Britons face 110 financial penalty fees
Britons face some 110 penalty fees on just five financial products, with even clued-up consumers struggling to avoid some of them.
Research from comparison website moneysupermarket.com shows that the average consumer with a mortgage, current account, savings account, loan, and credit card can face financial penalties of up to £295 for anything from changing provider to asking for their statement to arrive on a different date.
"It is unbelievable that five financial products alone can be the root of so much penalty pain," said Stuart Glendinning, moneysupermarket managing director.
"There is a huge number of default and penalty charges of which even the most astute consumer can fall foul.
"It is important to raise the flag of awareness on these penalties and blow the whistle on providers who do not make their penalty fees transparent to consumers from the outset."
Penalties you want to miss:
- Mortgages
There are 46 different penalty fees applicable to mortgages. These range from exit fees (up to £295), administration charges of up to £40 for copies of documents, and up to £175 for adding people's names to the mortgage. All of these come on top of the standard mortgage booking and arrangement fees of up to £999.
- Current Accounts
There are 32 penalties waiting in store for current account customers, including fees for arranging an overdraft (up to £25) and requests for stopping a cheque or getting a banker's draft (£10 on average).
- Credit cards
Credit card customers face 16 different penalty charges. These include charges for exceeding credit limits of up to £25, another £25 fee for returned cheques with some providers and £10 to simply change the date a statement arrives with others.
- Loans
There are as many as 11 penalty fees attached to loan payments - including early settlement fees and late payment fees, unpaid direct debit fees and returned cheques - costing £25 or £30.
- Savings
There are even five penalty charges applied to savings accounts - these include withdrawal penalties, charges for not depositing minimum amounts, and others including penalties for closing accounts early. Most penalties on savings accounts result in a loss of interest.
Click here to look for cheap mortgage rates with MyFinances' mortgage comparison tables.
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