Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

lloyds tsb again wow, they defenitly the hardest out of all the banks.

I think CAG and moneysavingexpert hold some blame as to why these people lost, many people are scared to claim and consistently get told its not hard to do and have nothing to worry about, I expect many lloyds tsb customers are more worried now including myself.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I get the feeling that some are deviating from the standard path. If you follow Mr Angrys advice I'm sure it should go through o.k.

Has worked for many many people already! :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I have been charged £25 everytime i use my card beyond my overdraft, so i took the advice given in this thread, unfortunately it hasn't worked. They have taken a further £275 in charges in the last 2 months, they have also removed the charges while my account was in debit (over my overdraft), furthermore, they are charging me a further £25 for taking the second charge. I am really fep up and angry now, i have had no response to any of my letters, so i am thinking of sending this (below), what do you think?

Dear Sir

You have not complied or even replied to my earlier letter, dated 23 April 2007, and I find this very disturbing.
Since my last letter a further £125 has been taken out of my account, while it was in debit. This is the second time that an illegal charge has been removed from my account while it was in debit, which I know to be against my contract. Furthermore, my account is currently being charged a further £25 for the removal of the above charge, which is illegal.

The amount currently owed to me by your company is £800; this includes all illegal charges and interest. This figure will increase every time a charge is removed from my account.

My solicitor has been informed of these events and is keeping a strict record. If you do not respond or reimburse the funds taken out of my account illegally within 10 days, I will report your company and I will be forced to sue your company for Breech of Contract and Theft.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I;d not bother. Get yourself over to the Consumer Action Group and read up on the process you need to follow. Send the standard letters and follow the process given to the letter. DON'T send ad hoc letters of your own as they're likely to undermine your case.

If you follow the correct process you should get your money back.

Also - STOP USING YOUR DEBIT CARD IF YOU HAVE NO MONEY!

Even though the charges are disproportionately you still don't have the right to spend money you don't have!

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Shaun I expect these people may have done the advice, its luck if you end up in court or not, seemingly the ones that ended up in court are because the bank was too overwhelmed and it wasnt intended. Sending the letter templates doesnt affect what happens in court the court preparation does and to be fair I havent seen much advice on court preparation because all the sites like CAG are so confident that you wont end up in court so they not bothering.

Umm with my debit card if I get a declined payment there is no charges, didnt you mean stop setting up direct debits when you know they will bounce?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6711197.stm

:(

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Assuming the letter of April 23rd referenced above is your first correspondence with your bank then I'm afraid you haven't followed the "advice given in this thread" as the timespan between April 23rd and May 30th does not exceed the time afforded a respondent in respect of compliance with a SAR under the DPA (40 days).

I think you should calm down, count to 10 and be a bit more responsible about your overdraft spending.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

There was no need to go down the DPA route as we had the information to hand from bank statements.
Faulty's tried contacting the bank regarding this and has been ignored every time, although last time she actually went into the branch to discuss it, they admitted they were wrong to take the charges, but said they couldn't do anything about it as it was with another dept!
Many of the charges are charges for charges, where we've had to use her card because my work has screwed up my pay day (I blame Gordon Brown) or where Barclays have delayed clearing cheques into my account (should take 6 days, our deposit cheque from our last house took 7 working days to clear).
The card hasn't been used for about a month now, and there are no plans to use the account again as my wages have been sorted.

The above letter has been discarded, and I've taken over, using the info on the moneysavingexpert website. Currently waiting for the 40 days to run out on the DPA request I've sent to HSBC for my old account.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Xaccers old chap,

Be careful in what you're doing. By "taking over" from aul ma Xaccers you are affording the bank even more leverage in that they will draw this out as long as possible.

Additionally, under no circumstances should you or she be explaining to the bank how they arrived at a position whereby they thought they were entitled to levy charges. In doing so you are weakening your case by affording them the opportunity to find fault in her / your money management and you / she might well find yourselves in a predicament whereby they close her / your account citing this as a (perfectly reasonable) reason for doing so.

You know where to find me.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

It is intended - even if they know they're not going to win it'll weed out some of the claims as some customers will threaten court but not go through. Instant savings for the beancounters!

It does matter - if you're not reasonable and fair in your dealings with them it'll not go in your favor when you get to court.



This is what some banks apply under the guise of a "card misuse fee" when you use your card to either spend money via switch or guarantee cheques when you don't have the money.

Not all card transactions that will take you overdrawn are declined. :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

By taking over I just mean I'll print out the letters as per the process and get her to sign them rather than ad-hoc correspondance.


