Bank Fees

[outofbodyexperience]

How many UK banks charge fees for current accounts now? I've had my first direct account for about 15 years and have just realised that since 2007 they have been charging me £10 per freaking month for the privilege. apparently they occasionally send out new fee schedules and i should have noticed they had changed it to a fee paying account.

I am mightily pissed off. I know it's my own fault as I should have checked more scrupulously, but they only charge you the fee if you don't have 1500 paid in every month... how on earth can that even be fair for those on low income or whatever? it costs them nothing to look after my paltry cash, i barely have two transactions per month on the account. i only left it open because it was where the child benefit was being paid into. ffs!

interested to know who else is doing this now...

Quite a lot of accounts have a regular monthly charge, usually in exchange for benefits like travel insurance. Nat West, for example, have their Advantage Gold account. A lot of accounts stipulate a minimum deposit each month. A Halifax 'Reward' Current Account pays a £5 bonus if customers deposit £1000 each month, for example.

I had an account with Lloyds many years ago that charged a £2/month fee. They dropped that type of account some years later but didn't tell existing customers and kept charging the £2. Like you I should have checked more closely and queried it but, in the end, I successfully argued that I should have a lot of the money reimbursed.... then changed to a different bank.

I have a standard account from LTSB and dont get charged (downgraded from a Select account which was £5 a month - gave extra benefits) - I only use it for the child benefit. Our current Natwest joint account charges £12.50 a month but we get extras for that too e.g. mobile phone insurance, breakdown cover, travel insurance, etc

Natwest also has a fee free account

Thanks... I'm a bit ticked off as it was free and then they changed it. I can't believe I've been paying £10 per month lol! They offered all those extras for a fee before, and we kept turning it down. I just hadn't realised that they had made all the accounts that way and expected you to change your account type if you didn't want what had been automatically applied. it also appears that we have been paying the same amount for our joint account, and for dh's sole account. So £30 per month for accounts that we barely use.

When they call you to offer different products, they don't mention that they can save you forking out fees, do they? (grr) just try and flog you stuff that costs you more.

Did you complain directly to the bank, cogito?

Yes, I rang the bank and once I'd got the refund I switched. Few companies call you to say 'do you know you could save money', it's usually down to the customer. That's why comparison sites are so good. These days I watch all accounts daily and don't let them get so much as 1p without me knowing why.

First direct charge £10 pm if you don't have any other accounts and have less than £1500 pm credited.

They pre-notify you every month that the fee will debit. You can avoid the fee by opening a savings account or any other product.

thanks both.

firstdirect call you to review your accounts and flog you more stuff periodically (under the guise of helping you out, obv) so i'm a bit ticked that when i closed my savings account they didn't mention that it would mean i'd be charged for everything else. i'd have just left it open if i had realised.

i'll call them and express my displeasure.