Have you had big overdraft problems for a long period?
You can make an affordability complaint and ask for a refund of overdraft charges if:
- your overdraft limit was set too high at the start or increased to a level you are unable to clear; or
- your overdraft usage showed you were in long-term financial distress. For example, being in the overdraft all the time, or using an unauthorised overdraft a lot
- your overdraft was originally a student account with no charges, but not interest is being added and you are in the account all month.
This article shows how to make an affordability complaint to your bank, with a free template letter to use.
These complaints do not hurt your credit record.
Contents
Overdraft affordability complaints
Overdrafts are supposed to be for short-term borrowing
Overdrafts are intended to be used for short-term problems, not as long-term borrowing. A bank should review a customer’s repayment record and overdraft limit and if there are signs of financial difficulty, offer help.
One sign of financial difficulty is hardcore borrowing for a long period. The Lending Code defined hardcore borrowings as “the position where a customer’s current account overdraft remains persistently overdrawn for more than a month without returning to credit during that period”.
Some Ombudsman decisions
All cases are very individual. But these examples give you an indication of what the Ombudsman thinks is important.
In this 2020 NatWest decision, the Ombudsman decided:
NatWest did have an obligation to monitor Miss K’s use of her overdraft facility.
Any fair and reasonable monitoring of Miss K’s overdraft facility would have resulted in NatWest being aware Miss K was in financial difficulty … by October 2014 at the absolute latest. So NatWest ought to have exercised forbearance from this point onwards.
In this 2021 Santander case, the bank didn’t notice hardcore borrowing:
By this point, Miss C was hardcore borrowing. In other, words she hadn’t seen or maintained a credit balance for an extended period of time. Santander’s own literature suggests that overdrafts are for unforeseen emergency borrowing not prolonged day-to-day expenditure. So I think that Miss C’s overdraft usage should have prompted Santander to have realised that Miss C wasn’t using her overdraft as intended and shouldn’t have continued offering it on the same terms.
A similar decision was reached in this 2021 Lloyds case:
Mr and Mrs C’s statements leading up to the renewal shows they hadn’t really had a credit balance on their account for a prolonged period. Indeed, they’d had regular returned payments and had also exceeded their limit. In these circumstances, it ought to have been apparent Mr and Mrs C were unlikely to be able to repay what they owed within a reasonable period with overdraft interest, fees and associated charges continuously being added.
Decide which reasons apply to your overdraft complaint
The bank set your limit too high
This may have been from the start when you were first given an overdraft. Or the initial low limit may have been fine, then the bank increased it to a level which it was impossible for you to repay.
If the bank saw signs of financial difficulty, it should not have increased your credit limit, even if you asked for it. And it should have considered offering your help instead (the regulator’s word is forbearance), for example by stopping charges.
But what is too high?
This depends on your income and expenses. An overdraft of £2,000 for someone whose income is £1,800 a month is a lot – but if you earn £5,000 a month, then a £2,000 overdraft may be reasonable.
The bank should have seen you were in difficulty
Overdrafts are meant to be used when you have a problem. Using the overdraft a lot for a few months is fine. Or for a few days at the end of a month before you are paid.
Banks should review your overdraft annually. This is in most overdraft terms and conditions. And even if it isn’t, the Ombudsman says this is good industry practice.
So at one of these reviews, your bank should have seen if you were in difficulty with the overdraft. For example if you are in the overdraft for all (or almost all) of the month for a prolonged period. Or if you were often exceeding your arranged overdraft limit.
I would say over a year is prolonged.
Other points that help your complaint
You won’t win an affordability complaint by saying the charges were too high.
Instead, you say the bank should have known they were unaffordable for you because of all the financial problems it could see on your statements and your credit record.
Here is a checklist, work out if any apply to you:
- having direct debits or standing orders not being paid;
- a lot of gambling showing on your statements;
- significantly increasing other debts with the same bank;
- being recently rejected for a loan or a credit card by the bank;
- significantly increasing debts with other lenders showing on your credit record;
- a worsening credit record – maxed out credit cards, new missed payments, defaults etc;
- using payday loans;
- increasing mortgage arrears;
- making payment arrangements with other creditors;
- a reduction in the income going into your account.
Any of these suggests you are reliant on the overdraft to pay everyday bills and you will find it hard or impossible to repay the overdraft and not use it the next month.
Making your complaint
What you need at the start
You don’t need to know the dates your limit was increased before complaining.