Interstingly, about 9 months ago HSBC sent her a letter saying that they no longer charged pentalty fees but £25 admin fees for increasing your overdraft to cover the outgoings.
£25 per increase. However where someone had a £100 overdraft, if they had a bill etc come out taking it to £150, they were charged £25 for the extention of the overdraft, but the overdraft remained at £100, so if monies were put into the account to bring the overdraft back into the £100 limit, then something else came out, another charge would be applied.
Also, the charging for a few quid over the limit didn't start until September, when it suddenly started and became quite heavy, with charges taking the account over the overdraft limit, and further charges because of that.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

yeah I know someone who had a switch and it allowed him to spend money he didnt have strange, my visa certianly doesnt allow it and payment would be declined and thats the end of the matter.

cheque garuantuee is a diff kettle of fish, and that is irresponsible writing cheques you know wouldnt clear but the bank has to approve them due to the garuantuee.

I think the evil here is direct debits, they are automated, fixed dates and apply a fee regardless if they clear or not when insufficent funds are available, standing orders the same.

From what I understand with the birmingham case is the guy followed correct procedure right up to the court day. ie. he was reasonable and fair and used correct letter templates it was his court preperation that let him down such as not having his original t&c's with him as evidence.

---------- Post added at 04:12 ---------- Previous post was at 04:10 ----------

What about if payments bounced whats the new fee for that called? I assume there would be such a fee.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

VISA Electron and Solo both authorize every transaction. That's why you can't use them on a train to buy a ticket as there's no connection to the network.
Maestro and VISA debit both can be used when they can't be checked for authorisation or on paper vouchers up to the companies floor limit. That's how people can spend money they don't have. (It's the same with credit cards!)

If you have Solo or VISA Electron then you shouldn't (but I have seen it) be able to spend money that isn't there.

If you misuse your Maestro/VISA Debit card many companys do charge you for every transaction.

---------- Post added at 13:42 ---------- Previous post was at 13:34 ----------

The new T&C I got from HSBC told me that they would never charge charges on charges. It may be worth digging out the leaflet and checking.

They also said they would not make a charge that was greater than the amount that you went over drawn by. for example you go £18.76 over drawn - they'd not charge you £25 for it.


http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/c...dkPk:11j77hvaa

I think that even though the charges are still too hight for my liking (I'd like to see it around the 5 to 8 pound mark) the charging policy set out by HSBC is one of the fairer ones. No fee for your first bounce in 6 months, no fee if you pay in cash to cover it before close of play. No fees if you go less than £10 overdrawn!

*** Interesting point Xassers :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hello folks,

Well what can I say except better late than never in ref to me sending off the Data Protection Act letter!!! I just done so last Thursday registered so they will have had it by last Friday. I sent it to....
The Data Controller/Compliance Officer
HALIFAX PLC (Bank of Scotland)
TRINITY ROAD
HALIFAX
WEST YORKSHIRE
HX1 2RG

I made the cheque for the £10 out to Halifax Bank of Scotland plc. I'm hoping I sent it to the right office and made the cheque out to the correct dept so I'll update you on my progress from here. Fingers crossed and thanks for all those who gave advice and direction up till now. ;)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

When I use my visa debit card over the phone I am told its been authorised the payment and I have in the past had a payment declined due to insufficent funds, the only way I can spend money I dont have on it from what I see is if I write a cheque covered by the cheque garuantuee. Note my card isnt an electron its a proper visa debit card.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Very interesting points, especially as she's been charged £150 in a day and certainly not gone £150 over her overdraft limit!
The other thing is their literature that says they'll increase the overdraft automatically as required for £25 each time, so your new overdraft should be higher, meaning if you bring yourself back into credit, you should have the new overdraft for emergencies. That wasn't how it worked, if you went back into credit (or into your old overdraft level), the new overdraft was reset to the old one, so you'd get stung again if you went over.
So say you were at your £100 overdraft limit, and your fridge packed up and you needed to spend £50 to get it fixed, you'd be at £175 (the extra £50, and extra charge to extend your overdraft).
You find a scratch card and win £75, being good you put in in your bank account, taking you back to £100 overdrawn. Then your central heating springs a leak and you have to spend £25 on getting it repaired, so you're at £-125, HSBC would charge again so you're actually at £-150.
The thing is, they don't charge you on the day, there's a delay so just before the charges are due out, you could get yourself back to £-100, then they charge you the £50 for going over the £100 limit twice, which now takes you to £-150, and they charge you another £25!

We've got nothing against charges covering the costs involved in increasing an overdraft or returning a failed direct debit/standing order (although standing order should just not be actioned) but £25 for each is way more than it actually costs.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I agree the charge is extortionate.

