.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Jenna.

[Curlyben]

Have a read of the links in my signature, especially the Calling All Brits one.

Remember this campaign has been on going for over 3 years now, but is slowly drawing to it's final stages.

[jennamac]

Well I went it today and they pretty much told me that they won't do anything about it.
So next step is for me to write a nice letter I think.
Jenna.