Charges for statements - is there a maximum?

CherryRipe_2

I've just been charged £15 for 3 statements from Alliance and Leicester,and i have to wait a week for them!
Are they allowed to chrage this much? Someone (who works at another bank) told me that they were only allowed to charge a maximum of £10 regardless of the number of statements. Is this correct?

CLAPTON

If you make a SAR . subject access request under the data protection act you can get everything they hold about you over the last six years for max £10...

_Andy_

Pathetically disguised spam.

CherryRipe_2

Thanks everyone. I will get on to the bank today and demand my £5 back. Actually, I'm thinking that i will ask for all of my statements for the past 6 years just to be a pain

Mark7799

The subject access request (which is covered by a £10 maximum fee) is a request for information held by the Bank about you. The format you get it received in may be a list of printouts and not your traditional statement. Martin's own template letters in the reclaiming charges section makes reference to this

"I understand that statements on their own are not covered by the Data Protection Act 1998, yet I’m not requesting the statements per se, but the charges, which I’m entitled to by law."

northern5

I've just been told the same too!! I never thought to save them as they appeared online because I thought that I would never need them / they would always be there. My HSBC account has the statements going back to 2004!

They have just told me it'll be £105 to get all my back statements. I've replied and said that I want the info under the DPA.

I'm thinking of closing my account with A&L. Interest is now only 4% AER at the moment... something they keep quiet once you've had the account for more than a year!! I want an account with faster BACS. Oh and I also hate how if you make a bacs payment on Friday night, it doesn't show up in your account until the Monday after.... I'd rather see it gone there and then!!!

dragonsoup

northern5 wrote: »

I'm thinking of closing my account with A&L.

Good luck - I've just tried to close mine. Apparently you can't do it via internet banking, by post or via the branch. No you have to call them on their 0844 number (unless of course you visit saynoto0870!). Took me a 20 minute call most of which was listening to their queue music...

northern5

So.... I replied to their snotty £105 message saying that I would like to know how to go about getting this information blah blah blah....

Check my balance today and there is a "TRANSFER to DATA PROTECTION" of £10.

I'm so angry because I hadn't said yes go ahead with this, and I've got a direct debit going out which would bring my account down to £9.... and if I hadn't checked this then I get fleeced 50p a day for £1!!!!!

I feel like I have to log in every day to keep an eye on this account

I'm definately closing now... the interest at 4% is just not worth it. I'll wait the 6months or whatever it is and come back as a new customer with the perks me thinks!!!

exel1966

CherryRipe wrote: »

I've just been charged £15 for 3 statements from Alliance and Leicester,and i have to wait a week for them!
Are they allowed to chrage this much? Someone (who works at another bank) told me that they were only allowed to charge a maximum of £10 regardless of the number of statements. Is this correct?

Yes they can charge you £5 per individual statement so regarding your later post you will not justified in 'demanding' your £5 back and they have every right to refuse it. Ask nicely and they may as a gesture of goodwill refund you !

The £10 max only applies when obtaining a subject access request and doesn't apply when requesting individual statements because you may need a copy/have lost one/forgot to download one etc. It's standard amongst banks to charge £5 per individual statement if you've opted for an online account only or paperless billing etc.

northern5

Hi all, my statements arrived in full on the doorstep a few days ago, in full and in a normal bank statement format, all for £10 .... recommend to anyone else who is offered the £5 per statement rubbish!!!

natweststaffmember

CLAPTON wrote: »

If you make a SAR . subject access request under the data protection act you can get everything they hold about you over the last six years for max £10...

That is not correct. A SAR made under the Data Protection Act 1998 does not have a time limit for data. It is anything that the bank hold on you in a relevant filing system. For example, with NatWest I would expect information from 1992 because the data is in a relevant filing system.

Here is the ICO definition. £10 is not just statements.

http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/library/data_protection/practical_application/subject_access_-_guide_for_data_subjects.pdf