I didn't read their T&C as behaving in the manner you said, though if they are actioning charges on charges for more than you go OD it doesn't make them as fair as they sound does it! :(

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hi Folks,

Recieved a letter from HBOS's data subject access request team the other day - dated the 18th June - saying due to a high number of similar request that it may take a little time to process my request - but that I will have the required info within 40 days of them recieving my request etc etc. So far so good. ;)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Recieved a large pile of statements from HSBC today, will take me a while to go through them *joy*

That's for my account.

Got to confirm the charges on Faulty's account as the bank is claiming they can only find half of them!

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd update the tread as my claim progressed. On Sat just gone I recieved a letter from the bank (BOS) and it was in ref to the letter I sent asking for all charges etc. Here is an extract from that same letter I sent them below in bold.

Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my banking history with your organisation. Alternatively, a complete set of statements for that period will be acceptable.
Additionally, where there has been any event in my account history over this period which has required manual intervention by any member of your staff, or any other person, I require disclosure of any indication or notes which have either caused or resulted in that manual intervention, or other evidence of that manual intervention in relation to my banking business with you.
If you are unable to supply this data because there has been no such manual intervention, then please be so kind as to confirm this in your response.

In the letter I recieved there was what appears to be a 'SCHEDULE OF CHARGES' attached, as there are various dates with amounts oposite - including ones from a closed account with them. I was expecting the 'interest debited charges' to have been included with these charges. What I mean is on my bank statment this month it had £1.93 charged to my account as 'interest debitited' and at the bottom of my statment is states that next month there will be £3.37 to be debited as interest debitited. I take it this 'interest debitited' is for me using my over draft every month?

On a more serious note, should all these 'interest debitited' amounts have been included with my list of charges, as I originally asked for 'a complete list of all charges' with my originally letter?

If anyone knows the answer to the above I'd be very grateful.

I don't mind going with just the charges that I have to go with - purley for a quick resoulution - but I'm just checking to see if this is the bank been sneeky and not giving a complete list.

Also I asked (again in the 1st bold bit above) about the manual intervention to which I got this reply;

'As BOS is not required to record this info I am afraid I am unable to assist etc etc.' Is this manual intervention a bid deal does anyone know?

One final question folks and it's in ref to the next letter template I have ready to send off as in 'request for repayment of charges' letter. Once I have recieved the rel feedback from you that is.

It states on this letter the following (in Green) but I find it a bit confusing. It says 'taken' with x amonts and then 'plus' with x amounts. Is it the total of charges and then the plus bit is the 8% interest I add to the total?

Again any help is much appricated as I just want to make sure I get it right.

What I require
I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX .
I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter.

p.s. Sorry for such a long tread folks and on a positive note the bank stated in the letter, that they would not be cashing my £10 cheque I send with the dpa letter. They said BOS has decided not to charge a fee for requests such as these. Perhaps it's because I would eventually be asking for that also to have been refunded. :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Interest charged on an overdraft isn't claimable, however, interest on the charges they've applied is.
Basically, being overdrawn means you've got a loan from the bank, so them charging you interest is fair.
Their charging you £25 etc to set up the loan (overdraft) or increase it isn't fair, so you can claim for it.

Anyone know how the OFT high court case is affecting claims?
Are they all on hold?
HSBC has stalled until the day the case was announced on the news, still claiming there's only £300 worth of charges, then offered £220!
Each month they're adding £25 as the interest charges are taking the account further over the overdraft limit.
They owe her approx £600, she even offered to accept the overdraft amount (approx £500) but they weren't interested.
So do we proceed with small claims court, or do we have to wait for the high court decision?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

They are on hold until after the verdict

Market watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will allow banks to suspend dealing with any claims for repayment of overdraft charges filed against them until the test case has been decided.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6918140.stm

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

So with this court case is their any point in me writing to my bank to attempt to reclaim my charges?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I'd wait until a verdict is given, might even be easier to claim once it's resolved ;)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/your-mone...oowftxt0010011
Is another good article on the subject

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hi TheDaddy & co,

I was just about to send off the letter to reclaim the charges from HBOS and came accross your tread. Surely there is no harm in still trying? :erm:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Might be worth making the banks aware of how much they owe you, even if you can't take it to court.
That way, if the case ends in our favour, the banks will be aware, and you'll have a record of them knowing.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

In a fool.co.uk article I just got emailed it says it is vital to keep claiming charges with your bank. If the bank does not respond (which legally they still must do) and pay up (which perhaps they can now delay), then to file a claim in the courts. Something to do with you only being able to claim back charges for the last 6 years from the time that you file the claim in a court (not contact the bank). The chap in the fool article reckoned the FSA estimate of 1 year for the matter to be settled in the court is widely optimistic and it is likely to be up to 3 years or more before the courts rule. Eg if you wait until the FSA court case is settled in say 2010, then you can only claim back charges incurred from 2004 onwards unless you put in a claim to the courts now.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

This to me stinks, a behind closed door deal been made which shockingly allows banks to suspend claims but yet carry on charging. Seems the corrupt wealthy have won again and can break the law as they please because realisticaly the banks are not going to be told to pay back 10billion at the end of this and as martin says this will be a farce, it wouldnt surprise me if they even won and this is a cover up to make us believe the OFT are fixing it.

