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 now interest is being added and you are in the account all or almost all of every 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. And if the bank doesn’t make a you a good offer, it is free to take your case to the Ombudsman.
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 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 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 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
You are in the overdraft all or almost of the month for a long while
This is the most common reason for winning a complaint
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.
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.
Other points that help a 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, do any apply to you?
- often 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 (you may also be able to complain about those loans or credit card);
- 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, payment arrangements, defaults etc;
- using payday loans;
- mortgage arrears;
- a reduction in the income going into your account.
Making your complaint
What you need at the start
You don’t need to know the dates your limit was increased before complaining, my template asks for them.
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 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.
I think email is the simplest way to make these complaints. Here is my list of bank email addresses for complaints.
An alternative is to send a long message in the app. But if this means using a chat facility, it’s not usually a good idea, as you are again talking to someone who doesn’t understand what you are saying and tries to tell you what help is available with your overdraft – when all you want is to have your complaint considered.
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.
Your home address (if you know the bank has your current address, ignore this):
My current address is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Please do not send any letters to older addresses you may have on your records.
If your overdraft was originally a student overdraft with no interest include this, otherwise delete it:
My account started as a student overdraft and no fees were charged. I am complaining about the period after, when you started to charge fees.
START BY SAYING they should have noticed your financial difficulty
Overdrafts are meant for short-term borrowing but you could see I was unable to clear the balance in a sustainable way. I was using the account for long term borrowing as I could not get out of this. The fees and charges you were adding were making my position worse.
I am complaining that [every year since [20xx] OR for many years] 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 2017 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 2021, although my salary took my account briefly into credit, within a few days, I was back in the overdraft.
include any other points that show you were in difficulty
You should have seen that 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 2021.
From 2020-22 there was a lot of gambling showing on my account.
In 2021 you should have seen from my credit record that I had made payment arrangements with other debts.
Say if the intial limit was too high or it was later increased too high
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 2017. 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 the 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 2021 when you should have realised that my finances had got worse to the point that I was no longer able to clear the overdraft.
Please remove any late payment and default markers from my credit records.
Points to note
Student overdrafts
You won’t win a complaint about a student overdraft saying you were a student and it was unaffordable at that point.
But when the bank has started charging interest, it should start doing reviews and check if you are in difficulty. So from then on, you can win affordability complaints.
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. How far back FOS will go seems rather random, but it should be possible to go back at least 6 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.
Packaged bank accounts
These affordability complaints are not about the fees on packaged bank accounts. MSE has a page about packaged bank account charge complaints.
Personal accounts, not business accounts
The complaints covered here relate to personal accounts. For business accounts, talk to Business Debtline about your options.
The Bank replies
They want to phone me!
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. And say you would like to see this in writing before you decide whether to accept it.
- if they ask you questions that sound complicated or worrying, ask them to put the questions in writing as you find the phone difficult
- when they say they are rejecting the complaint, ask for this in writing, as you will be going to the Ombudsman.
Rejection/poor offer – go to the Ombudsman , it’s free
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.
You can’t go straight to the Financial Ombudsman (FOS), you have to wait for the bank to reply, or for them to have not replied within 8 weeks.
Here are some things banks may say to try to put you off:
- you could have declined the increase to your overdraft limit – FOS probably won’t think that is a good reason
- you never let the bank know you were in difficulty – FOS probably won’t think that is a good reason
- your salary was enough to return you to credit each month – this is misleading if bills meant you very soon went into the overdraft;
- FOS will not look into things that happened more than 6 years ago – if your account was still open in the last 6 years FOS may well look at it.
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 are offered a refund for the last 6 years but not any further back, have a think if this is a good enough offer. It is a bit unpredictable whether the ombudsman will be prepared to go back further than 6 years.
If you aren’t sure, post in the comments below.
To send the case to FOS, complete 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.
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 had done anything but made an £8,000 “goodwill” payment to the customer.
