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the replies here are quite varied and thanks to everyone who has posted already. for those of you who asked, no i am not from the banks! i have a couple of friends who work in banks, and bank charges always seem to come up on some conversation every couple of weeks. the reason why i ask is that recently, through no fault of my own, i went over my overdraft limit. The reason was that my mobile phone company charged me £168.52 rather than the monthly £25. No one at the phone place seemed to know why, but there was no problems sorting this out and i got a refund within a couple of days. The phone company also agreed that they would refund bank charges, i just needed to have a statement that showed that charges were as a result of the phone companies error. I phoned my bank and asked for this, but they said that there were no chages on my account? This is what prompted my visit to this site. My bank didn't charge a penny for going o/d. . They also paid, without charge, other DD's that took me further o/d without any charges. My overdraft limit is £1000. Before the incorrect payment went through, my balance was £862.54 debit. Before i noticed the error, two further DD went through my account, one for £58 and one for £72. This took my total balance to 1161.06 debit with a £1000 limit. I didn't believe that the bank had made no charges. I didn't want to make a fuss with the bank about this in case they made an error, but i politely asked if i would be charged in the future. The person on the phone advised that i should have been charged £75 (£25 each time my account went a further £25 over the limit), but because i had not been over my limit in the past 3 months, they waived any charges. However if the same happened next month, i would be charged. I think that the bank, in this case, have actually got qutie a fair policy. I will admit that if the charges were £75 that these are high, but for a first 'offense' i was let off. i also found out that the interest charge for the balance over my limit is the same as the balance within my limit, so i paid no more than if my limit would have covered all of the payments. i am nearly always in my overdraft, but try and manage my accounts so that i never go over my limit. my bank recognised this and so didn't charge. i think it probably has been said before that the people who are hit hardest by bank charges are those who cannot afford them. i am by no means rich, and £75 would have devistate me, but i had agreed a limit of £1000 and i broke that agreement. many people have said that if you've agreed with the bank a limit, you should not be allowed to go over this. i my case, the bank actually did a good deed as one direct debit was for my car insurance. if this was not paid, my insurance stops immediately. the other was to cover part of a mortgage payment i share with my partner. if this had not gone through then we may have been in serious trouble. in case you're interested, my phone company is 02 and my bank, HSBC.

the replies here are quite varied and thanks to everyone who has posted already. for those of you who asked, no i am not from the banks! i have a couple of friends who work in banks, and bank charges always seem to come up on some conversation every couple of weeks. the reason why i ask is that recently, through no fault of my own, i went over my overdraft limit. The reason was that my mobile phone company charged me £168.52 rather than the monthly £25. No one at the phone place seemed to know why, but there was no problems sorting this out and i got a refund within a couple of days. The phone company also agreed that they would refund bank charges, i just needed to have a statement that showed that charges were as a result of the phone companies error. I phoned my bank and asked for this, but they said that there were no chages on my account? This is what prompted my visit to this site. My bank didn't charge a penny for going o/d. . They also paid, without charge, other DD's that took me further o/d without any charges. My overdraft limit is £1000. Before the incorrect payment went through, my balance was £862.54 debit. Before i noticed the error, two further DD went through my account, one for £58 and one for £72. This took my total balance to 1161.06 debit with a £1000 limit. I didn't believe that the bank had made no charges. I didn't want to make a fuss with the bank about this in case they made an error, but i politely asked if i would be charged in the future. The person on the phone advised that i should have been charged £75 (£25 each time my account went a further £25 over the limit), but because i had not been over my limit in the past 3 months, they waived any charges. However if the same happened next month, i would be charged. I think that the bank, in this case, have actually got qutie a fair policy. I will admit that if the charges were £75 that these are high, but for a first 'offense' i was let off. i also found out that the interest charge for the balance over my limit is the same as the balance within my limit, so i paid no more than if my limit would have covered all of the payments. i am nearly always in my overdraft, but try and manage my accounts so that i never go over my limit. my bank recognised this and so didn't charge. i think it probably has been said before that the people who are hit hardest by bank charges are those who cannot afford them. i am by no means rich, and £75 would have devistate me, but i had agreed a limit of £1000 and i broke that agreement. many people have said that if you've agreed with the bank a limit, you should not be allowed to go over this. i my case, the bank actually did a good deed as one direct debit was for my car insurance. if this was not paid, my insurance stops immediately. the other was to cover part of a mortgage payment i share with my partner. if this had not gone through then we may have been in serious trouble. in case you're interested, my phone company is 02 and my bank, HSBC.

seminole, i would be really interested to know how it is possible to "express clear" a cheque. due to various contacts in the profession, a cheque must obviously go through the clearing system - this cannot be altered. many banks offer a "special presentation" service. This does not make the cheque clear any faster, but usually your bank can get a decision from the paying bank as to weather the cheque will be paid. This is normally dependant on the uk postal service, so again, nothing is guaranteed. This system is mainly used by business who, for example, are waiting to ship an order, but need to know if they will be paid. If anyone has any information on how a bank can express clear a cheque, i would love to read it.

seminole, i would be really interested to know how it is possible to "express clear" a cheque. due to various contacts in the profession, a cheque must obviously go through the clearing system - this cannot be altered. many banks offer a "special presentation" service. This does not make the cheque clear any faster, but usually your bank can get a decision from the paying bank as to weather the cheque will be paid. This is normally dependant on the uk postal service, so again, nothing is guaranteed. This system is mainly used by business who, for example, are waiting to ship an order, but need to know if they will be paid. If anyone has any information on how a bank can express clear a cheque, i would love to read it.

Hi, i've spent quite some time now looking through the various posts on this site and am quite intrequed with peoples comments. If i understand it, most people are un-happy with the level of bank charges. My question to you you guys is, if you've agreed with the bank a £100 overdraft and you exceed this by £50, what would be a fair charge? Also, how about a returned Direct Debit or an unpaid cheque? What would you class as a fair charge for this? Should banks charge at all? If not, what would be the point of a limit? I am interested to see what your thoughts are. Thanks, and i look forward to reading your replies!

Hi, i've spent quite some time now looking through the various posts on this site and am quite intrequed with peoples comments. If i understand it, most people are un-happy with the level of bank charges. My question to you you guys is, if you've agreed with the bank a £100 overdraft and you exceed this by £50, what would be a fair charge? Also, how about a returned Direct Debit or an unpaid cheque? What would you class as a fair charge for this? Should banks charge at all? If not, what would be the point of a limit? I am interested to see what your thoughts are. Thanks, and i look forward to reading your replies!