You still allowed to claim tho if can prove in financial hardship.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I must agree with you on this as the banks are so rich and powerfull (especially together) and who knows what kind off behind the door deal is ongoing - or brown envelopes been passed around. Fingers crossed thou they (banks) gets their fingers burnt.

Then again if they don't have to pay out at the mo, that same money is making big interest for those banks. :(

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

you can still put yoour claim in. The FSA have said that the banks still need to log and acknowledge claims. I Have some friends working in the claims section of one of the banks involved in the court case. They are still logging cases, and people I have spoken to there say its a good idea to still put you claim in.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

But on that basis BA, Virgin, Lufthansa, Korea Air etc are too, but they are being hammered on competition over fuel surcharges.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Right, after getting my statement this morning my bank (LloydsTSB) have again charged me £30 for going over my overdraft last month.

The reason for this was that they added a £30 charge for when I was 21 pence over my limit the previous month. I am so annoyed with them. On plenty of phone calls with them I was told that if the bank adds any charges to my account and I end up going over my overdraft I will not be charged by them. However they are still charging me!

Without looking through the full thread can someone please advise of a good letter to send them demanding they refund the charges. I have all my statements going back to 2002 so know exactly how much I want back.

Cheers
steve

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/

:tu:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Some one will correct me if I am wrong but I am sure that this goes against their own guidelines, I am almost certain they prohibited from levying charges on unauthorised overdrafts under £1

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Interesting development.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6987110.stm

---------- Post added at 13:38 ---------- Previous post was at 13:36 ----------

Smile charged me a total of £95 for being a total of 3p over my limit for 16 days.
Sent several letters (before I new the legal way of doing it), told me its tuff, financial ombusman were NOT interested.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I thought this too, but Lloyds TSB also seem to think otherwise.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

NatWest *******s :mad:


A right bunch of bankers.


Oh, has our unfair charge put you over the limit? Here, have another one! Hmm, & another!!!!!


This whole mess started due to a cheque from the joint account for £60something, which Ally wrote for her mobile (she was going to cover it when she got paid a couple of weeks later).

O2 did not receive the cheque when they should have, & then later asked Ally for payment, so she paid via an alternative method (but unfortunately didn't remember to cancel the cheque! :( )

A couple of months later [mid-August], O2 finally found (or received) the cheque. And despite having already been paid for the bill, they promptly went to cash it anyway.

As this was not something which the two of us had budgeted for ('cos it wasn't supposed to go out!), there wasn't enough money in the account to cover the cheque – causing NatWest to charge us £38 for bouncing it, and then another £38 for bouncing it again a few days later.

The charges caused us to go over our agreed overdraft limit.

I put an extra £40 in the account to cover the first charge, when I first noticed it, so there should still then have been enough money for the two remaining bills: Sky & contents insurance. Sky cleared, insurance didn't (only a £9.87 DD!). I guess the actual cleared timings of the payments was off a bit.

They twice bounced the £9.87 insurance Direct Debit, charging us £38 each time. Unwilling to take £9.87 from our account so we could meet a Direct Debit payment, yet quite happy to take £76 instead.

So, we found ourselves down by £152, which we had not expected nor budgeted for.

And then, to make matters worse, we have received a letter containing “Pre-advice details of charges�, which states that due to going over our agreed overdraft limit, we shall be charged a “maintenance charge� of £28 on the 28th September 2007 (not the best 30th birthday present for me!!!).

The only reason we went over our agreed limit was because NatWest chose to charge us 4 x £38 in bounce fees. Charging us again does not help the situation at all, and just puts us further in debt.


And, to make it even worse, I checked the account tonight, to find a £30 "Referral Charge for August" dated the 10th September.

A quick Google found it's for when NatWest choose to honour a payment which makes you go over your agreed limit.


Wonderful.

£38 + £38 + £38 + £38 + £30 + £28 = £210 :mad: :(

Lovely. Just lovely. Well, it's not like we're trying to save for a wedding or anything, is it... :rolleyes:


So, we're both v v angry, & skint, plus Ally feels really bad 'cos she forgot to cancel the damn cheque.


Advice anyone?


Write to them?

Phone them first?

Swallow it, seeing as the whole claim thing seems to be on hold anyway??