And if your bank rejects your case, people are winning cases at the ombudsman. FOS is a friendly service although it isn’t speedy. It isn’t faster to 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
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L says
Hi. Can I still do affordability complaint for overdraft if I have savings with the same bank? Eg will they just say I should have cleared overdraft with savings therefore affordable? Savings are in joint account with my partner who doesn’t know about my financial
Problems so can’t withdraw it
Sara (Debt Camel) says
how large are these saving compared to the overdraft?
Bert says
Used the template and got £3.5k from Lloyds on an unaffordable overdraft that was over 10 years old. I had previously complained and they hadn’t upheld so went to the ombudsman. Took over 12 months to get a response from Lloyds but every couple of months the ombudsman contacted me to let me know they were still working on my case.
Really incredible grateful for the template, thank you so much
Harvey says
On the 15th of July I made a complaint to Barclays Bank regarding my overdraft, it is currently sitting at £3250, this has started at £300 over 10 years ago and raised to this amount over a 2 year period until it was increased via the app to £3250, I had been in my overdraft ever since, as it had been 10 years it was the norm for me, and the monthly charges became part of my out goings, Upon making the complaint I received a text from Barclays the next day saying it was being looked into and I should hear back no later than the 30th of July, the 30th of July rolled around and I had still heard nothing, the next day I got a letter saying they were still looking into it and I would hear back by the 19th of August, Fast forward to August the 14th I received a text saying it had been investigated and I would be receiving a letter shortly,
Today (August 18) I had still not received any kind of letter, so I decided to call them up and ask what the outcome was over the phone, The lady on the phone was really nice, however when reading the letter to me it was nothing but Barclays saying they didn’t uphold any point of my complaint and the reasons why they did not agree with me, HOWEVER Even though they did not agree with my complaint, they said they would like to offer me £5400 as a good will gesture, this will clear my overdraft, which they will remove, and leave me with about £2000 spare!
Great result, big thanks to Sara and Debt camel
LB says
We have had a £3k overdraft limit with Abbey/Santander ever since we opened the bank account with them in 2009. The limit has never been increased but over the last 10 years or so we have never been out of the overdraft and used up to the limit each month. As they have never increased the limit would this still give us grounds for a complaint?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
that sounds like a good complaint. You may only get a refund for the last 6 years, but this will often be a huge help
Maria says
I made a complaint with TSB after over 10 years of living in planned od and got £2600 back which is 5 years of charges. This paid off my debt fully and left me with £700 in credit. I still have a complaint open with the ombudsman due to how tsb handled the resolution but I already feel so relieved!
zoe says
Hi Maria,
My complaint is also with TSB – did you send from the email on here and if so how long did it take for them to come back to you?
Thanks
Joseph says
Hi Sara,
I submitted my complaint to Bank of Scotland 9 weeks ago using your template. After 8 weeks, they replied:
“We’re still looking into your complaint… you can now refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service… we’ll be back in touch by 12 September 2025 if we haven’t resolved it.”
Today, they sent me a message (on my payday) asking me to ring them back about my case.
I didn’t escalate immediately because I saw advice here suggesting waiting a month after the 8-week deadline for BOS/Lloyds/Halifax, due to backlogs.
Key details of my case:
• Persistent overdraft use since Apr 2023.
• Overdraft limit increases: £1,000 → £2,500 (Apr 2023 – May 2025).
• Reduced to £1,900 (Dec 2023)
• Held at £1,900 (through 2024 – Apr 2025)
• Increased to £2,500 (May 2025, current limit)
• Interest paid: Approx. £811.25 over the period.
• With statutory 8% interest: ~£870 total.
Even with a refund, I would still have around £1,630 overdraft debt remaining.
I need the bank to help me break this cycle — ideally by writing off part of the balance, freezing interest, or restructuring the overdraft into an affordable repayment plan.
• Should I call them back, or go straight to the Financial Ombudsman?
• What else should I ask for?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
Many people seem to be getting a quick response after talking to Lloyds/Halifax/Bank of s Outland on the phone.
