oh get over it - i am saving for my holiday !!

Bank Charges are a way to bleed the poor of what little income they have while the rich get richer. Stop the charge levels

WE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY THESE EXTORTIONATE CHARGES.

I have recently had my bank statement through and I have been charged 150 pounds for going over my overdraft. What a joke. These banks think they can rip us off silly. Eeryone needs to stand up for their rights. Gordon Brown needs to protect the country. Just because he earns millions, he just looks after himself.

The bank charges saga just keeps rolling on. I have recently ( over the past 3-4 months ) confronted my bank re: bank charge to which I do not get a response back. We just havew to keep the conversation alive and keep talking about so that this whole situation can be dealt with properly. If we, as the Public have been 'ripped-off', we need to be compensated for it. End of story.

why is it you get it wrong with the actual charges cost but never when money is put into my account. Next time I put in a fiver could you make it ?35 instead? Didn't think you would.

Genuine charges by the banks we all accept, inflated penalty charges are a way for the banks to silently mug its entire customer base of their hard earned cash. I Will sign and support any petition to rid us of the improper banking charges that are incurred by ordinary hard working folk.

Bank charges are extortionist.With the lowest number of people out of work for decades YOU should get these rates DOWN NOT UP! Tax the "fat cats" like you ministers & leaders of industry & us little guys shouldn`t pay tax at all! You may be the new Labour leader but you sure as hell won`t be the PM after the next election

this is just another example of RIP OFF Britain, why to british citizens continue to pay over the odds for every service and every product. We must be subsidising the whole of the free world.

As long as the charges are FAIR (and I mean fair in the sense of being charged what it costs the bank to deal with defaulters and not ripping us off) then I have no problems with bank charges. We all appreciate that the banks are a business but if they continue to treat us like this they will begin to loose custom. They are relying on our inertia not to look for the best deal this needs to change if we are to change anything.
"Free banking" is a misnomer. Alright we don't pay for transactions or (most of us) a monthly fee BUT they have our income each month and our savings from which they make further extortionate amounts of money by lending it to borrowers and other financial institutions etc, this is why we have "free banking" and not becuase the banks are being generous.

If banks are not willing to make refunds until the case has been heard regarding there charges then why dont they stop taking the money off us and leave it in abeyance until the case is heard!

i agree with stephanie,charges should be froze if it is to be determined if they are fair or not.they have absolutely no right taking money off the unemployed whilst this case is being heard.i'm owed over 6,000? in 6 years and i'm on benefit and they continue to take my mothers pension.

Instead of banks charging over ?20 to tell you you have exceeded your overdraught or are overdrawn why dont they text, phone or email. This would cost less than ?1. Saves them time and money. Stops us as customers getting upset at yet more charges.

Yes, i agree, they should freeze the charges until the outcome in court. I have been trying to claim my money back since Feb, the bank hasn't replied within the deadline time which has prolonged my case, i wish they would be that slow when they are asking me for money.

Don't forget us poor unfortunate people who have been charged large exit fee's, I am now trying to get mine back, I am not holding my breath.

Every year all the banks profits are getting higher and higher, and they continue to steel ?35 out of my account if i go over my overdraft. Yet i am a small buisness and i have to constantly chase up companies for paying me up to 6 months late,i wish i could charge them for paying me late!!

Im so angry, they are allowed to get away with this, so many of us were and some still are, I was charged most of my penaltys whislt claiming benifits, and only now have I become aware this was illegal, how can the stay be justified?? I want my money back!

I bank with Alliance and Leicester,I was aware that I'm gonna be overdrawn,so I use there telephone banking system to make a transfer money from my other accounts so I would have enough money and I wont be charged.But unfortunately,they had charged me because their colleage had transfered the money on the wrong account.
I dont think,I have to pay for their mistakes.
I used their telephone banking facility because my internet connection by that time wasn't working.
So,its not fair to the customers actually.