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I'd give them a ring Matt if this particular occasion is out of the ordinary. I've had about 5 charges allocated to my account in the last 5 years and never paid one of them yet because i argued the toss. Give it a shot, you never know your luck ;)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Again I am pretty sure that goes against their own banking guidelines as well, I think you are 'only' allowed to have three charges levied against your account a month, still seeing as they seemed to have completely ignored the one about charging people who are less than a pound overdrawn, who knows, might be worth mentioning though

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

HSBC have done exactly the same with Faulty.
Overdraft currently at £517

They got cunning, charged £25 to "extend" your overdraft covering anything that comes out taking you over if some late payment suddenly comes out.
Thing is, they then apply interest, which takes you a couple of quid over the new limit, oh, another £25, oh over your limit? We'll extend that for you automatically, and charge you £25. Hey, you're now over your limit, we'll just take £25 more to rectify that.
Oh dear, you appear to be £25 over your limit etc etc.
Faulty asked them to freeze the account, they refused.
Claimed the £600+ they owe her in charges, they delayed in responding until the waiver was brought in.
Offered £300 and denied they'd charged Faulty any more than that!
Now back to suggesting we settle on the £517 and call it quits on the rest.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Somethings wrong here - the people you're dealing with don't know what HSBC's policy is on this obviously (and I can believe it from my experience of trying to get info on exchange rates and debit card use abroad)

Firstly - their policy clearly states that they won't charge for a request of less then 10GBP.

Also

They state that any charges or interest that take you over your limit WONT be charged for.


This is wrong - and I believe that this is what they said to you - their staff are so poorly trained in their own policies

See the charges leaflet here:

http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/PA_1_5_S5/co...WdFZ:11j71s4j3

I've attached it also :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

All three and try and claim it back from O2 too - don't tell them you're trying to get it back from NW as well - you may cop lucky :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Cheers all :tu:


I think I may just write to them.


If I phone them, I'm liable to get irate & may swear at them.

Plus a letter makes it easier to go through it all & explain everything.

Nabbed a template letter off moneysavingexpert ("... believe these charges are unfair & unlawful...Please repay them...etc etc"), & whacked in a load of detail as above re. everything (minus calling them *******s).


Also, found something on the net (one of the anti-charging forums I think) suggesting that according to the Banking Code, members must give their customers 14 days notice of any charges.

The only charges we got any notice for were the £30 "Referral Charge" (for them honouring a payment when there were insufficient funds... why were there insufficient funds? 'Cos of the charges, & 'cos they didn't give any leeway for the extra money I put in) and the upcoming £28 "Maintenance Charge" for going over the limit (a limit only breached due to their previous unfair charges...). [I had thought the only one we had notice of was the £28, but I've just found a letter in a pile which Ally's opened which does actually mention the £30 Referral Charge]

However, from a quick glance at the banking code, it wasn't too clear to me if that actually covers *all* charges (e.g. the bounce charges too), or only covers some charges.


If we had simply had notice of the very first charge (if we were supposed to... which I guess we weren't? :( ), then none of this would've happened. [Or, if they'd actually allowed a v. brief "grace period" after the 1st charge, & given the extra £40 I transferred time to clear...]



Oh, & here's a petition link, dunno if it's been posted here before:

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BankCharter/



EDIT:

Oh, one worry I forgot to mention -

Do they tend to tell you to sod off & pay everything back that you owe them if you try & claim charges back? e.g. "OK, Mr Dodd. Here's your £210 in charges. Oh, by the way, we're closing all your accounts & require you to pay back the overdraft" etc etc.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I had one with Nationwide. I owe £250 ish now.

I went in after the first one, said "Close my account and I will pay this back. I dont need the account anymore."

They said, its outstanding so until you make a payment in full, we arent closing it.

Its racked up but the Debt Collectors can whistle.

Might get all me statements online, print em and take them to court.

It just seems like a lot of hastle! Is it?

I have all the letter templates, but Im scared, to be honest!

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Been going through my financial affairs from the early 90s and it seems I had 2 accounts, one with Lloyds, the other with TSB. I don't remember how long the accounts were open from or two other than they were circa 1992. IIRC there were one or two charges so I'm going to chase them up on it however I don't have the account numbers or any details about them at all other than they were my accounts.

