Woman UK – 22 July 2019

MAIN

PHOTO

(POSED BY MODEL): GETTY

A

fter 14 years,I’mthrilled

to sayunfairbank

chargesareending.In

2005,I campaignedfor

peopleto reclaimbank

chargesforbustingtheir

overdrafts,andover£1 billion

wasrepaidas‘goodwill’.

Courtcasesensued(andI

releaseda protestsongcalled

I FoughtTheLloyds) butoverall

thecampaignwasa success,

puttingpressureonbanksto

lowertheirhideous£35ish-

per-transactionfees.Andnow,

a decadeon,unfairchargesare

ending.Here’sthelowdown:

1.Overdraftswill be

overhauled

TheFinancialConduct

Authority (FCA) says all daily

3

overdraftfeeswillbe

replacedwitha single

interestratefrom6 April

2020.Bankswillstillbeable

torefusetopayoutifyou’re

overyourlimit,though,and

canchargeyoua smallfee.

2.If overdrawn,seeif

youcancutcoststo0%

Often,thosewithoverdrafts

arestuckduetopoorcredit

scoresorbecausetheir

overdraftistoobigtoswitch.

Butyoumaybeabletoswap

toa cheaperoverdraft.Get

fullhelpatmse.me/cut

overdraftcostsbutbriefly...

Overdraftsunder£500

Switchtofirstdirect.comand

mostwillgeta £250ongoing

0%overdraft.So,ifyour

overdraft’supto

£350,itpayssomeoff

andtherestisinterest-

free.Tokeepitfee-freeyou

needtopay-in£1,000/month.

Overdraftsupto£1,500

Thenationwide.co.ukFlex

Directaccountgivesa year’s

0%overdraft.Thelimit

dependsonyourcreditscore,

butsomecouldget£1,500

interest-free.Usethis0%

yeartoclearwhatyouowe

becauseafterthat,you’llbe

charged50pa day(andthat

couldchangefromApril).

Shiftitto0%card

Afewspecialistmoney-

transfercreditcardsletyou

paycashintoyourbankto pay

offyouroverdraft.It’s

complexandcanbeeasyto

getwrong,though,soseemy

fullmse.me/moneytransfer

guideforhelp.

3.Canyoureclaim?

Ifyou’vehadrepeatedbank

chargesforbustingyour

overdraftlimit,andit’scaused

financialhardship,youmaybe

abletoreclaimforfree.Find

freetemplatelettersatmse.

me/reclaimbankcharges.Ifthe

bankrejectsyou,gotothe

Ombudsman,whereyou’re

mostlikelytogetjustice.

4.Getfreedebthelp

Non-profitdebtcounselling

agencies,suchasstepchange.

org,citizensadvice.org.uk,and

nationaldebtline.orgarethere

tohelpnotjudge– andbanks

takethemmoreseriouslythan

youtryingtosortityourself.

✱ Get Martin’sFREEtipsandmoney-offvouchersemaileddirectlytoyou each

week by signing up at moneysavingexpert.com/latesttip

Bank charges are

to end – can you

reclaim them?

Overa decadeof

campaigninghas

finally paid off

MoneySavingExpert.com’sMartinLewiswillsaveyou£££s

AskAsk MARTINMARTIN

Goshoppingand
reaprewards?
That’swhatwe
call retail therapy!

Youbeauty

£15M&SSummerBeautyBox:

Spend£40+at M&Sandyou’ll

beabletogeta BeautyBox

for£15.It contains 10 items,

includingRenbodywash,

Rodialfacemask,andEmma

Hardie cream, all worth £110.

Plastic

fantastic

Free£5BodyShop

voucherfor

recycling:Returnfive

emptyBodyShop

containerstostore

and,if youhaveits

freeloyaltycard,

you’llreceivea £5

voucher.Greatway

to help the planet.

Callingalllittle

bookworms

Tenkids’booksfor£10:Goto

theworks.co.ukandpickfrom

a selectionof20+bundles

offering10 kids’ picture

books

forjust

£10.

Perfect

for

summer.

MARTIN’S

HOTDEALS

THIS WEEK

No more unfair penalty fees...