I bank with HSBC and have a current and a business account with them.
last month unbeknown to me i went overdrawn on my business account by ?22.00
they decided that they would have 174.22 in charges for this unauthorised transaction.
well hsbc i will be closing my accoubts with you and going with an online bank that does not penalise me the way they have. futhermore they didnt even send me a letter to let me know any of this was happening.
(This comment has been edited)

bank charges hamper honest working people i.e.
bad credit scores
unable to get morgage
have to work harder overtime to make up for losses
and overall stress that unfortunatly gets passed on to family and freinds.
give the working class people a break we deserve!!!

I have managed to get charges back from natwest for me and my son, however, hsbc/first direct/halifax whom I also have accounts with have made it very difficult. I agree charges should be frozen until this case has been resolved.

How can my bank justify charging me ?30 to e-mail, yes e-mail not even post me a standard letter to tell me I've gone over my limit. How can they justify this amount. It wouldn't even cost this to pay someone to handwrite me a letter, stamp and post it to me.

I got accrued bank charges with Nationwide and then thinking that I had actually paid them back continually find that I am being charged fees for having already paid off an unauthorised overdraft fee when will it stop. Something has to be done about the rip off 35.00 charges that we have to pay. Gordon please put a stop to this once and for all!!!

32p - My account went overdrawn by 32p. That cost me ?55. Then on my next statement another ?20 for the same 32p - It is driving me crazy. Life's hard enough without the constant mugging from the banks. Some of us need evry penny we earn, and to lose ?50 a month to a bank who constantly keep you overdrawn by paying funds out when they wish then deciding not to pay when it suits them. The more they can get out of you, the more they like you.

I received a letter dated 10 July off Natwest offering a 'goodwill gesture' with regards to the O/d charges... Then the saga with the OFT etc on the 26th July occured, while this happened i sent back my 'acceptance' of their offer... didn't receive anything... then i received a letter dated 3rd August telling me that they wrote to me offering the amount & either to tick a box to accept offer or tick the other box to wait until the court case has been finalised... i accepted offer, sent back recorded, it was signed for on the 13th August... so i'm still waiting. If you had a letter of goodwill before the 'saga' then they are pretty much honoured to conclude their offer. So i await a credit... but good luck those who are still trying...

I think it is discusting!! I am a single mother of a 2 year old and claim benefits which total a grand amount of 50 quid a week and only 2 weeks ago my bank banged a 48 pound charge on me for my life insurance trying to come out of my bank when the funds werent in there! As a result my life insurance still needs to be paid and my bank left me with a massive 2pounds to feed and clothe my daughter and pay for gas and electricity for my home for the week! Its unfair and unjust! Something needs to be done and again bank charges should be frozen until the case is over!!!!

Hi
I work for an Insolvency Practitioners and we see all the time clients that not only have been charged extortionate amounts for failing direct debits etc but the charges have actually been the root cause of many defaukts on their credit accounts. I have witnessed as much as ?98 from one client for one transaction (High Street bank. This form of charges affects the most vunerable section of our community. It's not surprising the number of IVA's and bankruptcies we arrange. Also the FSA are a regulator of the banks ensuring that the Customer Is Treated Fairly, the waiver is totally against this principle as the waiver should have included the banks ceasing the charges until the test case also. Sadly it is always the consumer that loses out and pays.

Do the banks not realise that people who have these charges usually have them because we are already having financial problems for whatever reason and that adding their extortionate charges only makes matters worse, no-one deliberately sets out to not have enough money in the bank to cover everything, but unfortunately it does happen, why not try and make life easier for people for a change and not add to their stresses by making it even more difficult for us to stay out of the red.

I agree with many people trying to claim back money from the Banks. I found Barclays to be extremely unfair. When I was working they still incurred charges to my account me on the same day my wages went in. So earned themselves a nice extra ?30.00. Due to illness and the Company I worked for withholding my wages and sick pay for six week, I incurred a large number of debts. I informed the bank of my situation but they still harassed me for "their money" and when I eventually managed to receive benefits which took three months the Bank was taking nearly all of my benefit money and when it wasn't in the bank they rang me at least twice a week. Eventually they took the account away from me leaving me with a ?1,400 debt which I am now paying back. After looking into the reclaiming Bank Charges I am now owed ?2,300 by Barclays. I have put my claim in but Barclays did not reply until after the decision of the FSA so they can now hold on to my money for even longer. Yes this is my money I would not have half the debt problems I now have if they had not "stolen" my money.