If you have paper statements or you can download them from the app that may be useful for you. But you don’t need to send these statements to the bank with your complaint – the bank already has them!
You can’t go back and see exactly what your credit score was in say 2021 when the bank increased your limit. But your current credit record shows what was happening back six years, so download your credit report now and keep it. The sooner you get the report, the further back it goes. I suggest you get your free TransUnion statutory credit report.
Send a complaint in the app or by email
I don’t recommend phoning to start off a complaint. It’s too complicated and you will be talking to someone that doesn’t specialise in these complaints.
When the account is still open, you can send your complaint by secure message in the app or on the bank’s website. Take a copy of what you put in the message – you could email it to yourself so it won’t get lost and the date is recorded.
Most banks now have an email address that you can use if you prefer or if the account is closed so you can’t use the app. But banks don’t make these easy to find, so here is my list of bank email addresses for complaints.
A template you can adapt
The section above looked at the reasons to complain and the other good points that apply to your case – you can turn those into a complaint.
In the template below, I’ve invented some examples and dates so you can see how a complaint email could read. The bits in italics should be changed or deleted to tell your story.
The bit about other points is important – what should your bank have noticed that showed you were in difficulty?
I am making an affordability complaint about the overdraft on my current account number 98765432.
Your identity details (these are needed if you complain by email, not if you use secure message):
My name is xxxxx xxxxxxxx. My date of birth is dd/mm/yy. The email address I use/used for this account was myaddress@whatever.com.
START BY SAYING they should have noticed when your overdraft usage got worse
Overdrafts are meant for short-term borrowing but that was not what I was using the account for. The fees and charges you were adding were making my position worse.
I am complaining that every year since [20xx] you have failed to notice my difficulty during the annual reviews of my overdraft. You should have offered forbearance eg by stopping interest and charges being added.
By 2014 I had been in my overdraft constantly for many months, not getting back into the black even when I was paid. This “hardcore borrowing” is a clear sign of financial difficulty. My income was only £1,850 a month – after I had paid bills, there was no way I could hope to clear an overdraft of £3500 in a reasonable length of time.
OR
By 2017 I had a large unauthorised overdraft for many days each month.
other points that you can include if relevant- see the longer list above – these are just a few examples
You should knew I was in financial difficulty because you rejected my loan application in 2019.
You should have noticed that the income going into my account decreased from 2017.
From 2020-22 there was a lot of gambling showing on my account.
In 2022 you should have seen from my credit record that I had made payment arrangements with other debts.
You should never have given me an account with such a large overdraft. When I applied in 2016, you should have checked my credit record and income and seen I had recently missed payments to a credit card and had taken several payday loans.
OR
You should not have increased my overdraft limit in about 2014. When you increased the limit, you should have seen that my debts to other lenders on my credit record had increased a lot.
I do not know the exact months of these overdraft limit increases. In your reply to this complaint, please tell me when the increases were and how much the limit went up on each occasion.
END BY asking for a refund of charges and interest:
I would like you to refund all the interest and charges that were added to my account from 2016 when you increased my overdraft limit.
OR
I would like you to refund all the interest and charges that were added to my account from 2018 when you should have realised that my finances had got worse to the point that I was no longer able to clear the overdraft.
The Financial Ombudsman says that 8% simple interest should be added to any cash refund paid to me.
And please remove any late payment and default markers from my credit records.
Points to note
Personal accounts, not business accounts
The complaints covered here relate to personal accounts. For business accounts, talk to Business Debtline about your options.
You can complain if the account is still being used or if it is closed
These complaints can be made in a lot of different situations. For example:
- you are still using the account or you have stopped using it and are paying it off;
- the account has been closed;
- the bank defaulted it and sold it to a debt collector (here you still complain to the bank, not the debt collector). If the debt collector has gone to court and got a CCJ, add a sentence to the template saying you want the CCJ removed as part of the settlement of your complaint.
But if you have had an IVA or bankruptcy after these problems, or if you are still in a DRO, then you shouldn’t complain – ask in the comments below for details.
Old accounts
Banks may say FOS won’t look at an old complaint, but this isn’t right. FOS will often look at a complaint if it has been open in the last six years.
Open and recently closed accounts aren’t a problem – the bank will still have your statements.
If your complaint is about an account that was closed more than 6 years ago, it’s going to be very hard to win. The bank may no longer have much information about the old account, and the Ombudsman is likely to say the complaint is “too old”.
