Reclaim Your Bank And Card Charges

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Gareth

Just a minor point... the banks involved have not won a single court case but neither have they lost a single court case. They've all been settled out of court with the banks repaying the fees (which is more cost efficient for them to do, as the individual amounts are relatively small, albeit numerous), and of course no admission of guilt has ever been announced by any of the banks concerned.

Of course the banks are going to drag their feet before coughing-up... that's to be expected really.

The OFT finding wasn't that charges per-se are unlawful, but they did find that the charges were excessive. The OFT's suggested limit is £12, they have never said that all charges are illegal or should be discontinued. Their press release can be read here

I much prefer the current system, to be honest. I don't see why I and many, many others should be penalised because, unlike some people, we can manage a bank account properly. However, if things continue, then I can see blanket charges being introduced. I don't agree that it's a case of the poor subsidising the rich, as I know many not-rich people that benefit from free banking.

---------- Post added at 12:26 ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 ----------

Another thing... regarding ATM charges, would you expect the nominal charge to be paid to the owner of the machine you're using, or should it be paid to your bank even if you're not using your issuing bank's ATM.

You thinking about it wrong the only reason why your banking is free is because of the penalty fees that are been charged which are excessive, incidently they said £12 is still too high but was only set since it didn tneed lengthly legislation, a actual reasonable charge is what it cost them to send the letter and block the payments. So penalty fees stay but they are nominal amounts just to cover banks costs and maybe a small profit so lets say £3 instead of £30. The people who make mistakes still get penaliased as you say they should but suddenly they are not subsidising your free banking. Please tell me whats constructive about charging someone in financial trouble keeping them in a loop that keeps them over their overdraft limit, what use is it a bank telling someone to pay £60 into their bank account to rectify situation when they only have £30 and that £30 of that £60 is a charge from the bank.

Of course they havent actually lost a court case, but settling out of court means they are admitting they wrong, it may mean publically they are avoiding embarrasment but by settling we know they know they couldnt win a court case.

OFT didnt need to find the charges unlawful they already illegal from the "Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999".

For ATMs yes owner of ATM collect fee, you notice currently ATMs at shops are usually charged and ones at banks are free, supermarket ones are usually free but I believe the banks maintain them. So the banks would then get paid for ones used at their premises.

[Pia]

GRRRRRRRR.....

Stupid Barclays have charged me £30 yet again! A card purchase from the supermarket has just gone through, it usually goes out straight away so i thought it had gone.... 3 days later it takes me overdrawn and now i'm £65 overdrawn, £30 of which is their charge.

Soo not happy I was once told they have a £25 secet limit that they won't charge you for going over unless its more than 25, though that must be bullpoo cos i've been £6 over before and got loads of £30 charges

Feel like crying i'm skint as it is this month, and i get paid tomorrow thats what peeves me off even more.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Pia

GRRRRRRRR.....

Stupid Barclays have charged me £30 yet again! A card purchase from the supermarket has just gone through, it usually goes out straight away so i thought it had gone.... 3 days later it takes me overdrawn and now i'm £65 overdrawn, £30 of which is their charge.

Soo not happy I was once told they have a £25 secet limit that they won't charge you for going over unless its more than 25, though that must be bullpoo cos i've been £6 over before and got loads of £30 charges

Feel like crying i'm skint as it is this month, and i get paid tomorrow thats what peeves me off even more.

Phone them up now and ask for a refund of the £30 I have done this on many occasions and they have alway doen it>

Mike

[Pia]

I've done it loads of times, the last few times i tried they said they couldn't do it more than x amount of times within the year and i had already exceeded that.
I'll try though, but i know exactly what they'll say

[handyman]

Well I got a letter through yesterday asking me to call my branch. Very odd I though though the letter stated it was notihing that should give me concern.

So I called this morning and it they are just calling their 'valued customers' so see if they need anything. Turns out I'm on the top current account they have etc etc. Do I want a Mortgage/ Loan etc?

I'm wondering if they where trying to fish for information?

Not had anything back about the claim yet though.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by handyman

Well I got a letter through yesterday asking me to call my branch. Very odd I though though the letter stated it was notihing that should give me concern.

So I called this morning and it they are just calling their 'valued customers' so see if they need anything. Turns out I'm on the top current account they have etc etc. Do I want a Mortgage/ Loan etc?

I'm wondering if they where trying to fish for information?

Not had anything back about the claim yet though.

When did you send the claim off ?

Mike

[danielf]

Originally Posted by handyman

Well I got a letter through yesterday asking me to call my branch. Very odd I though though the letter stated it was notihing that should give me concern.

So I called this morning and it they are just calling their 'valued customers' so see if they need anything. Turns out I'm on the top current account they have etc etc. Do I want a Mortgage/ Loan etc?

I'm wondering if they where trying to fish for information?

Not had anything back about the claim yet though.

This could of course be completely unrelated.

[Pia]

Originally Posted by Mike

Say you can not keep incurring these charges and ask to close your account. Say you are going to consoladate all your account into one and it will not be theirs !

Mike

What good will that do though? I can't afford to pay back my overdraft all in one go if i close my account, and seeing as i keep going over it i guess i'm not a good account holder, so they wouldn't give two hoots if i closed it or not. Then i'd be left with no bank account and a load of hassle...

[handyman]

I would go through the procedure above and hit them with the full amount. Also try get them to increase your overdraft.

[Pia]

They won't increase my overdraft i've got a crap rating. I asked them once to increase it by £50 and they said no

I will do what you're doing handyman, on Monday i'll get the letter sent away, but it's still so annoying they've had £60 out of me this month, no to mention the overdraft interest.

[etccarmageddon]

Originally Posted by Pia

I've done it loads of times, the last few times i tried they said they couldn't do it more than x amount of times within the year and i had already exceeded that.
I'll try though, but i know exactly what they'll say

ok, I have a very simple answer - ring and ask for the complaints department - speak to them and tell them you would like a refund otherwise you will follow the complaints process and then the banking ombudsman and point out it will cost them at least £500 if it goes to the ombudsman. if they refuse then write you letter of complaint and post off recorded.

---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 ----------

Originally Posted by Pia

What good will that do though? I can't afford to pay back my overdraft all in one go if i close my account, and seeing as i keep going over it i guess i'm not a good account holder, so they wouldn't give two hoots if i closed it or not. Then i'd be left with no bank account and a load of hassle...

oh no - you are the ideal for them. you're young and have less experience so are less likely to stand up for yourself - a single mother who they can exploit. sickening.

[Gareth]

Like etc says, you're actually an ideal customer. Also, it's worth bearing in mind that you're earning your bank money as opposed to costing them money. As surprising as it may seem, they'd be more annoyed at someone leaving who has an overdraft with them, than they would be if that person ran their account impeccably and never went overdrawn. If you don't incur charges at all, you're costing the bank money, whereas they can charge you interest for your overdraft and hit you with penalties if you go beyond your limit. And, as etc points out, you're young so you're more likely to need a mortgage, buildings/contents insurance, life insurance, redundancy protection, credit card insurance, etc... than someone who has already arranged all of these things 30 years ago.

On another note, I saw an article where Neil Faulkner of the Motley Fool calculates that only 11% of customers have filed for claiming back charges, and 40% were even unaware that they could do this.

[Chrysalis]

Originally Posted by Pia

They won't increase my overdraft i've got a crap rating. I asked them once to increase it by £50 and they said no

I will do what you're doing handyman, on Monday i'll get the letter sent away, but it's still so annoying they've had £60 out of me this month, no to mention the overdraft interest.

you sort of in same situation as me actually, its not easy for everyone to just simply open a new account elsewhere and everything hunky dory.

if I moved I can expect to wave bye bye to debit card and overdraft.

[Mike]

Hi all

Anyone got any updates on this...........???

Mike

[handyman]

Nothing though from them yet... Just about to send off for another account then tonight will go through credit card etc.