I have read the comments put by others and it just makes you realise that Joe Public do not have a choice when it comes down to our money, we cannot go into a shop nine times out of ten too pay bills, we have no choice but to use the banks and direct debits, so if the direct debit dates are changed and we are not informed we incur a charge, then the bank take that out of our account even though its not there, then they charge us for going overdrawn when its them that put us in this pedicament in the first place, where is the logic in that, I agree that we should pay an administrative charge in certain cimcumstances but not the amount the bank charges. This is just another way of us getting into debt without spending a penny, the banks decide and we have no choice, so somebody has realised this is wrong, and that the banks are illegally doing this, but as soon as we try to get our money back its frozen, well why were'nt the banks frozen for taking our money, who is the majority here, we are, what happened to the public's rights.

I think the Banks should be more srtictly regulated. For example 4 days to clear a cheque is ridiculous. Swedish bakns do it overnight- why not ours. Because they use our money to make more profit. It should be unlawful to tyake longer than two working days to clear a cheque, and less for payments over the net.If they dont met the criteria then they should be lible to pay the customer a fee, perhaps ?30.00 would be good. If you have problems all the Banks do is put you further into debt. One of my family had problems and ran up charges of ?1800.00 from Lloyds, which I recovered. The worst without a doubt is A & L. they consistently ignored requests for charge details, until eventually I had to contact the Ombudsman. They then couldnt reply quickly enough, but because of their delay the claim is now stuck waiting for this case which could take 3 Years to settle, as if they lose the Banks will likely appeal as high as possible. The FSA who is supposed to champion the Consumer has ended up as the Banks Puppy Dog - Why do we pay for all these useless regulators when they do nothing.

I have been waiting for 6 months to get my money back. I decided to go with a company(investor) and what a waste of space, we have had a grand total of 2 letters back from them, one to say it is being dealt with and then another 2 weeks ago to say that it is now on hold pending the results of the court case against the banks!!!! me and my partner are owed at least ?4000 and i could think of a lot of things i could be using the money for.

This is so frustrating, i have a young baby and are deep in debt to the extent that we have had to take out an IVA, we just want our money back, it makes me sick the way they treat people now a days, the rich get richer while the poor get poorer..... what is the world coming to?
whats next charging us to use the pavements?????

Once again I have to yarp on about the Banks - but my point and one on which I am going to take legal advice over, irrespective of the FSA advising Banks not to pay out, is how can the Banks charge me nearly 150 pounds for allegedly going over my overdraft limit when my statements do not show that I had done so, and also that the payment in I was expecting had gone through and placed me in the black???? Just claiming that 'on our ledger you were overdrawn Mrs Mayhead' isnt on!! So my advice to you all is check your statements. You may not actually have been over your limit...I will keep everyone posted as to how I get on with my claim.

lloyds tsb owe me ?4788 they have just offered me ?750 as full and final settlement are they allowed to do this oh and by the way i am using licit legal as my third party please dont bother with them as they dont have a "tube of glue" [clue]

Definitely keen to petition the PM-asap. Not only is it the banks who charge more than tehy should for a standard overdraft but banks/building society's charge exorbitant rates for changing 1's mortgage. Due to severe financial difficulties, I have been forced to change my mortgage twice in 2 years, as a result of the charges incurred in doing this, I now owe almost ?4k more than I did at the start of all my probs(this is of course in addition to the monies I've paid to the mort within that 24mnths period)
It's high time banks were called to account, however they are not the only wolves in sheeps clothing-but that is a story for another time.

these charges are an outrage if they still stand after the court case i will personally hold the goverment responsible

After being a loyal customer to LloydsTSB for over 20 years, recent bad luck and the breakdown of my marriage led to severe financial difficulties. I worked extra hours to support my family through this, but lost all the overtime pay to the bank on their ridiculous charges, despite personally going into the bank and explaining the situation. This is a crime Mr.Brown. The banks are taking liberties with the hard working and getting away with it. It's time to put a stop to it!

