Resolved Question

Unfair bank charge what can i do?

I did not have enough money in my bank account to pay my phone bill so I rang orange and told them I would pay in one of there stores if they would stop my DD going out, they promised me that the DD was stopped but when my bank statement came I noticed that the DD had not been cancelled like they said it would as I did not have any money in my account I was charged £30 by my bank and another £30 again for not having enough to pay the first charge. Orange had agreed to refund the bill but refused to pay for any of the charges. Is there any thing I can do about this?

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

It is always quicker to go online, log in to your bank account and cancel the direct debit or call your bank and ask them directly to terminate direct debits (the same goes for standing orders). Asking Orange to cancel will take longer - they have to contact the bank to do this.

Unfortunately the way the personal banking system in the UK is run means it's legitimate for banks to charge fees if a direct debit takes an account into unauthorised overdraft, and charge further fees if the unauthorised fees take the account further in unauthorised overdraft. Additionally, banks charge monthly fees for using the unauthorised overdraft service so you will definitely be paying more than £60 for this situation.

Unless the banks use their discretion to waive/refund charges there is nothing further you can do that you have not been doing already. It has happened to me before a number of times but in the "old days" I was sometimes able to get one of the fees refunded if the agent was friendly but now the bank charges case and OFT statements mean the banks can get away with it legitimately.

You're unlikely to be successful I'm afraid but some preventative action may help:
1) stop all direct debits with the current bank account charging the £30 fees. Punish the bank - don't credit the account regularly any more.
2) Set up a new bank account with a better bank/new bank/any other bank charging less for unauthorised overdraft fees. set up wage salary, PAYE credit with this new bank account. Set up direct debit with Orange from this bank account. If you can still afford to do Direct Debit do it as there are fees for non DD payments usually.
Use this as your regular bank account.
3) Contact the bank and ask for refund of at least the second charge for the unauthorised overdraft fee taking your account further into overdraft. That's ridiculous and always an non-justifiable and disproportionate charge given the steps you took to get the DD cancelled.
4) Write to Orange Mobile Managing Director at the same address given to contact Orange by post shown on your bill statement. Complain about them not refunding the bank charges.

50% 2 Votes

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Other Answers (7)

• Your own bank will only refund the charges if this was the first time you went overdrawn. (personal experience)
  
  You should complain to orange citing the name of the person and the time and date when you were promised that the DD was cancelled. Then they might agree to refund the charges if you complain enough.
  
  When World Vision accidentally took money off my account they apologised and said they would pay for any overdraft charges, if applicable. I guess its just up to the company and how far they are willing to go.
  
  In a legal sense they don't have to, because you agreed to the DD in advance, and its not their fault you didn't have the money and that things went wrong.
  
  Good luck!
  
  PS: Personally, I am going to open an account with the new Santander bank, they don't charge you for going over your overdraft! Perfect.

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• If you had cancelled the DD through the bank then orange may have given you their charges back for non payment but as you didn't cancel the bank there is nothing you can do. UK it is illegal for the bank to charge you £30, the most they can charge you for a default is £12. contact the bank and ask why it is so high when the legal amount is only £12. this law came in a few years ago, check out the financial ombudsman as it explains it all there.

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• phone orange again, they are wrong in that they will refund the payment taken as it will not have been approved by the bank and therefore they will not have received it for them to pay it back - Ask them subtly whether they had agreed to not take the DD as you say, if it is on record, then they are liable for any charges incurred as by not following your directions. a little perseverance in this matter, they will cave in.
  
  phone the bank and explain what happened, politely and they may be nice and refund the charges.

  25% 1 Vote
• If this is the first time that you have overdrawn your account, then usually the bank would wave the fees. But it sounds to me that you have had this problem before. My suggestion is to "pay" off all your bills when you get paid that way the money left over is yours to spend and your bills are always paid on time. It works really well for me, I know how much money after my bills to spend on food, gas, etc.

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• You can try to dispute it through the bank, but don't be overly confident that it will happen.
  
  It is not Orange fault that your account went into overdraft. You contracted with them to DD. You called too late to stop the payment processing.

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• Your mistake was not to tell your bank yourself. You either put up with the consequences of your mistake or move your bank account if you are unhappy with the service.

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• It is not the bank's fault but you could ask them about a courtesy refund if you don't often overdraw your account.
  
  Good luck.

  25% 1 Vote