Understanding Bank Charges to Protect Your Money

Bank charges can be difficult to understand and seem to sneak up on you when you aren't looking, but with a little understanding you can watch for any bank charge and learn how to claim bank charges in the correct way. PPI (Payment Protection Insurance) may not be a charge you even think about, but you pay it and if you never use it the bank is just making money off of you, instead of the other way around. You can reclaim your PPI payments and reclaim other bank funds, even if you have gone over the limits of your account and had to pay for those mistakes. Banks don't want you to know you can reclaim PPI payments or other bank charges because that is less for them and more for you.

Before you can start the process of reclaiming your bank charges you should understand what bank charges are standard and which can be reclaimed. Your account is usually set up with a set of standard bank charges designed to help you be a responsible financial customer and learn how to manage your money. These include overdraft fees, balance minimums and PPI fees. These fees are all paid almost without your knowledge as they are often small, but over time can add up and if you are hit with multiple overdraft fees at a time can be devastating.

Though you pay a PPI charge to protect your account, if you never need the protection you should be able to get that amount back, right? When you file a PPI claim you should consider the length of your account, the number of PPI payments you've made and the lack of mistakes you have made that the coverage didn't need to cover. This is all how you prove to the bank that you should receive that money back and how as a responsible financial account holder, you are entitled to receive a refund on the money you have invested into having an account with them.

Bank charges can be a fickle and strange world to navigate, but with a basic understanding of the charges you pay each month, you can get back some of the hard earned money you spend to keep your accounts active and in good standing. When looking for a way to save on the fees and expenses you have just to get through the normal standings in life, look for the little things like refunds on bank charges.