Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Neil

There must be about 14 billion credit cards that you could apply for & get, your bank's isn't the only one.

Debit card not credit card, and yes I could apply for 14 billion but I would get 14 billion rejections. My credit rating is poor. Not to mention I have only just moved and about to return the electrol roll form so thats also not accurate yet.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by popper

snip.

Ask the boffins at NTL to give you an actual breakdown of the £10.00 charge. They won't.

Ask the person you are speaking with to confirm their identity by sending you a "real time" email. Advise them that under consumer contract law it is illegal in that it is a penalty charge which constitutes an unfair term and advise them that you are intent on seeking restitution in the event that they do not waive same - through County Court action if need be.

As far as your bank is concerned they should conform to your request when faced with the same argument and the additional facts / information you have to hand.

There is no such thing as an "unauthorised overdraft". Once a bank authorises (by accepting and processing) a payment from / debit to an account which brings that account into an overdrawn status they, as a party to the contract, have, by their own actions, negated that argument.

One could successfully argue the merits of an "agreed" overdraft on the premise that the bank agreed to conduct the transaction without consulting you (to their benefit, strangely enough) and that in doing so they had, in effect, made a contractual amendment without actually consulting you.

You'd probably be more successful in arguing "abuse of process" or "willful neglect" than "theft" on the part of the bank.

It shouldn't get to that though.

[Scarlett]

Well, so far for the 2 that I'm going after at the moment I am still bogged down in getting to original data from them. They both have 8 days more to respond to the full DPA request.

[Flobajob]

Originally Posted by Mr Angry

Ask the boffins at NTL to give you an actual breakdown of the £10.00 charge. They won't.

Ask the person you are speaking with to confirm their identity by sending you a "real time" email. Advise them that under consumer contract law it is illegal in that it is a penalty charge which constitutes an unfair term and advise them that you are intent on seeking restitution in the event that they do not waive same - through County Court action if need be.

As far as your bank is concerned they should conform to your request when faced with the same argument and the additional facts / information you have to hand.

There is no such thing as an "unauthorised overdraft". Once a bank authorises (by accepting and processing) a payment from / debit to an account which brings that account into an overdrawn status they, as a party to the contract, have, by their own actions, negated that argument.

One could successfully argue the merits of an "agreed" overdraft on the premise that the bank agreed to conduct the transaction without consulting you (to their benefit, strangely enough) and that in doing so they had, in effect, made a contractual amendment without actually consulting you.

You'd probably be more successful in arguing "abuse of process" or "willful neglect" than "theft" on the part of the bank.

It shouldn't get to that though.

By the term "unauthorised" do the banks not infer that it's "previously unauthorised", obviously it's authorised as you say when they allow payments to be processed that take your account into an overdraught. I always took it to read that "you've borrowed money without our prior consent, now we're going to hit you with a charge for it"

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Flobajob

By the term "unauthorised" do the banks not infer that it's "previously unauthorised", obviously it's authorised as you say when they allow payments to be processed that take your account into an overdraught. I always took it to read that "you've borrowed money without our prior consent, now we're going to hit you with a charge for it"

That's the point. Once they debit your account by the amount they are authorizing it, not you. Their defence would be rational if they were to phone you prior to authorizing the debit to advise you of the charges and ask if you are happy to pay them in the event that any action on their part makes you overdrawn and liable for their charges.

It's not rocket science in this day and age to expect a computer to be able to determine whether there are sufficient funds in an account at any given time.

[popper]

Originally Posted by handyman

I raised my overdraft to £1200 before I had any troubles. Then when I did get into bother the bank decided that they should reduce the overdraft down to 0 by £75 each month. Of course this just made the situation worse as I moved to a lower paid job as well.

Even now depite the fact that my current account has been clear and ran well for a year they refuse to allow me a over draft such that when I made a mistake thinking I'd paid for something with my joint account switch when I'd used my current account switch I went overdrawn and was getting charged £8.00 per day. I kicked off and got the charges removed, after all my joint account was well in credit.

handyman, as strange as it might seem, are you sure its not more to do with the fact your credit file has defaults on it?, infact, have you ever even seen a copy of your credit file ?.

after reading through the bank charges sections of the www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk ,it became clear that infact the longer term result of this unlawful charge, was that many , many people were finding out for the very first time that these false defaults the banks were adding were the real problem.

apparently a Default is just as bad as having a CCJ on your file when it comes to anyone checking your credit file , as are getting many searches done on it in a given time, every one gets logged and entered there apparently.

you, and indeed all the readers here, should take a read of all this thread Default hell!!
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...ault-hell.html

http://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/index.html

Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.insolvencyhelpline.co.uk/...pair-faq.htm#4

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...r-default.html
"