Obviously they are going to make this as difficult as possible so what should my approach be? To request all the statements from each account? Are they likely to charge me for them?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Russ, have you any idea how long, if at all, they've been closed?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

A good 12 to 13 years.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hmm can't you only go back 6 years?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

As the Daddy says, I'm afraid you're "chinned" for the time being. Hold fire until next month - there is due to be a ruling on this.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Crap :(

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

My bank whom I've been with for since I was 17 did something strange last month.I went overdrawn by £99 which is unusual these days and they charged me.This of course took it even further in the red..then the same day they returned the charges in full.I didn't ask for it,hadn't caused a stink about previous charges(not had any for some while now) but they returned it....Then a week later I got a very shirty headmaster in the study type letter complaining about the unautherised overdraft and explaining that as a customer of long standing and apparent fiscal sense they had returned the money but would I please not do it again.

I'm so glad that in between I had finally sneaked in behind their backs and organised online the overdraft that they have persistantly refused to grant me for the last 15 years.I only ever asked for £100 but they never would allow it.:)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Good on you Coggy!!

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Just got off the phone to halifax to request a refund of a recent charge before I put it in writing and they claim they are refusing to honour all claims until the current test case between an unamed bank and a customer is finalised - instead they'll look at all claims afterwards and deal with the situation then.

Does anyone know about this case?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

So what happens in the meantime if I wanted to take them to court while the case is ongoing? They can't simply say "Sorry son, wait for the test case" can they?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I think so although they should really have taken the details of your claim and are Halifax part of RBS or the Bank of Scotland because I believe only one (RBS) is taking part in the test case

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

It would seem so Russ.

I soo hate banks..They have needled themselves into the fabric of society but behave as if they are a law unto themselves.Everyone is forced into having some sort of account whether they want one or not just to get paid a salary.

I can remember when most folk DIDN'T have a bank account..because they got WAGES in a nice little brown envelope.No waiting for the bank to process cheques,salary payments and you just paid cash for everything..and above all no credit cards and a society NOT built entirely on debt.The days of innocence.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Lloyds threatened to close my account if I dont take up a ripoff consilidation loan. The banks feel invincable right now as the law hasnt came down on them.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

They would simply tell you:

"Sorry son, you're out of time"

or

"Sorry son, we're under no obligation to address your claim as not only are you out of time but we have a dispensation due to the pending legal review which that awfully nice chap Mr Angry told you about".

Either way you lose.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Are all banks covered by that Mr A or just those involved in the test case?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Seems rather unfair that the greedy *******s can use the test case as an excuse to tell people to sod off, yet *they* can quite happily continue to fleece us in the meantime.


If claims are on hold due to waiting for the outcome of the test case, surely charges should also be on hold until the outcome of the test case?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Which is why I said they should still have taken note of his claim, in fact I believe the FSA ordered them to, even though they don't have to act on it until the outcome of the test case is known ;)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Well, unfortunately a certain individual thought it best to put his ego ahead of consumer rights and an established tenet of contract law in order to make a name for himself in legal circles.

The end result is the stalemate that consumers now find themselves in and the banks having "won" a case which was prosecuted more in an attempt to feed said ego than to assert an already established legal precedent.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Barclays are still charging £30 for you going over your overdraft i notice...

Actually, i went over mine not long ago by a few quid, they added a £30 charge, then a direct debit went out the next day and i hadn't been online to check my account- anyway Barclays had transferred the amount i was over from another of my accounts, leaving me only the £30 charge over my overdraft. Never known them to do that before!
And they sent me a letter to say it was to "help me avoid further charges".

Nice of them :)
Or they could just NOT charge £30 once a day for a max of 3 days per month for me going £5 over my overdraft, meh.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Bit of good news from the OFT. :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7095907.stm

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Bank charges court test delayed.

I don't know why as no reason has been given in the article.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7190215.stm

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I think the Judge is too busy or has been committed... :erm:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

judge in the banks pockets?

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

The cynic in me does wonder if the relevant authority's will be poking around in their finances. :erm:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

The case has the potential to go on for years. Imagine if people were running their accounts poorly and the banks came out on top, you could ruin some one by backdating them all!

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Im currently dealing with Alliance & Leicester who have charged me £120.00 for an £8.89 over draft on New years Day then to miss advise me and cause another over draft to occure taking the total to £220.00

So far they are yet to respond on the complaint logged on the 26th Jan

Just waiting until the 26th Next month if I dont hear from them the FSA will be notified for breaching the FSA principles

Principle 6: Treating Customers Fairly

As well as 3 others

Becuase there not part of the test trial they think there excluded however there is contractual laws involved also where Im happy to drag them through the small claims court if I must to make an example out of them

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hi all,

Just sending the 2nd letter tomorrow asking for the charges back. I heard from my other half, that she heard from a bank employee that the banks are not paying out at the moment. The cases will be frozen and no doubt of the appeal, if they loose and fingers crossed, it shall mean a further delay perhaps. I don't know how true this is but thought I'd let you know, as it could be rumours inside that bank office. Then again maybe not.

