Got paid late and hit with bank fees?

dulpit

Hey, so at work we get paid by bank transfer, and our contract states we get paid on the 5th of the month (or the following working day if the 5th is a weekend/bank holiday). This week we got paid on the 6th because "they couldn't get around to it".

While normally this would annoy me but nothing else, this time I ended up going overdrawn in my bank, as my phone bill is set to come out of my account on the 6th of every month, and with it being Christmas, there wasn't a whole lot of cash floating around.

I did get paid after the bill came out, but my bank (Ulster Bank) have charged me €12.70 because the direct debit could not be paid. I also now need to pay my phone bill late.

My question is a simple one, do my employers have to pay me the money I've lost out on because they couldn't manage to do something as simple as pay their staff on time? What come back do I have?

listermint

No they dont, and no you dont have any comeback, you will have to take the 12 bills hit on the back unfortunately.

dulpit

Even though they breached the contract?

peasant

I would suggest that you consult a solicitor about your rights and how best to best confront your employer about your 12.7 Euro.
The question is if a solicitors letter would be enough or if you should sue straight away.

Btw ...12.7 Euro buys about 8 mins of solicitor time, so make sure to talk fast

the_syco

Also, change your DD's to about 3 or 5 days after you get paid, to give some leeway. Remember: it's you who'll get shafted if they're late, so it's in your best interests.

niamhsiobhan

I have a very similar problem to yours except my wages didn't turn up for four weeks in a row. I have two standing orders a week from my account. That bank fee your on about amounted to 101euro for me. Like you, I'm hit with these fees simply because my employer didn't bother to sort out the issue.

I know we should all be glad to have a job in this day and not complain, the flip side being, these days are damn tough on people and I just do not have a hundred euro to fork out for someone else's careless mistakes.

I've already posted about my problem a couple of days ago. I'm interested to gauge people's reactions to it, because I don't think I'm over reacting to this in the least. Stuff like this affects your credit ratings and has a knock on affect for a couple of weeks to come for me. I have to sacrifice paying one bill, to pay the fees for the bank, which means I fall late on the rest of my bills. . . .

Jo King

you could in theory ask your employer to pay the charges. If the employer refuses , you could take the case to the district court. Most employers would probably pay up to in that situation. It would be complicated to draft the civil summons however. The employer would probably pay on the basis that his legal fees would be more than the cost of paying the bank charges.

Shelflife

At the end of the day its your responsibility to ensure that there is sufficient funds to meet your obligations. while the employer was a day late in transferring the funds its not as such their fault that there wasnt other money in your account to meet the standing order.

taking a case to the district court over €12.70 would not go down well with the judge and certainly not with the employer, a bit ott to say the least.

ShowMeTheCash

I just feel the need to vent round a similar experince.

Firstly I understand it is my responsibility to ensure that I have sufficient funds in my account to cover all direct debits. Unfortunately however life sometimes will through a spanner in the works and it seems Banks are out to compound this difficulty with extortionate fees.

First Trust / AIB gave me a charge of 190 Service Fee this month.

The Service charge was due to not having funds in my account on the 1st of December when my DD's came out. 90% of my DD's are to other First Trust accounts. So my First Trust Credit Card, my First Trust Gradute loan and another First Trust loan that I was forced to take due to the bank telling me they would not renew my overdraft of 0% interest but I could take a loan for the same amount at 16% interest (Very nice of them).

Now let me explain, I have banked with First Trust since I was in uni so over 12 years, I recently paid back 14K loan I had with them without ever missing a payment. In the summer I went 15 pounds over my 1000 pound overdraft and this is the reason the put forward to why they would not renew my overdraft and insisted I take the loan at 16% or I would have to take the 1000 pound hit on my next pay day, at which point I moved to Bank Of Ireland where my salary now gets paid in.

When I moved banks I had a few DD's still coming out the First Trust account and owed the 1000 over draft, 800 left on the 14,000 and about 1000 on my credit card.
So in total about 2800.
Each month when I get paid I transfer money physically from BOI to First Trust to cover the above.

I ran into trouble in November as I was in NYC with work and had to transfer the money using internet banking, the transfer took longer than expected and the funds did not show up on my account until the 3rd of December.

My 3 DD to first trust and a gym membership all bounced, costing me a nice total of 190 pounds. I actually do not know what the break down is and how it cost 190.

Now my gripe is this:

3 of the DD that they bounced was to other First Trust accounts.
So they did not pay my 90 pound to my overdraft loan, nor did they pay the 216 to my graduate loan or my first trust credit card. But did put my account into arrears to the tune of 190 without deducting anything off the money I already owe them!!

To me this is almost criminal!

Now what is even more annoying I only noticed this charge today so my account is now -190, this -190 will incur another charge next month of probably 35 pound for being in arrears! So my bank fees are creating more bank fees.


Now I understand a few people might say, "well tough, should have had the money in you account" to which I say true.
But I see this as bad business on the part of the Bank, we are coming off the back of one of the worst resession off a generation, banks in this case my only experience is with First Trust / AIB seem to compound people's difficulties by adding to them. If someone is struggling to make ends meet adding charges which really are for nothing does not help, I think there should be at least a cap on how much a bank can charge per accoung on fees.

Secondly, my own circumstances is more simply I was badly organsied to do moving a lot over the last few years. I currently owe FT about 1600, which I will have paid back by about March. Which will be the first time since UNI i have been totally debit free, I have a good job and am getting paid more now than I have ever done before. I will close all existing account with First Trust and be glad I never need to deal with them again, the fees charged over the last 12months have have now made me move to another bank after being a customer for 12 years...

My advice if a bank does not treat you fairly move to another one, end of the day a bank is a business you are the customer!

LegacyUser

My boss paid everyone a day or two late and I was charged three times in overdrafts of 36.00 us cash. I asked for compensation she said no. I felt that she didn't warn us ahead to avoid the transactions done to my account was inconsiderate. I wanted that 108.00 back beacuse I had to pay that and some. She told me I need to manage my account better and that is not her fault. I was pissed and still is. I am now in a neagtive 225 because I had to pay other bills. Not too mention I paid 152 when the check deposited in my bank of overdrafts to begin with. I am tired of the bank taking all my money and unorganized bosses. I want to go further with this matter, but I am unsure if it able to be done. I asked her professionally if I could get at least the 108.00 back. She told me its not her fault and No. This is the first time it has happened, but I have bills and that will take my check. I don't have money to keep giving to the bank. Any suggestions on banks who gives you at least two to three days before a charge like that.