Well done to Lloyds TSB on cancelling bank charges next to follow suit is Abbey as they are moneygrabbers and charge so much.

I had to laugh about HSBC becoming nicer. They've just charged me ?150 for being overdrawn one month, thus causing me to go overdrawn the next and charged me another ?150 for the pleasure!

I hate banks!

We are a nation trying to get out of debt and the banks are putting us more into debt! I had an item go out which made me over drawn they paid the item and then charged me ?30 for the privilege of it. The item was only ?11.09!!! Stop the charges!!!

The bank charges are ridiculous, we don't have a choice as to whether to use a bank or not in todays climate, its essential. They bleed the rich while fat cats get fatter. Exploiting financially vulnerable and less money savvy people is absolutely appauling.

Needless to say, I agree with almost everyone who has posted on this thread. If the banks charged just genuine administrative fees of about 10% of current charges then no-one would complain I'm sure. My gripe is about the time it takes to clear cheques which someone has already pointed out, I think 4 working days is ridiculous. My bank the Alliance & Leicester bounced a direct debit for motor insurance of £25, after a cheque of £145 had been paid in and it was only one day before clearance. They said to me on the phone that they "didn't know it was going to clear", but the fact is that about 99% of cheques do clear and it's unusual not to! And that was because the company sent an unauthorised payment back to me far too late.
Previously A&L have halved a couple of bank charges imposed on my account, but this time they refused to reduce the charge of £34 at all because of this OFT test case!

Just following on from my comment above, I think banks should charge less if a failed transaction occurs against a not-yet-cleared cheque than from someeone who just doesn't have money in the account as they are at least making an effort to put adequate funds into their account. Only in the unlikely event that the incoming cheque doesn't clear should they claim the rest of the amount. Having said that, though, the amount of the charge itself is far too high as I'm sure almost everyone reading this wuold agree.

i am a young mum with two babies 1 at 16 months and 1 at 5 months i am on benifits and so i do not get alot of money. this month my bank has taken £90 out of my account for being overdrawn now i am overdrawn again because of it and am worse of than i was before and now i have no money to buy things like baby milk and food for my kids. i dont think it is fair that the bank charges you money for going overdrawn after you have paid the money back that you owe, especially if you have only gone overdrawn by a couple of pounds.

I was recently laid off work and as I cannot claim any benefits was in a financial pickle for a few months. The Halifax continued to pay my few debit orders, car insurance etc and happily hammer me with penalty charges. My one insurance, which has now been cancelled, was £5.50, penalty £30.00. A bit disproportionate. Their attitude absolutely stinks. Been to the bank several times for help, (I am working again) with no joy, and after a lengthy phone call tonight which was very aggressive and totally unsympathetic I have been threatened with legal action for the sum of £490. They have demanded a minimum of £42 per week or they will take further action. I have told them to suspend my account. So much for their advertising campaign with 'friendly Howard'.................

Can you still claim the charges back if you went into an IVA???
I was basically forced into it by the constant and over the top bank charges resulting in a downward spiral i could not stop...
It would be nice to get some satisfaction from getting the money back given that my credit rating is now in tatters because of their greed

The final straw in pushing me over the edge into the IVA, was £90+ charges 3 months in a row from natwest for not paying bills when the money was actually sitting in the account!
They refused to pay this back, I was charged at the other end for non payments, and then when they re-submitted to claim the money it went through... the banks have taken the p*ss for far too long and we need to make a stand against it.

robbing the poor to feed the rich. Time to make them pay it all back and stop high charges. TSB have droped theirs but are still too high

I am in reciept of benefit due to being unable to work at present after an accident, the Halifax charged me £98 for going over my limit by Just over £6, which left me a grand total of £48 to live on for 2 weeks, bearing in mind that i have to pay for gas elec, shopping etc, it is absolutely ridiculous, the banks and the government need a kick up the ar*e, no wonder this country is in such a mess