Packaged bank accounts
These affordability complaints are nothing to do with packaged bank accounts. MSE has a page about packaged bank account charge complaints. I suggest you don’t try to combine this with an affordability complaint – make two separate complaints to the bank and leave a gap of at least a month between them.
Student overdrafts
You are unlikely to win a complaint about a student overdraft saying you were a student and it was unaffordable at that point.
But later when the bank has started charging interest, from that point it should doing reviews and checking if you are in difficulty. So from here on you can lin affordability complaints.
The Bank replies
They want to talk to me on the phone!
People are often scared if they get this message. But it may be good news!
You can just ignore it or say you would like a reply in writing.
If you decide to take the call, it helps to be prepared. Have a pen and paper handy so you can write down anything. If they say they are partially upholding the complaint, ask them the date they are refunding the fees from, and how much. Also say you would like to see this in writing before you decide whether to accept it.
If they want to ask you questions that sound complicated or worrying (this is unusual), ask them to put the questions in writing as you find the phone difficult.
Rejection or a poor offer – go to the Ombudsman
The bank should reply in 8 weeks. You can’t go straight to the Ombudsman, you have to wait for the bank to reply.
Banks reject many good complaints, hoping you will give up. So don’t! You know if the overdraft has caused you a lot of problems.
And the bank may offer to refund fees for the last 15 months say, even though your problems have been large for many years. Think twice about accepting a low offer – you won’t put this offer at risk by going to the Ombudsman. If you aren’t sure, post in the comments below.
In particular, if the bank says you could have declined the increase to your overdraft limit or you never let the bank know you were in difficulty, FOS may not think that is a good reason. And ignore any statements by the bank that FOS will not look into things that happened more than 6 years ago.
The easy way to complain to FOS is by completing this online form:
- you can use what you put in your complaint to the bank;
- if the bank rejected your complaint or made a low offer, say why you think this is unfair;
- use normal English, not legal terms.
If your credit record shows that you had other debt problems send it to FOS. You don’t need to send your bank statements – the bank will send those to FOS. And you don’t need the policy documents for your bank account, the lender will supply those to FOS if they are needed.
Do these complaints work?
Yes! From 2024, some banks are making more offers directly.
A Guardian article featured a case where someone used the template letter here. Barclays denied it has done anything but made an £8,000 “good will” payment to the customer.
And if yours doesn’t, people are winning cases at the ombudsman. FOS is a friendly service although it isn’t speedy. It isn’t any faster if you use a solicitor or a claims firm,
The comments below this article are from other people who have made this sort of complaint. That is a good place to ask for help if you aren’t sure what to do.
Is your credit card limit too high?
Get a refunds from large loans
Unaffordable car finance – your options
Em says
A massive thank you to Debt Camel for this template! It has helped me receive over a £900 refund from HSBC which was applied to my account on Christmas Eve. This now means that I will be out of my overdraft within a couple of months!! Thanks again!
EP says
Dear Sara
As the year is coming to a close I just wanted to give you a massive thank you. Using your templates and advice I have received refunds totalling almost 20,000. A complete life changer for me and has me out of debt for the first time in mad long as I can remember! Wishing you a fantastic new year!
Claire says
Hi Sara, I have an ongoing complaint with the ombudsman, they seem to be accepting to look at my complaint going back further than 6 years today I received an email looking for the following information. I’m not sure how to respond, any advice would be helpful.
I can see from your bank statements that around 2014 you were regularly using your overdraft. Please could you let me know:
Did you contact RBS at that time to discuss concerns about managing your financial situation
If so how was this completed with the bank
And if you did what measures or proposals were discussed with the bank
If not can you recall when you first became aware that RBS may have done something wrong.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
FOS is asking a lot of people these sorts of questions.
Did you ever talk to RBS at that time or the next few years?
The answer may simply be that you didn’t because you thought it was your problem for spending too much on the account, and as you didn’t realise RBS should have checked for affordability, it didn’t occur to you that there was anything to complain about.
But if you did contact them, in a branch, or on the phone or by message, what did they say and what happened?
When did you become aware RBS didn’t make proper checks – was this when you heard about affordability complaints?
Claire says
Thankyou for responding so quickly, I’ll reply to the FOS with a response.
