Credit card allowed over limit then charged

A question about : Credit card allowed over limit then charged

Hi,

I am in dispute with RBS over a Ј12 over limit charge.I made a purchase not knowing it would take me Ј20 over my limit. The payment was authorised by the credit card company.

I then received overlimit fee. I queried this with the company and asked why it was not declined becuase if it had been I would have paid an other way and the charge would not have been occurred. They are standing firm and said it's down to me to ensure that I operate within the limit and they allow leeway as and when they like.

They have told me there is no way to put a clear barrier to stop this happening again.

My question: Is this ran unfair charge? By allowing a customer to go over their limit they know they are going to get the Ј plus the extra interest so is this a way of the bank making more money?

Is it worth making this an official complaint and going to Ombudsman or am I stuck? I know I when over the limit but I thik they should have a duty to ensure that I am within the credit limit by not allowing transactions that take you over.

Many thanks in advance

Best answers:

• The onus is on you to know how much money you have spent/is left available.
  Surely you knew you were close to your limit?
  Next time if you are unsure, log onto your card's internet banking page and double check.
• My question was about if they allow you to go over the limit is it fair to charge you.
  If you have a credit limit should it be just that a "limit"?
  If it had been declined then I would have paid in a different way (but I didn't realise there was not enough available due to a annual recurrig charge which I forgot was on there)
  There's lots in the news about people going over top of overdrafts and it turning into large charges/interest. Is this not really the same thing
• The charge is fair, a few years ago they would of charged you double or treble that figure but the OFT stepped in.
  Move on and don't go over your limit in the future.
• It's not worth taking it further as you accepted this charge when you signed the credit agreement. If they didn't let customers go over the limit then why would there be a charge for this stated in the agreement? Having said that, NatWest decline transactions which go over the limit so I would have thought RBS would do the same.
• It just annoys me that limits are there for a reason and then they don't enforce them.
  It's pee'd me right off and I'm just going to close the account and pay it off. Thank you for your response 611
• Unfortunately for you the charge is fair and there is no way to claim this back. The system has allowed you to go over your agreed limit (In much the same way a debit card can or direct debit etc.)
• If a Ј12 charge has pee'd you off that much then it will be a good lesson well learned !
• Many transactions do not require authorisation if they are below the merchant's "floor limit". Only transactions that exceed that limit will be checked for available funds. The same thing applies to contactless payments, those will not be checked for available funds.
  The bank will not know how much you've spent until the actual charge gets deducted a few days later.
• All I wanted to know is whether it was "fair" or not. I didn't want to be berrated for what had happened. It seems sad that you all feel it's better to put me down for my mistake rather than offer constructive advice like one of the members.
  I thought all payments were authorised at the point of sale and didn't know they were not checked for available funds but now I know this. Although I do not think this is hard/fast as sometimes my debit card won't go through if it's going to take me even 50p over my buffer limit.
  I thought it was a bank morality to be fair and look after their customers and I thought this meant helping to ensure they did not exceed credit limit/overdraft.
• Yes it is fair. The limit is not for your benefit but for theirs. It is the point at which they can charge you an "over the limit" charge. It is described in "their" terms and conditions, not yours. It is your choice on how you wish to operate your account but theirs to charge if you break their T&Cs.
• Yes the charge is fair. It is up to you to know what money you have available. To be honest if this has never happened before and you had apologised and asked nicely they probably would have waived the fee.
• Out of curiosity, do you generally keep your card with them in good standing and when you contacted them did you start puffing your chest up and getting indignant over the charge, or query it with them politely?
  I mistakenly went over the limit (which i'd set fairly low on that particular card intentionally) on a Natwest card by Ј50-odd one month a year or so ago as I got some dates crossed and ended up spending (comparatively) a lot on it a few days before the card's direct debit for the full balance was due.
  On phoning Natwest (ie RBS) my query wasn't "how dare you charged me a fee I agreed to you charging me" but "whoops sorry, the direct debit's coming out in a few days, would it be easier for me to clear the balance by debit card immediately to get it back in limit?" - Natwest removed the overlimit fee (without me asking them to) and told me the balance being cleared in a few days by the DD would be fine.
• Thank you for clarifying the difference in credit cards/debit cards - I did not know that.
  The card went over the limit by Ј9 but I realised a few days after the transaction and immediately paid the full amount (original transaction back). At no time was I over the limit at the date the statement was issued - it happened between statements.
  It came to my notice because they sent me a default letter (not received the statement til 2 weeks after this happened. On receiving letter, I wrote a letter to Customer Services explaining what happened and that I immediately bought it back down when it came to my attention.
  But they were adamit that's my fault. I've had lots of problems with RBS in the past as they kept turning off my paper statements and they seem very rigid in being fair to their customers.
  Anyway, there loss - I've paid it off completely now and written to them to ask them to close the account.
• Some cards offer you the option of text alerts when you are a specified amount from your limit.
  The charge is fair (and cheaper than it used to be as others pointed out).
  If you were stuck needing petrol at 3am, would you be please if your card got declined then?