Bank charges regarding direct debits??

MissRetro

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right forum so apologies if I'm not.

My other half had direct debits set up with BOI for certain bills(Chorus and Greenstar) and due to the way things are at the moment we are usually a bit late with bill payments so we started paying these bills through the post office. This has being going on for a few months and we thought nothing of it as long as we were getting our bills paid.

My OH hardly ever uses his bank account but he had money paid into it last Friday so he went in to withdraw it today. When he got there his account was empty and the teller informed him that the money was paid in(250euro) but that he had owed the bank 276euro so they had taken the lodgement as a 'payment'.

Apparently the bank had been charging for the direct debits that had been bouncing for the last few months. We knew of these charges from the side of Chorus and Greenstar but we did NOT know that the bank where doing the same also. Is this common practice?.. and if so should the bank not have informed my OH that he was racking up a debt of this amount? He was in the bank a while back to get a printout of his a/c number etc.. why didn't they point this issue out to him then? The reason he was given today is that as a bank they do not deal personally with costumers but instead send out regular printout invoices.. no such invoices where ever sent out!

I realise this may sound naive to some but bear in mind we are a young couple and new to some of life's trials and tribulations.

If anyone on here could offer me some advice on this issue it would be greatly appreciated!!

cookie1977

MissRetro wrote: »

I don't know if I'm posting this in the right forum so apologies if I'm not.

My other half had direct debits set up with BOI for certain bills(Chorus and Greenstar) and due to the way things are at the moment we are usually a bit late with bill payments so we started paying these bills through the post office. This has being going on for a few months and we thought nothing of it as long as we were getting our bills paid.

My OH hardly ever uses his bank account but he had money paid into it last Friday so he went in to withdraw it today. When he got there his account was empty and the teller informed him that the money was paid in(250euro) but that he had owed the bank 276euro so they had taken the lodgement as a 'payment'.

Apparently the bank had been charging for the direct debits that had been bouncing for the last few months. We knew of these charges from the side of Chorus and Greenstar but we did NOT know that the bank where doing the same also. Is this common practice?.. and if so should the bank not have informed my OH that he was racking up a debt of this amount? He was in the bank a while back to get a printout of his a/c number etc.. why didn't they point this issue out to him then? The reason he was given today is that as a bank they do not deal personally with costumers but instead send out regular printout invoices.. no such invoices where ever sent out!

I realise this may sound naive to some but bear in mind we are a young couple and new to some of life's trials and tribulations.

If anyone on here could offer me some advice on this issue it would be greatly appreciated!!

I suppose in one way when you open a bank account the charges associated with opeerating the account would be made known to you and it is up to you to take note of them. With that in mind the bank may have failed in their duty to supply you with statements outlining the charges mounting up unless you were getting them via internet banking and you hadn't checked them yourself. I have known banks to reverse/cancel charges after a customer has complained as a once off goodwill gesture. I myself had this happen after I moved money too early from a credit card to an account before the money had arrived at the credit card.
I would ring the branch/hq or write and explain the situation as you outlined here and they may (emphasis on may) cancel/reverse all or part of the charges if you can convince them that they bear some of the responsibility for the failed notification.

dudara

Moved to Banking & Insurance & Pensions

generally, banks will send out a quarterly notice listing all extra charges on the account, such as overdraft fees, failed direct debit fees etc.

Your OH needs to cancel the direct debits on his account to prevent this payment method being used while his account is empty.

cookie1977

If you decide to cancel the direct debits then you need to write a letter to the company taking them to say that you're cancelling and to stop using the direct debit. Then you copy the letter to your bank instructing them to stop any direct debits on the account. In that way the bank can reverse any direct debits in future.

dublin daz

Switch your account to National Irish Bank. They abolished referral fees. If a direct debit is returned unpaid there is no charge. Existing customers prior to Danske takeover in 2006 need to upgrade to a new package.

The only fee is an unpaid standing order fee. Cheques and direct debits won't have fees charged.

MissRetro

cookie1977 wrote: »

I suppose in one way when you open a bank account the charges associated with opeerating the account would be made known to you and it is up to you to take note of them. With that in mind the bank may have failed in their duty to supply you with statements outlining the charges mounting up unless you were getting them via internet banking and you hadn't checked them yourself. I have known banks to reverse/cancel charges after a customer has complained as a once off goodwill gesture. I myself had this happen after I moved money too early from a credit card to an account before the money had arrived at the credit card.
I would ring the branch/hq or write and explain the situation as you outlined here and they may (emphasis on may) cancel/reverse all or part of the charges if you can convince them that they bear some of the responsibility for the failed notification.

That probably is true but I know that when I first opened my bank account I was still in primary school and my OH also opened his in his early teens so can they really hold a person of that age responsible for reading 'terms and conditions'?!

Internet banking was not in place so they should have been sending invoices in the mail. Problem is though we moved house last September. The direct debits were not set up before this current house and I am sure the bank were made aware of the change of address (as I said earlier my OH was in there a while back getting account info, etc. so they would have been informed then if they had not known previously) Do you think they could use this to avoid responsibly?

dublin daz

No there is nothing secret about these charges.

If you do not operate the account within the specified terms and conditions you are liable for the schedule of fees as publicly notified.

I know you didn't get statements or invoices but you did authorise these direct debits and therefore they are your responsibility, not the banks.

They done their part by allowing them for payment.

There is a process for failed direct debits and this costs the bank money.