Is it true that at the moment no payments are been made at all by the banks? :confused:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Loads of info here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7230466.stm

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Thanks for this Marge. ;)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Today's the day http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7362856.stm

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I see the end of "free" banking any time now....

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7364422.stm


And queue the truckload of complaints dropping into the likes of the Abbey!

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Bloody hell!!! (Sorry!!)

I bet Martin Lewis is going nuts!!!! Yay for the consumer!

Edit - thinking about it, I bet this will be the nail in the coffin for "free" bank accounts....

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Read the links - it doesn't mean the charges are unlawful. It just means the Office of Fair Trading can decide for themselves if the charges are illegal.

I reckon they'll come to an agreement where the current charges are dropped to a fixed rate of £10 to £15.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I think the banks will not want to say exactly how much it costs to produce an overdraft letter. So they will pay out on all charges up till now, reduce the charge to a 'reasonable' level, and then after that they wont have to pay out. I dont think its the future charging levels the banks are worried about, but the huge amounts they have charged in the past.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

saaf I somewhat agree with you.

I predict an out of court settlement something like this.

Future charges at around £12 fixed fee.
Excess charges prior to now to be paid out without court but not automatically consumer has to make claim with the bank.
Additional bank charges to be created to make up for lost revenue, possibilities are atm charges, monthly banking fees for everyone (although likely to be waived for the rich), less favourable interest rates on both credit and overdrafts.

I already pay my bank a monthly fee, this gives me my overdraft limit and debit card, other banks have turned me down for a debit card so I just carry on paying it I am saying this to point out the 'free banking' that keeps coming up is not a reality for many people but more a smoke and screen illusion that banking is free when it isnt.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I see personal bank accounts run like business accounts. We will be charged for depositing money as well as any cheques (which should be rare as they are being phased out) that are processed through the account

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Here's a couple of snippits from the article in MoneySavingExpert.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/rec...k-charge-recla

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

That may create another issue, some local authorities pay out housing benefits as cheques as for whatever reason they wont make payments via BACS.

I agree again tho I wouldnt be surprised if those charges come into play as it will also serve to discourage people using branches to deposit money, eg. might make it free via ATM but have no instant clearance but chargeable over the counter.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

i said this before but here it is again for clarity and "reference" cf searching later:

when it comes to any Benefits, the banks etc, have been acting unlawfully, aside from any ruling today about the OFT etc.

since the Govt wanted to make/force everyone use accounts, to save giro money processing etc, and so included the fact banks/BS etc cant take any moneys from any state benefits, pass the word again...

"Social Security Administration Act 1992 (s.187) which states as follows:

187.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every assignment of or charge on—
(a) benefit as defined in section 122 of the Contributions and Benefits Act;
(b) any income-related benefit; or
(c) child benefit,
and every agreement to assign or charge such benefit shall be void; and, on the bankruptcy of a beneficiary, such benefit shall not pass to any trustee or other person acting on behalf of his creditors.
"

if you want a "Particulars of Claim" for reference for a Small Claim in the courts, heres one

http://www.penaltychargesforum.co.uk...118#post318118
"Particulars of Claim" for Benefit related Claims

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Whilst the news is good I wouldn't "bank" on any changes just yet

Motley Fool comment :dozey:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Some good points raised there it does seem indeed the FSA is really looking after the banks and not the consumers.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I dont think all the banks will end "free banking"

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hi all,

Better late than never I say! Basically, the 2nd letter just went off yesterday asking for the charges back - so fingers crossed I didn't leave it to late to send off.

I had other charges to add thou and one was for them cashing the £10 cheque for the statments I requested. They hung on to it long enough and then cashed it when I had no funds to cover it - perhaps on purpose.
I'll update this tread with the progress. :cool:

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

All cases have been ceased havent they? While they are still in court about them.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Although on hold, I'm pretty sure that the case being logged sets the claim time period (6 years in England/Wales) so if your oldest charge is getting close to 6 years ago, better to get it logged than miss out.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

As long as the claimes have been logged I'm sure of some sort of payment when the court cases do finish. ;)
As it stands they (banks) have less than a month now to lodge an appeal on the decission made the other day by the Judge.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

As far as Im aware, there was no decsion, they still havent been ruled illegal.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Agreed. In ruling that The next thing to happen is the court hearing on 22nd May when a time table will be set for the actual Court hearings that will consider the question of a fair amount for bank charges.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/rec...k-charge-recla

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

I would be very suprised if the OFT ruled in favour of the banks, especially when you consider their stance on price fixing in supermarkets. They could even find that banks operate unfairly by fixing the prices of overdraft letters and other charges.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