You won’t get statutory interest added if the refund doesn’t clear the overdraft
You may need to move to a different bank account and set up a payment arrangement for the remaining overdraft balance.
Do you have any other debts you could also complain about?
Joseph says
I have a Lloyds Credit Card at 11.22%. Which is basically maxed out at £1200.
Monzo Overdraft at £350.
Paypal Credit maxed at £1700.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
It’s probably worth a complaint to Paypal – use my credit card complaint template for that.
But you should consider breaking the whole debt cycle by putting all of the debts into a debt management plan with Stepchange if you are unable to overpay any of them and stop using the cards/Paypal
Jennifer says
I just wanted to say a huge thank you. I have now received a £2370 refund of fees from a Barclaycard credit card account where they continually raised my credit limit and a £3639 refund from TSB for a £2750 overdraft that I had been stuck in the bottom of for years, meaning my overdraft has been completely cleared and leaving me with nearly £900 paid into my account on top. Finding this website is the best thing I’ve ever done.
Lindsay says
Hey! Did you email TSB on the above address and how long did it take for them to respond to you? Even to confirm receipt of your complaint? :)
Jennifer says
Hi, yes I emailed TSB using the template and address on here and they took roughly a month to respond. I didn’t need to escalate it to the ombudsman as they immediately agreed to the complaint – they told me the date that the overdraft would be removed and the refund would be actioned and warned me it might not clear the overdraft but that they would be in touch with support if this was the case and thankfully the refund more than cleared it so that wasn’t a problem. It was a really smooth process actually and it was something I was worried about as it was a very large overdraft.
Jessica says
I am starting to draft an email to HSBC and wondered what to do in the case of a joint current account. Should we be making a joint claim and include both our contact details?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
I would just start by saying you are making this claim on behalf of your partner as well.
Lindsay says
Hey Sara!
I have an overdraft with TSB which is £3,010, which I’ve had since at least 2017, I did have it longer than that but I don’t remember the year and what the amount was initially. When I took this out my income was probably around £1000 monthly. I’ve literally never had my account be positive since as I now earn around £1700 per month. Even when I’m paid I’m still way into my overdraft. I used your template and emailed my complaint to TSB about this yesterday.
I also have an overdraft with Monzo, which I make fee payments for every month but am obviously never out of either. I have a £1000 capital one credit card which is maxed out that I only make minimum payments on. I also owe PayPal credit £1,900 and I am never out of this.
It’s manageable to a point I can make the monthly payments but I am never able to pay any of them off in full. But I do feel I have grounds to complain to all of them as all were given to me despite already having a £3,010 OD I couldn’t manage.
My worry is that TSB may close my account or say that the overdraft is being taken away and I need to pay up within a short space of time, same with PayPal. Should I wait until I deal with TSB first just in case? I don’t want to be in a situation where TSB, Monzo and PayPal want me to pay up immediately and I’m left with more debt and no money to live off.
What would you advise is best?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
You have no real hope of clearing the TSB overdraft though, have you?
This all feels too tight, with a lot of debts for your income.
I think the best answer may be to get a new bank with no overdraft and move all your income and household bills over to there. And talk to StepChange about a debt management plan for the overdrafts and the credit card. This will get interest frozen and let you make one smaller affordable payment a month. https://www.stepchange.org/
Then winning any affordability complaints will speed up the DMP and help clear your credit record sooner
Matthew says
I opened a student account in 2011 they gave me a £2000 overdraft, I then opened up two more student accounts with different banks, not once was I asked if I already had a student account I think the overdrafts were £2000 and £3000, as you can imagine I could never pay them off I understand it was my choice ultimately but this genuinely ruined 10 years of my life… when I eventually got employed I was in so much debt I had to get more loans out… eventually I joined step change and it is all paid off now but I just feel if I was told are you sure or if there’s further checks I could have stopped the snowball.. I know it’s a long time ago now but I only joined stepchange 5 years ago so a lot of the accounts in that time were just being paid off when possible… where should I start? Lloyds is the original one so don’t really wanna claim against them, but it was coop and rbs that let me open further accounts, then PayPal credit gave me like £3000 even though I was already in debt and very etc.. I’m not sure where to begin do I even have a claim? Thanks
Sara (Debt Camel) says
When did the DMP start?
