By Elliot Wright, 25th January 2010
Millions of bank customers in the UK have found themselves
victims of crippling charges imposed on them by their banks for
exceeding their overdrafts.
We all know it doesn't cost the bank £35 when you go 50p into
the red but the banks continue to punish embattled customers in
this way, sometimes pushing them £100s into debt as a result.
To make matters worse, the banks recently won a court case where
it was ruled that bank charges could not be assessed for fairness -
in other words, the banks now have carte blanche to charge what
they like.
Therefore the best way to combat unfair bank charges is to take
pre-emptive measures and avoid them in the first place.
To help customers beat the bank charges swindle, Money
comparison site money.co.uk has compiled some useful hints and tips
for everyone to follow.
- Find out what your bank's policy is with regard to your account
overdraft entitlement and fees for unauthorised overdrafts
- Ensure any direct debits and standing orders on your account
are set up to go out of your account soon after your monthly income
is deposited
- Check your balance before withdrawing money from an ATM
- Check your balance before embarking on shopping trips - make
sure you know how much you have available, and make sure you leave
enough to cover any regular payments
- Find out if your bank offers internet banking/phone banking to
enable you to check and manage your account regularly
- Find out if your bank offers a text 'alert' service informing
you of your balance or if your account has gone overdrawn
- If you do discover your account has gone overdrawn - see if you
can arrange to transfer funds the same day as this will usually
prevent charges being applied
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