Ross says
Hi Sara, I have recently put in a complaint to Lloyds due to being constantly in my overdraft, I had previously had contact with them back in 2018 that they should not be offering me an overdraft due to me being a compulsive gambler, I am in recovery and have been seen 2019. Do you think I have a case here? They have gone against my word and in my eyes been irresponsible with their lending. Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what happened in 2018, did they agree not to offer you an overdraft?
how long have you recently been in your overdraft constantly? this is very day of the month?
Lauren says
I just wanted to say a big thank you and share my success story for my overdraft complaint. I was refunded a total of £2322 for 2 of my accounts with an overdraft (one £500 and another £750) with Halifax acknowledging that they let me extend my overdraft irresponsibly and far too easily! With this money I have been able to pay off and close both overdrafts and still have an amazing amount of money leftover for savings. They are also writing off the unarranged overdraft impact on my credit record. I’m so pleased with this outcome and was beyond anything I ever expected! Without your advice and template for the form I never would have thought to do this, so thank you so much 😊
Ellie says
Hello, I’m with Halifax also and have used the template to make a complaint, out of interest how long did it take for you to hear back? I received a text message 24 hours after my email was sent with them acknowledging they’d received my complaint but just wondered how long it took for you?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
they will often take all 8 weeks to reply.
Linda says
Hi,
Just wanted to share my affordability complaint success story with Halifax. I had an overdraft of £1600 and for the past 4.5 years I was constantly overdrawn and it wasn’t affordable at all. I just couldn’t get out of it. So I followed Sara’s advice and sent a complaint to Halifax. They did delay the final decision till the very last day and called me to ask for some questions regarding my financial situation and some of my cash withdrawals but they did came back with the answer the next day and were happy to refund me the full amount of the interest I paid and extra £75 compensation. I am truly happy and very thankful for this page and information available. I now have a hope that I will be debt free next year!
Thank you Sara!
Holly says
Hi,
I have two loans with Halifax (my main bank account) and an overdraft with this same account.
My overdraft is £3500.
Loan 1 was a total of £13,500.
Loan 2 was a total of £25,000.
For loan 1, I pay £647.98 per month and loan 2, I pay £599.54 per month as well as having a regular mortgage payment leave my current account of £546 per month.
This is totally unaffordable for me.
I earn around £1900 per month.
I am still currently paying back both loans and loan 2 feels impossible to pay back as the interest is almost as high as the amount I pay.
Would I be in a good position to make an affordability complaint and ask that interest is repaid for both the over draft and loans and any further interest is for the loans is cancelled and therefore only pay back what I have borrowed?
Thank you in advance. I have ready through your pages but just wanted to clarify if this will be a sensible thing for me to do!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds very difficult for you.
The overdraft – how many days of the month are you in it on average? And how long has it been like this?
What dates were the two loans taken?
was either of them for consolidation?
Do you have any other debts at the moment?
Are you struggling to make the payments at the moment, how are you getting through the months?
Holly says
Thank you for your response.
I am always in my overdraft as I don’t earn enough money to cover it – so 31 days. This is interest if over £90 per month. I have had an over draft of at least £1500 for many years, however, increased it to £3500 help me manage in 2024. This increase was done after I had the loans I believe.
Loan 1 – July 2023 – £2845 remaining.
Loan 2 – April 2024 – £24,488.39 remaining – high interest.
I cannot remember the exact reasons that I put on the loan applications, however, each time I did try to pay off my overdraft with some of this money.
I have smaller debts such as a very account (£1500), next account (£600) and a few little bits on Klarna.
I always make the payments on the loans as I am very conscious that if I do not then this will negatively impact me in the long term however, this is of course a huge struggle. I have borrowed money from family members ect but this of course is not a long term fix.
Each month is very stressful and I worry about this almost all of the time. I work hard in my job but my salary can only stretch as far as it can stretch.
What are your thoughts?
Thank you for your time!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
can i ask if you are renting or buying? If buying, who is your mortgage lender?
Holly says
Buying – mortgage with Barclays.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I think you should look at a debt management plan with StepChange – this will freeze new interest and let you make a lower affordable payment so the stress goes. This harms your credit score, but you will still be able to get a new fix from Barclays when the current fix ends (assuming you don’t have mortgage arrears) as they have signed the Mortgage Charter. .
Affordability complaints are then a great way to speed up the DMP as winning any of them reduces the balance being repaid in a DMP. These complaints may take a long while to go through as they often have to go to the Ombudsman, so a DMP gets you into a safe space.
