Bank Charges - illegal?

joannemc3

hi , i sent a letter to the hsbc dated 21st jan stating that i wanted copys of my statements over the last 6 years etc , now i know they recieved the letter as i rang them to confirm that they recieved it but still havent heard anything from them !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what should i do next ?????????? and how long do they get to reply?????//

CIS

Just got a reply from HSBC to say they are considering a response to my letter and will be in touch shortly............................

But on a slightly better note, OFT are looking in to the bank charges, and threatening to cap them.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=379020&in_page_id=1770

bookworm1363

mjanet wrote:

Hi everyone,
I have been reading this thread with interest for weeks and have been amazed with both the advice and information given to people especially by dchurch24 .As I said in an earlier post this didn't apply to me as I don't pay any bank charges and never have ,or so I thought.That was until I looked back today on my earliest bank statements online(2002).I have now found out that they have took £129.29 3 x £20 .. 1 x £60 and don't laugh but a 17p and a 12p all charges for over draught excess fees going back to 2002/2003.I think the last 2 are reasonable charges but even though the £120 isn't as much as some peoples amounts I think I should still claim it back .I have no idea how to work out the 8% interest tho.My question is would some kind person be willing to work out out my exact claim for me if I gave them the exact dates.
Also do you think it would be worth me asking for earlier statements or just use this amount ?

Hi.

Don't work out the 8% just yet, you can only claim that back if you actually have to file a court claim. If and when that time comes, go to http://www.bankactiongroup.co.uk where they have an Excel Spreadsheet template to do your sums.

As for earlier statements, it's a judgement call... But it will cost you a maximum £10 to request up to 6 yrs info under a DPA request... And if you didn't spot charges before, how many more might or might not be lurking? :eek:

Once you have decided what you want to do, you need to write to your bank to ask them to refund you the charges, and give them a deadline. Again, there's a template at http://www.bankactiongroup.co.uk if you're not sure of your wording.

Good luck.

ML

rockape_2

hi to everyone, i have a little question, i've had 3 returned cheques recently (money was supposed to be in the account but the person who owed me failed to put the money in :mad: ) . as a result i have had bank charges of £90 taken from my account :eek: . is there anything i can do? do i have a valid claim?

edited: the 3 cheques were for £124,£124 and £90


thanks, rockape

mjanet

THANK YOU for your advice Book Worm and I yes I will be asking for my earlier statements ,for the price of £10 I it's worth it .

dchurch24

CIS wrote:

Just got a reply from HSBC to say they are considering a response to my letter and will be in touch shortly............................

But on a slightly better note, OFT are looking in to the bank charges, and threatening to cap them.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=379020&in_page_id=1770

The OFT actually haven't said anything yet - all they have said is that they will issue a statement about their threat from last October within the next 8 weeks.

So, not a lot about nothing then!

Also, in that article it states the the founder of the Bank Action Group is Stephen Hone - he is not the founder, I am - The actions Stephen has taken against the 8 banks are nothing to do with the Bank Action Group - the BAG is there to help people and to put pressure on the OFT to do it's job - NOT to sue banks.

Thought that had to be said. Sorry.

regularsaver1

dchurch i think that dailymail should correct is, do you?

tirednurse_2

I am with Abbey unfortunately. In the past 14 months I have incurred around £1000 in charges.
What I don't understand is this: Abbey charge me £30 for clearing a direct debit while I am overdrawn. But my charge for an upaid direct debit is £35.
Am I not seeing things clearly? Is the £30 fee a bargain not to be missed?

How can I be charged more when they don't pay a direct debit than when they do?

I did call Abbey to query this but the response was these-are-our-charges-its-in-your-terms-and-conditions blah blah blah.

They very kindly offered to see if they could increase my overdraft!!
Call me cynical, but I expect they thought that they are on a nice little earner with me.

alunp

dchurch24 wrote:

I would get her to read the FAQ's on the BankActionGroup website.

hi dchurch

we've gone through that site and got some standard letters. but you seemed to be saying that a 5k claim is nto a good idea. or am i misunderstanding?

al

alunp

if the sum would be over 5k can you claim numerous times?

eg one claim for 2005 charges, another for 2004 charges etc?