Alex Harries's diary

Woohoo!  

The BBC has run a 'Let's state the obvious' story today, as the National Consumer Council says the hidden costs of "free banking" should be investigated.

• Banks 'crippling' the vulbnerable - BBC News

Obviously, though, it can only be a good thing that these issues are being highlighted - students are among the most vulnerable group of people who can be hit with repeated charges, and their limited income, usually in Student Loan chunks, means banks can expect to be able to hit students with numerous charges as students' loan money runs out, safe in the knowledge that further loan payments will be coming soon to cover these amounts.

In my second year at Uni, my account ran almost £300 into the red just because of bank charges - of course, that was taken out of my next loan payment (of around £900), and breaking out of that cycle is never as simple as the banks' advice to "stay in credit".

One suggestion is to allow customers to have a £100 buffer zone. Unlike current buffer zones, only standing orders and direct debits would be authorised, for example; cash machine withdrawals and debit card payments wouldn't be authorised, but the point is that the customer would have to go more than £100 over their overdraft before charges were levied.

Of course, banks could simply stop levying charges - a system which, as the BBC article highlights, lands people in a poverty trap it can be hard or impossible to get out of - and simply charge a fixed monthly fee for banking. Personally, I'd rather pay £10 a month for the rest of my life for the privilege of letting someone look after my money if the alternative is to constantly worry that I'm going to be paying hundred of pounds a month to cover bank charges.

... Ok, rant over. Hopefully next year we as a Union will get the chance to put together some really useful advice for students on managing their ever-increasingly stretched money. If you have any tips on surviving on a shoe-string budget, send them to me!

I've just arrived home to find this little paper package of joy on my mat (click to enlarge):

... That's right kids - BT Mobile are threatening to send in the debt collectors, issue a Default notice, and incur the wrath of the gods on me, for a debt of (drum roll please):

1 penny.

Oh yes, it's three for the price of one (penny) on this BT Special Offer: for all you attention-starved, loveless people out there, you can have the attention of BT's Bad Debts department, a swarm of bailiffs, and even - for the lucky few among you - the loving attention of a Magistrate. Ho hum.

... Of course, the biggest irony here is the cheque I also received in the post from BT today - for the same account - as partial refund of the £118 bank charges they cost me last month by taking Direct Debits at the wrong time of the month.

Of course, they've only paid a little over half - "dragging heels" doesn't even begin to cover the run-around I've been given to collect the outstanding money they owe me.

I think - despite having a few months left to run on my contract - that I'm going to politely tell them to shove it. Their attitude and manners have so far taken the absolute mick...

Grrrrr /al - needing some sleep

p.s. I wonder how much it cost to print that letter, put it in an envelope, and post it...? 

This isn't so good: it looks like the first significant resistance against the growing anti-bank charges movement has been encountered in the form of District Judge Cook, reports the BBC. A customer of Lloyds TSB, Kevin Berwick, was claiming £2,545 from the bank in overdraft charges he said were illegal.

Judge Cook stated that the fees were "legitimate fees for servicing an overdrawn account".

More information from BBC News, here.

Oh, bugger...

UPDATE: it seems the claim was for overdraft fees, not bank charges levied for unauthorised transactions, so things still look reasonably good people claiming for bank charge refunds from unauthorised transactions.

More evidence of the banks' cash-grabbing antics emerged today in a report by the Evening Standard, as they report that the Royal Bank of Scotland group (which includes Mint and Lloyds TSB) are introducing a £12 fine for credit card customers who forget to tell them they have changed their address.

Quoth the article, "The bank claims the fee, applying to more than five million customers, is necessary to cover the cost of tracing those they have not been able to find. But consumer groups believe it is about fuelling profits."

I think I know whose story I believe more... Grr...! 

• More info at ThisIsLondon.co.uk