Holly says
Thank you so much for your advice.
Mandy says
Hi I’ve just received this text from the Halifax regarding my complaint about an unaffordable overdraft. I just wanted to ask if if should go to the ombudsman now or wait like they suggest?
Cheers
Mand
Dear Mrs xxxxxxxxx, we’re still looking into your complaint. We know it’s taken us longer than it should have to resolve this and we’re sorry for the delay. Because it’s been eight weeks since you told us about your issue, you can refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service. You don’t need to do this now as you’ll still have time after you receive our final response. You can find more details at https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/resolving-complaint/ordering-leaflet/leaflet. Your reference number is xxxxxx. If you need to speak to us, please call 0800 096 1279. We’ll be back in touch by 12 February 2025 if we still haven’t resolved your complaint.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would send this to FOS now. it takes time to get things sorted at FOS so get yourself in the queue now.
(Although at least Halifax isn’t going to go bust. If you aren’t in any financial difficulty and want to wait, that’s up to you.)
Amy says
This is very helpful thank you. I have a question regarding Vanquis.
I started a £1000 credit card with them August 2023. Since then, I was able to pay this off twice, working additional freelance jobs. My employment situation has since changed and I am now unemployed and this account has been maxed out since October 2024, with charges/interest. Do I have any leverage in seeking refund on these interest/charges?
Appreciate the help!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Not an affordability complaint, but I suggest you immediately contact them and say you are out of work, offer a token £1 a month and ask them to freeze interest and charges, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/token-payment-debt/. And do the same with other debts you can’t afford until you are back in work. Talk to National debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this if you need advice on your situation.
JD says
Hi Sara,
Have you any more information or heard that the ombudsman is doing another review? I received the following correspondence about my complaint which is asking to go back to 2012 and was submitted to the ombudsman in June 2023.
‘Your complaint is awaiting the ombudsman’s final decision. There is a judicial review going on for s140 impacted uphold cases so it may be a while before a final decisions can be issued on your cases, but once final decisions can be sent your case will be prioritised due to the length of time they’ve been with us.’
Very disheartening for there to be another delay after already being delayed for a year.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman completed its review, this is a lender challenging the FOS decision in court.
JD says
Would you have an estimate as to how long this may potentially delay a decision?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I don’t know
Sara (Debt Camel) says
But it shows the Ombudsman shift in approach is good news for borrowers as the lenders hate it!
Shanice says
Hi, I’ve just followed this article in regards to a £500 overdraft I was allowed to open with only £800 p/m income. Would this be sufficient that it was unaffordable?
I also could never reduce my overdraft when I could pay it off bit by bit, causing me to stay at max limit. Santander would say it was an issue on their end that I could not reduce my overdraft.
I was also offered to switch to an account with lower fees, I did so, but the fees were practically the same.
Is it likely that this’ll succeed?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Being unable to clear an overdraft so you are in it all the time for a long period is a good reason to complain
Laura harvey says
Hi, I’ve had my overdraft with Santander for at least 10 years, my overdraft is 1200 and I get paid £2080, once I’ve paid my half of the bills I’m straight back in my overdraft. Usually within 2-3 days. Is this enough to make a complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That sounds good to me.
Melissa says
I’ve had an overdraft with Santander since 2019 when I started university. I believe it was a very small amount at the beginning and this increased every year automatically and in my finally year it was upped to £2000 and I maxed it out. I have in the last year started paying interest and fees, my account states I’ve paid nearly £200 in fees. I get paid £1,700 a month. But I do not use the Santander account for anything other than to pay off my overdraft. I have 1,800 left to pay. Do you think I have a chance at a complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
So you are using a different bank account as your real account? Does that have n overdraft too? Do you have credit cards or other debts?
James says
Hi,
I’ve had a £1500 overdraft for around 4 and a half years now and every pay day I’m straight back into overdraft via direct debit bills, I also applied for a credit card with a limit of £1000 which has been maxed out for around 2 years I try to pay into it but with no money in current account I can’t help dipping back into the credit card! I’ve called multiple times for help or consolidation loans to make it easier to pay off but was declined. Just the option to freeze interest for a month. Is it worth doing an overdraft complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Is the credit card from the same bank?
