Don't let the Banks rip you off

A question about : Don't let the Banks rip you off

For those who have Barclays Additions or Barclays addition Plus tagged on to your account. Today I have realised that most of the items they offer are standard with the Current account at no charge, or you can get the same free with other companies. In my case I have just cancelled and saved Ј90.00 a year or more with the Additions Plus.

If you have Barclaycard, this gives you additional insurance on purchases and an extra years insurance!on goods over Ј50.00.Make sure you give them the details after each purchase as I understand they require you to register the goods with them.

The Barclaycard offer can be a rip off too. Balance Transfers free or very low APR, but you have to spend Ј50.00 monthly , have you worked out why they do this , because some of us are paying them more than you would if you had an Egg Card of which Egg give you dosh back.

Watch out banks I have had a taster of this money saving. 8)

Best answers:

• I have got a small home based business and never pay a penny to my Bankers through operating my account on my personal name. I get my customers to make the cheques payable to my personal name instead of the business and have saved a fortune over an eight years period. May be of interest to someone 8)
• Does Barclaycard still charge Ј10/year for the privilege of using their card? I had one for years until they started this several years ago. When I cancelled it, they tried to justify this charge by laying it on about the extended warranty and purchase cover.
  The Nationwide also gives you one years extended warranty on gas and electrical goods over Ј50 bought using their credit card and they don't charge an annual fee. They also provide free purchase cover for goods over Ј50 which covers most purchases against loss, theft or damage if they are not already insured. Don’t know about the APR as I always pay it in full every month. The fee is only 1% if you withdraw cash abroad and there is no commission charge. With their debit card you can withdraw cash abroad with no charges at all.
  As far as I’m concerned, Barclaycard shot themselves in the foot when they introduced the annual fee.
  No I don’t work for Nationwide. I’m just a very satisfied customer!
• lUCI
  There is no Ј10.00 charge with Barclaycard just the extortionate interest rates compared to Egg ,Cahoot and Smile, But then again, Barclays and Barclaycard enjoy scamming there loyal customers ie: the present Barclaycard offer interset free balance transfers as long as you spend Ј50.00 per month, such a rip off in alot of cases if you work the figures out.
  Chris !
  PS Sorry for repeating myself.
• Are you sure you get all these benefits from the normal Barclays current account ? ???
  https://www.personal.barclays.co.uk/B...9&site=pfs
  Additions
  Additions is a current account that offers a great combination of financial, legal and medical support. You get a full range of day-to-day banking facilities with extra benefits worth up to Ј544 for just Ј7.50 a month.
  Everything you need in one place:
  Breakdown cover
  Roadside assistance from Green Flag - you're automatically covered.
  Legal
  A 24-hour legal helpline covering everything from matrimonial issues to neighbour disputes.
  Barclays will writing service.
  Family
  Children's health cover from Norwich Union at just Ј4 per month per child
  Pet insurance from MORE TH>N at a special introductory rate.
  Protection
  Purchase protection
  Extended warranty cover
  Ј10,000 accidental death cover from Royal & SunAlliance
  Cardholder protection.
  Your money
  Ј250 interest and fee-free overdraft*
  Preferential rate of 9.9 per cent EAR on agreed overdrafts over Ј250
  Connect card with Ј100 cheque guarantee limit
  Time-saving Telephone and Online Banking.
  We're so confident you'll be happy with Additions, we guarantee to refund all your monthly Additions fees within 90 days of opening your account if you're not entirely satisfied.
• I worked for Barclays, and found the Additions package a good tool for getting your will written for free. !Just make sure you get your will written up by them within 90 days, then go into your branch and get the account cancelled and your money refunded, the acount number will remain the same, it's just they'll change the 'tariff' from Addidtions, to Barclays Bank Account.
  You then have your will written by Barclays Bank Trust Co. Ltd for nothing.
  A final pointer to this. !Unfortunately I did have to use my partners Additions Will two years ago, as we weren't married. !It made things a lot easier through a difficult time in my life, when otherwise it could have proved expensive and time consuming to sort out the estate.
• hi
  anyone tried RBS royalties?
  they have three fee paying accounts chargingЈ 5 Ј10 and Ј15.
• Does anyone know of a bank which doesn't have extortionate bank charges. I bank with BOS and they have raised their charges to rip off level. For going Ј7 over my overdraft limit for 1 day they are going to charge me Ј35!!!!!. They say in their letter this can rise to Ј105 per day plus a Ј28 standing charge. There must be a law against this kind of robbery.
• Thanks - they are going to refund the charge. Shame they were so heavy handed in the first place - I was about to apply for a Ј95000 mortgage with them and I've cancelled Ј130 worth of house insurance with them. An awful lot of business lost because of Ј7.
• Well I doubt any bank would give you a mortgage if you'd been over their overdraft limit.
  Don't Barclays give you mobile phone insurance with their premium current account now. Seems like a deal if you're paying the exorbitant Ј5+ a month they can charge.
• There's a very good argument that this sorf of Ј35 charge is illegal. As well as being pathetic customer relations.
  See https://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian_j...312102,00.html
• Tim,
  Agree that the Ј35 is extortionate but it is a tricky arguement. How do you get people to keep within their overdraft limit or credit limit without high charges?
  Bad debt cost the banks billions of pounds a year too. How can they tell that you have made an honest mistake and aren't running up debts that you won't be able to repay?
  Why should the government have a monopoly on fines too. Paying tax late - Ј100 fine. 65mph in a 60 limit on an open clear road in good weather Ј60 camera fine. Don't seem very fair to me either!
  If I owned a bank, for the first offence in a 12 month period I wouldn't charge - just issue a letter. Second time, a fine seems ok to me. If I can't manage my money, the bank has every right to charge me, unless it is their mistake, in which case I know they will refund me.
• Banks already make a fortune out of their customers - interest from current accounts, savings, agreed overdrafts, loans etc. I like to think I was a good customer for 9 years and at the first opportunity the y tried to stick the boot in
  P.S. Thanks Tim, that was a good link - very informative
• Where is the justification for charging Ј35 for going Ј7 over your overdraft limit on one occasion. It is a total rip off and is totally indefensible. I for one am walking away from HBOS - they can shove their ' customer service - (ha) where the sun doesnt shine. The real shame is that the Bank of Scotland were a really good bank until they got into bed with the Halifax who are only interested in ripping you off and then telling you how much they care about their customers - yeh right!
• I agree that if it's the first time you've breached your facility then there's grounds for a refund but you have to ask for it and the majority of times you'll find you'll get it if you ask. If the person you speak to doesn't refund it then just phone back later and you'll probably find the next person you speak to will refund it.
  Banks are just like every other business, some of the money they make comes from customer inertia.
• As someone who works for a CC company that specialised in the sub-prime market, high fees are an excellent income generator - might not seem ethical but great for business.
  With sub-prime, year-on-year we were highly profitable, since being bought out and moved to prime things aren't quite as rosy.