Bank Charges - illegal?

carlih1

dchurch24 wrote:

He he, not anymore my friend - I've had all mine refunded with interest ;-)





Yes of course - they will refuse most likely - then you start proceedings against them.

Tell that to them in the letter - give them 7 days to refund the cash or you will start proceedings - it can all be done on-line and costs a nominal amount (which you claim back from them in the end anyway!).

Is it worth writing to them for a summary first?

Carli

dchurch24

Well now, that depends - do you know the dates, amounts and wording associated with the charges (i.e UNPAID DD or PAYMENT UNDER ADVICE etc...) ?

If so ,then just write a letter asking for it back or you will start proceedings - if you didn't do this then the court could conceivably argue that you didn't attempt to settle out of court.

If not, then under the DPA (1998) this information is classified as 'personal information' (Durant vs. LloydsTSB) and you would have to make a Subject Access Request, which can cost £10 - although no more according to the Information Commissioner.
The holder of the information has 20 days to comply or ask from an extension.

carlih1

I wouldn't have all the information for the last six years no way.

My statements only go back to January 2004!

Do u think it is useful for me to do so, also my statements only say bank charges not the reason why, i would have had seperate letters for this purpose, which i do not now have?

Thank you for your advise

Carli

dchurch24

Not a problem, ask them for Dates, Wording and Amount in your letter.

Tell them that they can return the money within seven days or send the requested info within 20.

It might be worth sending a letter like another I spotted in these forums like this:

Tick the appropriate box:

[ ] We, Natwest, value your custom and wish to retain your custom, therefore we are returning all charges made on your account within the last 6 years.

[ ] We, Natwest do not value your custom and will not be returning any charges made on your account over the past 6 years. We will be complying with your request made under the Data Protection Act (1998) for information regarding the date, wording and amount of each charge made on your account within the last 6 years and will comply with the law within 20 days. We understand this information is being requested in relation to prospective legal action against us.

Could be funny.

carlih1

dchurch24 wrote:

Not a problem, ask them for Dates, Wording and Amount in your letter.

Tell them that they can return the money within seven days or send the requested info within 20.

It might be worth sending a letter like another I spotted in these forums like this:

Tick the appropriate box:

[ ] We, Natwest, value your custom and wish to retain your custom, therefore we are returning all charges made on your account within the last 6 years.

[ ] We, Natwest do not value your custom and will not be returning any charges made on your account over the past 6 years. We will be complying with your request made under the Data Protection Act (1998) for information regarding the date, wording and amount of each charge made on your account within the last 6 years and will comply with the law within 20 days. We understand this information is being requested in relation to prospective legal action against us.

Could be funny.

Isn't it better to keep on their good side at first, rather than sending such an ominous letter!

dchurch24

I wouldn't have said so.

Thieves deserve to be treated as such.

If it were the other way around and you owed them money, do you think they would be so polite. I don't. If you are polite and ask nicely it gets you nowhere with banks.

The best bet is to stand up to them like the school bully, because that is exactly what they are, bullies.

virgin_moneysaver

""There should also be a system whereby, if someone keeps abusing the direct debit facility on their account, it should just be removed so they have to make their own arrangements to pay. But of course this wouldn't happen as the banks wouldn't make as much money.""

there already is in some banks - 1st time a D/D bounces the payment remains in force, the 2nd time that same D/D bounces its returned & cancelled so the most you can pay on one particular D/D is 2 charges, if the company try a 3rd time its returned mandate cancelled & no fee applied

dchurch24

The thing is about being polite to the banks is that for every 1 person who complains and actually does something about it, there are probably 100 others that complain, get told they can't have their money back, and then go away and forget about it.

The only way to get results out of these thieving banks is to get heavy - threaten legal action unless they comply with your request - if they don't reply, then you MUST come good on your threat.

Don't listen to the "you can have this one back, but not this one" type of talk - there should be no comprimise. Why should you comprimise? It's your money they have taken that they are not legally entitled to.
If someone robbed your house and said, and you caught them and then they said "ok, you can have your dvd player back, but not your TV" what would you say to that?

Use the legal system that was put in place to protect us.

That way you get your money back.

comicmankev

dchurch24 wrote:

If someone robbed your house and said, and you caught them and then they said "ok, you can have your dvd player back, but not your TV" what would you say to that?

I suppose it depends on what they are pointing at you at the time -lol (sorry)

May

Help everyone!

I've put my claim in with the courts against my bank and their charges after writing numerous letters to them advising them of my intentions should they not refund the charges.

And guess what! They've closed my account and passed it over to a debt collection agency.

What do i do now? Not only will this affect my credit rating, but I've now got no bank account, no debit card and no cheque book account!!!!

Do I inform the debt collection agency to pass it back or should i write to the Ombudsman?

I'm a little confused - it's all got out of hand!!!!