Hayley says
Hi ! I was looking at putting in a complaint to my bank. I got my overdraft about 7 years ago with Natwest. I can’t remember the 1st overdraft but it was upped to £2500 and I get paid £1815 a month. I’m never out of the overdraft. I’ve been told to get a new bank account for my wage before I make the complaint is this correct?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Earning less than your overdraft means you can never get out of it, so you have to do something!
Switching to a different bank account can be a good approach – if in the end winning your complaint doesn’t clear the overdraft you can just chip away at the remining amount a but each month.
And although it’s rare for a bank to close an account, you may feel more comfortable if you have already got another bank account open.
But is your overdraft your only problem? Do you also have loans or credit cards that are making your life difficult? Look at affordability complaints about them too – those lenders should have notice from your credit record that you were overdrawn a lot and so unlikely to be able to afford a lot of new credit
Chloe says
Hello,
I have a £2000 overdraft with NatWest, I originally got this as a student 6 years ago. They give me 1500 and then increased to 2000 within the year. I have been unable to get out of this since and have now been getting charged interest rates as I am not a student anymore. I earn £1700 a month which is not enough for bills etc and to pay to get out of it. Do you know if I have any base for a complaint please and any advice?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes this sounds like a good complaint. You can never get out of an overdraft when your wages are less than it and NatWest should have noticed this after they started charging interest.
Also see my response to Hayley above.
THW says
After doing a bit of research digging, I found Debt Camel and thankfully I did. I put in an affordability complaint and Halifax offered £3300 refund which has cleared my £800 overdraft. Thank you Debt Camel. 🐪 Regrettably, NatWest, whom I banked with longer – since 1999, have been less accommodating, and as such, I have referred my matter to the financial ombudsman. Lets hope for a favourable result.
Thanks again for providing valuable information on this site.
Amy says
Hi, hope you don’t mind me commenting but how long did Halifax take to get back to you? I know it says allow up to 8 weeks , I only submitted a complaint a couple of days ago. Glad you got some
Back!
Sam says
Morning Sara!
I have had my current account with Barclays for many years, I have always had a large over draft, it’s currently £1000 ( I’m not sure when it was increased) but I am in this every month for a few years, they have recently emailed me to say they have noticed this and want to lower it but won’t because they don’t want to put me in more of a financial problem , can i still send a complaint email to them?
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This sounds like a very good time to make a complaint!
Do you also have a Barclaycard or a loan from them?
Sam says
Yeah I have a Barclay card with them too, this has always had something on it and if it’s been paid off it’s been due to another card that I’ve transferred over too for consolidating ( I’ve complained to these already )
HS says
Hi,
HSBC offered me a £300 overdraft in October 2024 but within a month let me increase this to £3,300.
My take home pay is only £1,700 a month- even though this is relatively recent would I have a leg to stand on? It is worth noting since I’ve had the overdraft I’ve not been positive once.
I also had another £1,000 overdraft with Lloyds at the time of application which had been maxed out for months.
Many thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Had your income very recently fallen?
What other debts do you have at the moment?
HS says
Hi,
My income has not fallen it is the same as when they first offered me the overdraft -may be worth noting I’m only 21.
I have no other debts currently.
Emily says
Hi Sara have sent and affordability complaint email via the email you supplied for TSB, but I haven’t had any response to acknowledge the email is this normal?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how long ago did you send it?
Emily says
On Wednesday morning
Sara (Debt Camel) says
oh thats not long. If you haven’t had any form of acknowledgement in a few weeks, phone them up and ask. Don’t just send another email.
Emily says
Amazing thanks for your advice wasn’t sure if this was something you would get an email of acknowledgment or not.
lo says
will this work for paypal credit ?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
That is more like a credit card than an overdraft, see https://debtcamel.co.uk/refunds-catalogue-credit-card/. It may work if the account was opened, or the limit increase you are complaining about, was post Brexit in January 2021
TW says
If anyone is thinking about making a complaint on overdraft affordability, I’d deffo recommend. I’d been in an arranged maxed out overdraft of 2K with Santander for 5+ years after uni, paying interest each month. I had recently paid the overdraft off but came across this account in December and used the overdraft template to complain about the years I’d been overdrawn by max balance, paying interest I couldn’t afford each month when it was clear I could not repay. Santander have now refunded all interest charges in the period my overdraft was active, which is just over 2K! Great page, really useful.
Carly says
Hi,
I have an overdraft with Barclays which I have been in maxed at £1000 for over 4 years, I haven’t ever been able to get out of it, however I am worried that if I email an affordability complaint they will cancel my other account which is now my main account with all of my direct debits etc with my husband.
