Another A&L (I think) unlawful charge

[kenwood]

I had a dormant and empty a/c with A&L. I realise I should have closed it down when I stopped using it but sadly didn't. Anyway, out of the blue they have charged me a £5 fee for not having input a minimum of £500 per month and this put the account into overdrawn status, even though I did not even have an overdrawing facility with them and had never been overdrawn. Thereafter of course they have charged another £5 per day and by the time I realised what was going on it had become £65. I immediately went to an A&L branch and paid in £5 to clear the initial debt but not sure what to do after this. I've changed the a/c to a straightforward current a/c instead of the high interest one that it was - they won't allow me to close the a/c. I have written to complain and as a gesture they reduced the amount by £25. If the a/c is empty and I do not co-operate how far will they go to recoup the £40 or £65? I am currently unemployed and receiving benefit - this goes into another a/c.

[silverfox1961]

HI,
If your "other account" (the one you have your benefits paid into) is with A&L, they may just "offset" the overdraft from your other account leaving you with nothing. Offsetting means taking money from one account to clear a debt in another.
While the empty account is open and you don't pay into it, they are going to charge you the monthly fee and if it's still in overdraft then the charges are going to mount.

My immediate thought is for you to open another account with a bank that's not any part of the Santander group so that your money (what pittance it is) is safe from the greedy bankers.

fox

[sea-sidelady]

Do as silverfox says and open an account else where. I will give you a list of accounts available.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...parachute.html


Then you should start the ball rolling to reclaim the charges, which will clear the account for you. Follow the step by step guide in my signature.

[kenwood]

Thanks for this advice - my active account is with Abbey, maybe when the renaming goes through they would take the money from this a/c. If I dont react to A&L's claims how far will they go to recoup these charges?