James says
Hi, I owe around £10k on credit cards, I’ve emailed all of those and I’m awaiting a response.
I’ve emailed over 10 loan companies as I’ve also had reoccurring loans over the years too from 118, Admiral, Hastings, Castle Bank, Plata, Zopa, BetterBorrow, it is endless at least a 5 year debt cycle battle that I have been in, I came across this website and have instantly emailed them all demanding a refund of interest as all I’ve done is pay of loans with new loans all of which were high interest.
I’ve raised a complaint with Monzo I have a £2k overdraft which they gave me the day of applying for the account, I was already in financial hardship but they still gave me a £2k overdraft, since getting this it’s always been £2k overdrawn and the APR is almost 40% I believe, I think I’ve had the account around 3 years and I can’t pay it down, it’s impossible, I get charged around £60 a month, £60 x 36 months is £2,160.
I contacted them using the template and they replied “I understand you have requested a full refund of all interest and charges, as well as the removal of payment makers from your credit record. I can confirm with you that you have no missed/late payments as the moment as you do not have default in your account.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
This seems like a lot of debt. I suggest talking to StepChange age about a debt management plan (DMP) that will get new interest and charges stopped nd let you pay less each month
Then winning any affordability complaints will speed up the DMP and help clean your credit record sooner.
See https://www.stepchange.org/how-we-help/debt-management-plan.aspx
Sam says
I have a £2k overdraft with Santander which I’ve reached the limit of regularly since about 2020. It was a student overdraft initially and later started charging. I earn enough to get out of my overdraft but am back in it instantly as soon as rent is paid. I have had an email recently offering advice and wondered if I would still be able to make this affordability complaint, even though they had got in touch about my overdraft? They haven’t changed my limit or anything, only offered advice.
Sara (Debt Camel) says
yes you can still make this complaint now.
How large are the monthly charges in a typical month?
Sam says
Charges are around £45 per month
Sara (Debt Camel) says
so a refund for 4 years would clear the overdraft!
Jade says
Hi Sara,
I have submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman about my overdraft, for context, I was given this as a student overdraft in 2013 and have never been out of it. It changed to a normal account with overdraft in 2023. The Ombudsman have said they would only look at it from the point it became chargeable. They have come back and sided with Barclays because I got paid enough each month to clear it, when in reality, I would be in a positive balance for a day or two until my bills came out and then I would be straight back down to minus figures again. I raised concerns as well as some of my other ombudsman complaints have calculated I had enough disposable income when in reality, £1000 of my income was clearing the overdraft, just to use it again. The disposable income calculations for other complaints has never been more than £5/600 each month. It seems they didn’t take my constant overdraft use inro consideration. What concerns me the most though, is the investigator for the overdraft complaint said when it was a student account, ‘it was free money so it’s reasonable to make use of it’. While I agree in part, I don’t think constantly being in said overdraft for 99% of the time for the last 12 years is reasonable use. Do you have any advice please?
Sara (Debt Camel) says
The Ombudsman have said they would only look at it from the point it became chargeable.
this is correct. As a matter of practicality, there is no money to be refunded before that point either. There is no point in trying to argue about this.
So what is the decision about the last couple of years? how many days a month are you in the overdraft now?
Jade says
My balance becomes positive the day I get paid and then when all bills come out, I’m straight back into the overdraft and within a week, it’s maxed out again. The credit card complaints I’ve made have calculated that I had x amount disposable each month but in reality this is not truly disposable as it’s from my overdraft if that makes sense. Because I earned enough each month to clear the overdraft each month, they said that was affordable, regardless of me having to use it all again to pay my bills
Sara (Debt Camel) says
How large is the overdraft? what is your net pay each month? how large are your household bills? how large are your other minimum debt payments?
(Ignore the credit card complaints, they wont help you win this the overdraft one.)