Will it also affect my credit rating and if I ever need future credit will it be impacted?
Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
what are the fees each month on this?
do you have an overdraft on your joint account? do you have other debts as well? what is your credit score like at the moment?
Meggie says
Hi Sara & fellow debt camels!
Thanks to Sara and her amazing template I popped my email over to Lloyds on Sunday night, I got a text Tuesday morning to say that ‘Dear Miss X , we’ve received your complaint and we’ll be in touch soon. To resolve this for you, we’ll look at the information we have and ask for more details if we need them. If we need to contact you, we’ll do so by telephone. We’ll then give you our final response, which we may send by email. Please check your junk folders in case it ends up there. If you prefer that we do not send our response by email, please let us know. If you don’t accept our final response, you can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to look at your concerns’ I haven’t had a phone call from them yet or an email, and I was just wondering whether anyone else got the same text, and roughly how long it then took them to reach out to you? I took out the overdraft in 2010 and they didn’t start charging interest till 2012- 2013, so I have asked them to look at refunding me starting 2013 (wishful thinking I know) would love to hear anyone else’s story who have had a complaint with Lloyds and will keep you updated on mine :)
Lee says
Hello Sara,
Thank you for hosting such a fantastic resource—it’s greatly appreciated.
I have reviewed the article but couldn’t find specific information on refund periods. Could you clarify the timeframes in which we can request refunds? For instance, are claims limited to the past six years, or is it possible to go beyond this period?
In 2020, I raised an affordability claim with TSB regarding both an overdraft and a credit card. I was in and over my overdraft for many many years.
Unfortunately, both claims were declined. At the time, I was already working with the Ombudsman on multiple affordability claims related to payday loans and short-term loans (all won thanks to this website). With the added challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and some personal matters, I simply didn’t have the energy to pursue TSB further.
Could you advise whether it would still be possible to raise a new affordability claim, or would it be better to approach the Ombudsman regarding my 2020 claims?
Thank you in advance for your guidance.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You can’t take a 2020 rejection to FOS now, that is a long way outside the 6 month window you had.
And you cannot make the same complaint twice. It would simply be rejected as already answered before and the ombudsman would not take this.
How much have you used your overdraft since 2020? How many days of the month are you in it on average?
Have TSB increased your credit card limit since the 2020 complaint?
LR says
How long would you say they usually take to respond? I submitted my Lloyds complaint on 22/12. Contacted them for an update 2 weeks ago and was told it’s been assigned but no response on there yet. Contacted them for another update yesterday and was told the same.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You often won’t get a reply before 8 weeks.
Are you in financial difficulty at the moment as you cannot reply on these complaints providing a quick solution, many have to go to the Ombudsman after a rejection or a poor offer.
Jamie says
Hi Sara
I am going to write a letter of complaint to the BOS about unmanageable overdrafts. I also have a credit card with the same bank which I have been struggling to pay back also. Should I write a letter of complaint for the credit card also. And should this be a separate complaint or part of the same email.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How many days a month are you in the overdraft and how long has it been like this?
How long ago was your credit card opened and has the limit been increased? Have you mainly paid the minimum?
WR says
Hi Sara,
I have a £2000 overdraft & a £1000 credit card both with RBS that have been maxed since I got them whilst at university (6 years ago). I pay off £100 a month on the CC but always end up having to use it & with the overdraft, I’m paying around £60 a month in charges.
I am also paying off an old Barclays CC to PRA group which has around £600 left on the balance.
I am currently unemployed so my financial position doesn’t look to change any time soon unfortunately, would I be in a good position to make an affordability complaint & if so, does this impact my credit score? Am I also at risk of them closing my accounts if I complain?
Thank you!
Sara (Debt Camel) says
If you are currently unemployed I suggest you should ask to reduce your payments to PRA and the RBS card to £1 a month and ask RBS to halt charges on the overdraft until you get a job. This hurts your credit score but it stops you getting deeper into debt each month. This harms your credit score but it must already be poor with a default and a maxed out card on it. Talk to National Debtline on 0808 808 4000 about this and any other options.
You can’t rely on affordability complaints resolving this sort of problem as you may not win them and many are slow, having to go to the ombudsman.
If you are constantly in your overdraft, your best option may be to get a new bank account with someone else now and move over your benefits and essential direct debits.