As far as I'm aware it was the OFT that brought this test case to the courts? If that's the case then surely they will not favour the banks.....well here's hoping. :)

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Im hoping that some one will read this post rather than the original one at the front of this Thread


Ive been banking in the past with Alliance and Leicester

Recently they decided to charge me over £575.00 for an £8.48 over draft

This comes from a £25.00 charge then £5.00 per day until the amounts are cleared
I cleared all balances in my account before they took the £95.00 charge (£5.00 a day)
as I saw that as daylight robery (£120.00 total for £8.48)

I was told all my direct debits had gone out which hadnt causing another charge because i removed all funds to prevent the £95.00 going out (Did have a £100.00 overdraft to prevent further charges whilst they investigated it) but because of the misadvise I went over that £100.00 over draft

They charged me another £25.00 and a £5.00 a day charge which I refused to pay
1) out of principle
2) because I was misadvised
3) It doenst justify staff charges. interest to charge that much

This month I got a bank statement showing aq whooping £210.00 charge being added for this month alone.

Dispite me having moved all my finances over the barclays and stopped using their cards etc

The £8.48 overdraft was caused on New Years Eve and they slapped a restriction on my account on the 1st Jan (BANK HOLIDAY) yet the Direct Debits wasnt due out until the 2nd January.

When I checked my account on the 1st Jan I had £5.00- out of £100.00- allowance
So why is it they could slap a restriction on my account at 4am on a bank holiday, for a pending direct debit due out and then say its all my fault and im responsible for my fundings of the account

FSA regulated, does state that a company must take due care, skill and dilligence on dealing with its customers and also work towards the customers best interest

I dont see that being my best interest

If I had a crap job that barely paid this would cause a spiriling debt

2yrs of these charges and you start to have a mortgages worth

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

For those of you claiming back from Abbey, here is an update I came accross which painted a good picture for me on whats happening.

OFT v Abbey and others April 2008
The judgment out today basically had three points to decide:

1. If the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations of 1999 could be applied to the terms relating to bank charges for overdrafts in personal current accounts.

2. If such terms were written in plain and intelligible language

3. If the law of penalties applies to overdraft charges in personal current accounts.

The High court held:

1. In favour of the OFT - yes the UTCCR 1999 do apply

2. Mainly in favour of the banks although some in favour of OFT

3. The law of penalties does not apply to any of the terms considered in relation to overdraft charges because none of the charges considered were payable on a breach of contract.

This is a massive victory on the part of the consumer. This means that the High Court have ruled that the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations do apply to overdraft charges which the banks have always denied.

This was simply the first round which may be subject to an appeal. Once the first round is finalised their may be further litigation to decide if the charges are unfair or there may be a compromise agreement between the OFT and the banks. But it is an important first step in getting a final decision.The court will be hearing submissions on historic terms at a later date. Each term is considered on its individual merits so it may be that some charges are payable on breach and therefore subject to the la on penalties.

What this means for you:

If your claim is currently stayed - the stay will remain in place until at least May 22nd when a decision will be made on any applications for appeal. The even if there are no appeals the stays may remain in place after this time until the second issue is resolved.

If you have not yet put in a claim but have written your preliminary letter do continue to make a claim so that you can claim your interest. If you wait until the outcome of the final decision it is unlikely that you will be able to file a claim as assuming the court rules in the consumer's favour the banks are likely to pay out on receiving complaint without waiting for you to file a court claim. In which case you will lose out on the valuable interest.

If you have not done anything yet then you can start the process by doing a Subject Access Request as detailed in the step by step instructions and then totalling up your charges using the spreadsheets and send off your preliminary letter demanding money and following the normal process.

Claims which are not affected by this decision:

CREDIT CARD
MORTGAGE CLAIMS
CLAIMS ON LOAN ACCOUNTS

Claims which are affected:

All personal bank accounts

The ruling on penalties will have serious implications on business claims.
It is not currently advisble to start a claim on a business account until further guidance is given on the issue of penalties in relation to historic terms.
If you have a business claim already lodged with the court you may like to consider putting your claim on hold until this matter is determined. You can do this by making an application for a stay using form N244. A court fee is payable but is less if you get consent from the defendant before applying as this negates the need for a hearing.

Re: Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges
 

Hi folks,

Just got a letter from the customer relations dept today (bank letter) saying they recieved my charges request letter. It said in the letter basically, once the legal proceedings between the banks and the OFT have finished, they will resolve my complaint. However, that it could take months. And if I'm not happy with the resoulition they give, that I can take the matter then to the courts or FOS.

I'm now left with 2 questions.

1) Is this a standard reply?

2) What do I do next - as in do I now send off the next letter saying that I shall be starting court proceedings against them? :dozey: