Continous Charges

[daz1uk]

Hi,

 

I hope someone can give me some advice on where to start with my bank 'Alliance & Leicester'.

 

Basically I went overdrawn due to a missed direct debit, my own fault, I didn't have enough money in the account to pay, so my bank rejected my payment for my motorbike insurance with the result of my insurance being cancelled (annoying!) and being charged a missed direct debit charge. At the time I was in between jobs and had no money, I was then charged an overdraft fee and when my first wage was paid from my new employer this was cleared.

 

However, the month after I then had more overdraft charges applied, due to charges from the previous month sending me overdrawn again, this is then cleared by my wages at the end of the month and the cycle continues. I seem to be paying more and more each month. This has now reached to a charge of £100 for 1 month which I can not afford at all.

 

I called my bank at the beginning of April and asked them to resolve this situation by moving the date in which they took their charges to be in line with when my wages are paid, i.e. the end of the month.Aafter much hassle on the phone with one of their customer service people, they agreed to move the date that they took their charges to the last day of the month. This would help me resolve my situation as they would take payment just after I had been paid and as such I would not inccur any further overdraft charges as a result of their charges sending me overdrawn. Despite the banks representative agreeing this on the phone (after putting me on hold to ensure their managers consent) they have now completely ignored this arrangement and sent me overdrawn again.

 

So, I then spoke to the complaints department where a very pleasant lady sympathised with my situation and also said that the bank should respect my instruction and carry it out, promising me to look into it for me. I have now received a letter from the bank stating that they are not willing to help me in anyway and they believe that these bank charges are fair. They have not once given me prior notice of the date they intend to take payment, by letter or any other means, which seems to change as they please and refuse to help.

 

What can I do, I simply can not afford these charge at all, I have a new family to support and we are already struggling financially.

 

Please help.

Edited May 23, 2010 by daz1uk