I have had an adjustment made on my current bank account for the sum of 106.20 so I phoned my bank to see what this is for

It turns out it is the collections department for a Visa Card I had, they have taken the money out of my account without asking me, or telling me they are going to do so

Is this legal, are they allowed to do this

It is Yorkshire Bank, and Yorkshire Bank Visa Card

I did enter into an agreement with them to pay a certain amount each month through their legal department, and I have recieved a letter from their solicitors saying the interest is now no longer frozen

It is the collections department who have taken the money, and even the Yorkshire Bank themselves didn't know that they were allowed to do this

The number I have for them is incorrect, so I cant even phone them to see why they have done this, and also if they are likely to do it again

I am fuming that I gave them my switch details, and they are abusing it, and essentially stealing from me, and taking out of my account what they feel like

I have read briefly on the net that this isn't the 1st time Yorkshire Bank Card Services have done this

What I want to know is are they within there rights (yes I know I owe them the money) or have they gone against some banking/credit code of practise

Steve

AFAIK if you owe a bank money and they see you have money with them in another account they can access it.

The bank took a couple of grand out of my dads savings to cover a cheque he had sent out from his current account, without asking him.

Do you owe them the money in the first place?

Yes I do owe them money

On the phone to them now, apparently they have looked through all my direct debits, and decided how much they will take out, and will continue doing so at their own leisure

I have explained that not all my bills etc are on direct debit, and they have told me that that is all they look at, they make sure that enough money will be left in the account to cover any direct debits, and the rest can and will be taken out

so they dont even consider food etc in their calculations !!!!!

What they failed to notice when they were busy checking my account was that a cheque I have paid in has bounced twice, yet they still included it in their calculations

Time to break out the bank charge claim letter

The credit card and current account terms and conditions may well allow them to net off sums owing on the CC balance against your current account. I was suprised the first time I heard this story but apparently a lot of banks include a netting power in the T&Cs. And since nobody ever reads them they get away with it.

So often the reality is that the customer has breached the terms of the credit agreement (by not paying) and the bank is actually within its legal rights.

Don't know if that's true of you of course, but as a general point, if it's in the T&Cs you will have agreed to it. It is a good idea to read them occasionally.

Yes apparently this is the case with my bank, they have told me (well their legal department told me) that it is in my terms and conditions and is a fairly standard practise

They were shocked however that my Branch didn't know about it, as they should all be aware of the rules etc

I have sorted it out with them now, and they are ok about it

YES is the answer and its all legal

Transfer your account somewhere else mate

Tell em to stick their account up their ***!!

Im in the process of doing just that

Another question on the legalities, but who actually has the right to see your bank account and the details transactions you make?

I thought it was only the bank and myself who could see the details

It appears that the banks appointed solicitors are the ones who have had detailed access to my account and all of my transactions

Having worked for 2 high street banks in the last 7 years you'll find the letters you get from their 'solicitors' actually originate in house.

That explains how they can see your account, it's simply done via the debt management team.

Yes I have read some more tonight, that this particular solicitors are in fact 'in house' solicitors, yet if you ask them they do deny that for some strange reason

I asked them about why they hadn't informed me they were taking the money out of my account, and they said they don't have to, but a letter will be sent out to say that they have taken the money

I said some notice would have been nice, and they told me they will never tell anyone in advance they are taking money from your account

Due to their charges etc I am know looking at alternative banks, and its not just the charges if I **** up

I presented a cheque last week to pay into my account, and it bounced (was a business cheque too) and I got charged 6 quid, also the bank themselves represented the cheque (not me) and it bounced again, and I have been charged another 6 quid for the privelage (sp?)

I alse wanted to send a bank transfer for 19 euros, and my bank wanted to charge me a flat fee of 35 quid so I told them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine