Reclaiming Natwest and Halifax Overdraft Charges

I am now in the process of trying to recover overdraft charges for both my halifax and natwest current accounts

On what basis do you think they should be refunded?

have sent off a £10 postal order to each for the data access request.

That is £20 wasted. Why did you do that?

Does anyone have recent experiences of dealing with these two and what was the timeline in getting a refund ?

The banks won the court case back in 2009. Reclaiming of charges is over. You missed that boat. They only consider goodwill refunds in cases of current financial hardship and even then, its usually only the last 6-12 months depending on the severity of hardship. They also have other options available which they use. Such as suspending future charges for a period or putting you onto a debt management plan.

bmws1985 wrote: »

I am claiming under the financial hardship element and there have been several successful claims on this forum, Martin himself outlines this himself on the covering page. I suggest if you are not going to help and simply judgement maybe this forum isn't for you?

No here one is "judging" you that I can see.

You have certainly wasted £20 on SAR letters to the banks, though, just as advised above.

The fact is that the banks already know what you have paid in charges, but are under no obligation to refund you anything at all. Any refund they do make is goodwill gesture and certainly won't be historical charges from years back.

You don't therefore "claim" a particular amount or charge. You also won't be receiving any interest.

What you have to do is simply write to the Banks outlining the circumstances of your financial hardship. If the bank agree that you are in their definition of financial hardship they MAY agree to refund (some) charges. typically those applied in the last year or less. However, the Bank has a range of options available to alleviate financial hardship. They may, for example, choose instead to freeze interest on your overdraft or impose a debt management programme.

You should also realise that the Banks will examine your statements to see if there is evidence of consumer spending suggesting you are not in financial hardship. If you have an expensive Sky satellite subscription or you are regularly eating out etc you can expect your "claim" to be rejected.


You should also beware of making any reference to the charges being "unfair".

bmws1985 wrote: »

Martin himself outlines this himself on the covering page

"Martin" didn't write the MSE advice article about reclaiming Bank Charges and it's poorly written with lots of factual errors. It needs to be completely revised.

The fact is that since the 2009 court case, people don't receive refunds of historical charges and only those who are in genuine financial hardship get anything at all.

Just for information, Martin Lewis sold this site some time ago. He no longer takes any personal active role.

dunstonh wrote: »

Next question is, do you hold a current banking relationship with Natwest and Halifax? (i.e. you still bank with them).

This is crucial, of course. There will be no refunds forthcoming if the OP no longer has open accounts with those Banks...

For those of you out there still hoping to reclaim these unfair charges there's light at the end of the tunnel!

No there is not. It is important not to use the word unfair when looking for a goodwill gesture under financial hardship.

Bit annoyed they wouldn't pair me the 8% annual interest charge but hey ho!

That is because it is a goodwill gesture. Not a complaint outcome.

and they've agreed to send me a cheque for £1850!

Well done.