Paying The Debt Off Is No Good

• Assume you have a default marked on your credit file and continue to miss payments. You are then summoned to court and have a CCJ against your name and this is also noted on your credit file BUT, before you appear in court you negotiate with the lender and either pay the debt in full or arrange a deal to pay off a percentage, perhaps 60%-80%
• In such a situation you would think the matter is closed. You were bad but made good in the end NO. Most people don't realise that though the Default will be noted as 'satisfied' on your credit file, the word 'default' WILL NOT DISAPPEAR and it will remain there fora minimum of 6 years
• If however you pay off the debt in full then you are strongly advised to write to the finance company in question and politely ask them to remove the default notice - there is no guarantee that this will work though

The word 'satisfied' looks good in your eyes but in the eyes of a possible lender (mortgage, credit card company etc) it is massively overshadowed by the word 'default'. Any lender will take one look at the fact that you haven't been good at managing your debts in the past (rightly or wrongly) and will likely close the door on you and any future business.

Just How Bad Is A 'Default' Notice
Very bad and here's an example. You'll struggle to find a bank that will even issue you with a chequebook! Although, if you already have one with your current bank they won't take it away.

And as for mortgages (with decent interest rates), credit cards and cheap loans forget them all if you have the word 'default' anywhere on your credit file, and even as we've said above if it's marked as 'satisfied'."

[Florence]

Just to let you know first direct (hsbc) has paid back the money that was offered first within 2 days of me returning the signed form.

[Chrysalis]

you still got the hsbc account florence?

[Florence]

yes but I accepted their first offer didn't go for all.

[Scarlett]

Well so far the 2 CC's that I approached,
Company A has failed to provide the info requested under the DPA within 40 days so info comission is now involved.

The other well. let me call them company B. have so far

1) not provided any data older than May 2004 because its stored off site using an old medium and not stored in away that allows them to fall under the DPA... info commissioner is also being contacted about that.

2) In addition I have a letter from them that is amazing in the level of arrogance displayed. Basically "we're entitled to screw you, you agreed to let us do this when you signed the contract. tuff" Nuff said really.
To date the offered just the difference between the charges that I have been able to highlight (prior to discussing the arcaic storage issue with them) with no interested added. Bearing in mind some of these charges were nearly 3 years old, thats 3 years of compound interest they have had in addition already. Still the more they try to dodge and duck this ,more it will cost them to settle...

---------- Post added at 08:56 ---------- Previous post was at 08:53 ----------

Originally Posted by popper

Just How Bad Is A 'Default' Notice
Very bad and here's an example. You'll struggle to find a bank that will even issue you with a chequebook! Although, if you already have one with your current bank they won't take it away.

And as for mortgages (with decent interest rates), credit cards and cheap loans forget them all if you have the word 'default' anywhere on your credit file, and even as we've said above if it's marked as 'satisfied'."

I can testify to this. NTL put a default note on my credit record for £2* (yes thats correct, its not a typo) I only found it after 5 years but by then the damage had been done. I did get them to remove it but I'll never ever sign up with NTL again. Once removed, the indicitive credit score nearly doubled (to just under the top level)

*the £2 was for 2x the £1 charge they were charginf for non DD in those days... I paid off the bill when the account closed and ended the DD. They sent out a bill for the remaining amount (which I'd payed) and £1 for non DD. I refused to pay (the co I worked for routinely wrote that charge off so I assumed (Ha Ha) that NTL would as well.) Next month another bill for £1 + £1 for non-DD again called and asked for it to be written off. Heard nothing else and found out 5 years later that the default was on there.

[bob_a_builder]

Just had notification from my Credit card company that they are reducing the normal charge when you forget to pay minmum from £20+ down to £12, the same figure the OFT suggested as 'reasonable' - they have or course increased something to compensate, in this case interest on cash withdrawals IIRC
So they are finally moving in the right direction

[Scarlett]

Update on Company A, I just had through all of the data they hold on me, the stack of paper is nearly half an inch thick! At least I only need to submitt 1 info commissioner complaint now.

[Mr Angry]

Originally Posted by Scarlett

Update on Company A, I just had through all of the data they hold on me, the stack of paper is nearly half an inch thick! At least I only need to submitt 1 info commissioner complaint now.

Scarlett, well done - keep chipping away at them.

[Lew]

I just checked my online banking today (Abbey National) and was pleasantly surprised:

19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 20.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 20.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 20.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 20.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 20.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 30.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 20.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00
19 Sep 06 - Miscellaneous fee refund - 35.00

That's £780 in refunded charges!

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Lew

I just checked my online banking today (Abbey National) and was pleasantly surprised:



That's £780 in refunded charges!

Well done

Mike