By Larry Donaldson

An NSF fee is simply a fee that you pay your bank each time you overdraw your account with a debit card, credit card or check. NSF fees these days at major banks run $30 to $35 per instance. And, the way most overdraft protection programs are set up, you can get dinged with such a fee multiple times in a single day – resulting in $100 or more in charges.

The best thing to do is to avoid putting yourself into a situation whereby you could get charged this type of fee. After all, at least in theory, it should be pretty simple: just don’t make any charges or write any checks when the balance in your checking account won’t cover it.

However, as with most things in life, there is a sizable gap between theory and reality. In practice, on a day-to-day basis, there are a number of things that make it a challenge to always keep proper tabs on one’s checking account balance. For example, the way that many online bank statements display your balance information, it is not always clear which checks or charges have been processed and which have not. Meaning that if you really want to figure out your balance, you need to sit there with a calculator just to do so each and every morning before going shopping.

And don’t depend on your debit card getting rejected at the register as a failsafe way of ensuring you do not overdraw your account. That is because, with most overdraft protection programs, they are set up to actually accept a debit card charge via a merchant even when your balance does not cover the charge! This will result in an automatic NSF fee.

If you have recently had this type of fee assessed to your account, you will want to learn how to write an effective NSF bank fee apology letter in hopes of getting a refund. Here are 5 steps to requesting a refund via letter:

1. Get your facts straight:

Any time you are presenting a facts-based case for something, it is a good idea to have the facts straight ahead of time. Go through your bank statement for the day of the NSF transaction and write down details such as merchant name, data of transaction, the before-and-after bank balance, and the amount of the transaction.

2. Get a story together about what happened:

Of course, you will need to remain truthful, but put together into a story or narrative form just how this happened. You want to make sure it does not sound like an excuse, but rather just an explanation.

3. Get into a calm state of mind:

The way you feel when writing a letter will come across in your choice of words and syntax. Be sure to put yourself into a relaxed, non-confrontational state of mind before putting pen to paper.

4. Write a well-punctuated, grammatically-correct letter:

Of course, presentation in these matters is important. Make sure that your letter is well-written, and be sure to proofread for grammar and punctuation.

5. Send it out and await the result:

Make sure that at the closing of your letter you actually ask for a refund – do not just apologize and leave it at that. Then, send out your letter and await a response.

If you follow these 5 steps, you are likely to get a refund for your NSF fee if it is the only one you’ve had within the last year.

Important: whether or not you are able to successfully obtain a refund, you should consider changing banks to one that does not charge overdraft fees – even when you overdraw your account. These banks are out there and they are looking for customers like you – those who are fed up with paying excessive overdraft fees.

About the Author: Find a list of no-overdraft-fee banks in your area at:

No Overdraft Fee Banks

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Source:

isnare.com

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