Bank Charges - illegal?

mjanet

icefall wrote:

its lifted from penaltycharges.co.uk, any advice welcome

There is a very good advice on preparing a case in B.A.G .

icefall

thanks, I have been to that site their rough guide is below

I have a contract with the defendant bank dated XXXX and which is conducted on their standard terms and conditions. I am claiming the return of money taken by the defendant in the way of charges over the last 6 years plus the interest they have levied on those charges. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.
I have repeatedly asked the bank to justify their charges but they have declined to do so.

but I do not know what my contract is dated as?

Tabs_2

wondabrasjg wrote:

Anyone......I posted my DPA letter to my branch yesterday recorded delivery and have just had a call from the assistant manager at my branch. She wasnt sure what i wanted. I used the template as suggested, however i removed the line stating that provision of my bank statements is acceptable, because i didnt want a massive bill.

She told me that she had never had a DPA request before, and also stated that the info re charges doesnt actually come under the DPA, the bank has a special form for any info held by the bank and it would cost me ten quid, this soudned like what i needed, however....

She then said it ifs the statements i need, they are £5 per quater, i told her i wanted them back to 2000 and she said it would cost me £20? Correct me if im wrong, but im thinking she is only gonna send me a years worth?

Anyway, she also asked what i meant by 'manual intervention', and to be honest, i didnt have a clue when she asked, ended up sounding like a right nutjob on the phone, and just asked for the statements. Shes gonna send me them, and charge the £20 to my account.

Can someone please calrify for me what i want, need, and should have said? Dont wanna sound like some freak next time she rings, she's verynice by the way....for now

Regards, Ste

The Bank doesn't have to supply you with actual copy statements under the DPA but they do have to supply you with a breakdown of all charges applied to your account under the DPA. For this they can charge no more than £10.

Request that they credit your account with the extra £10 they have charged, and ask for a list of charges or a printout from their computer screen.

You basically need to know how much they have robbed charged you in charges over the last 6 years, so that you can then request that sum back.

If you are worried about not understanding things over the phone, just request that she contacts you via post. That way, we MSE'ers can help and advise you along the way

wondabrasjg

Tabs wrote:

The Bank doesn't have to supply you with actual copy statements under the DPA but they do have to supply you with a breakdown of all charges applied to your account under the DPA. For this they can charge no more than £10.

Request that they credit your account with the extra £10 they have charged, and ask for a list of charges or a printout from their computer screen.

You basically need to know how much they have robbed charged you in charges over the last 6 years, so that you can then request that sum back.

If you are worried about not understanding things over the phone, just request that she contacts you via post. That way, we MSE'ers can help and advise you along the way

tabs, thanks for that, and also, Mjanet thankyou too.

I think because she has never had the request before, she wasnt quite sure what to do, but you guys have now confirmed for me exactly what i want, so i'll get back onto her. Presumably i can get all the info i need from the statements she 'says' she is sending me? If so, i just need to claim the ten quid extra back she charged me for the info. Watch this space.

How good is this site!!! Really useful. Im finding that as well as Dchurch there are a few others worth a mention, however i wont incase i leave people out, but you're all very good. Ive brough this thread to the attention of 4 colleagues now, as well as my Dad and both brothers, they may be asking you the same questions i am in the no so distant future.

Cheers again...& good luck

aliyah

dchurch24 wrote:

What did you ask for in your letter?

If you know the amount they owe you, and have given them a time limit to give the money back and they have refused, then they are not leaving you much choice. It's for a judge to decide if their charges are punitive or not.

Did you ask for a list of charges?

---

thanks for replying.

i sent reply today,my original request had given them 30 days to refund all charges. 14 days of that period left so have now explaained that i must have these charges back by then or i will take legal action

i went on to explain that lloyds acted unreasonably as i approached them many times while my little boy was critically ill and we were staying in hospital 100 miles from home. i had to leave my job and finances were dire for the 3 weeks we were in hospital. during that period they charged me almost 300 pound alone, depite me keeping in constant contact.

i eventually visited my branch in tears, explaining the situation. they put me on the phone to somone "upstairs" to discuss the charges. when i told her about my son and the emergency hospital stays etc. her comment was "well things cant have been that bad as you spent money on your debit card in New Look clothes shop." :mad: i explained this was during the 3 week stay, when i dashed to the store and spent 13quid on a nightie and underwear as i had worn the same things for almost a week!!

the accounts manager with me was so shocked by the comments from her colleague that they had a row on the phone, she then complained and put a note on my file. the charges were never withdrawn

to cut a (very) long story short, i have noted this intodays letter aswell to prove a) that i made regular contact with the bank and b) that surely lloyds had an obligation to attempt to assist

i now owe 800 pounds on this defunct account, and am currently repaying this at 8pounds a month, only to be charged another 30 every month for being overdrawn in the first place.

this is all in my letter...

hopefully they will be so bored by my ramblings that they pay up to get rid of me!!!!!!!!!

sorry to go on

mjanet

Ive brough this thread to the attention of 4 colleagues now, as well as my Dad and both brothers, they may be asking you the same questions i am in the no so distant future.

By that time you will know it off by heart yourself and will be informing them , so I think you will be busy .

just been thinking about your bank manager and many others I have heard about ,wouldn't you think she would check her information before phoning you ? I get the impression they do know what they are talking about and just phoning people 'testing the waters'.

mjanet

icefall wrote:

but I do not know what my contract is dated as?

I myself would omit that ( as I don't know my date either, it's that long ago ) but I think you are better waiting for dchurch24 or maybe someone else will advise you

wondabrasjg

mjanet wrote:

By that time you will know it half by heart yourself and will be informing them , so I think you will be busy .

just been thinking about your bank manager and many others I have heard about ,wouldn't you think she would check her information before phoning you ? I get the impression they do know what they are talking about and just phoning people 'testing the waters'.

Yeah possibly, i may be just being naive, but she did seem quite nice. She did ask if i wanted the info for any particular reason, i replied 'yes', she didnt ask what and i didnt mention it, been thinking, maybe i should have? I reckon you could be right in some cases though, they may be testing the water. A few MSE'ers have added links to news adverts re the accountant who won against Lloyds, im sure such articles will have been brought o the attention of most or all banks by now!! Getting quite into this actually.

I do appreciate that as a business they have the right to charge you or impose a penalty if your account isnt being run correctly, however the argument quite rightly is that the penalies imposed are outrageous! After all, its YOUR money they are looking after. Its also annoying me reading these remarks, whereby people have been treated horrendously by their banks, its just not right. Rant over,........

wondabrasjg

icefall wrote:

thanks, I have been to that site their rough guide is below

I have a contract with the defendant bank dated XXXX and which is conducted on their standard terms and conditions. I am claiming the return of money taken by the defendant in the way of charges over the last 6 years plus the interest they have levied on those charges. The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further, as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 s.4 and under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e). In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15.
I have repeatedly asked the bank to justify their charges but they have declined to do so.

but I do not know what my contract is dated as?

Maybe this is a silly suggestion, but surely your contract date is the day you opened your account? Maybe a quick call to your branch would confirm (a) thats the case and (b) the date?

mjanet

Maybe this is a silly suggestion, but surely your contract date is the day you opened your account? Maybe a quick call to your branch would confirm (a) thats the case and (b) the date?

Whats silly about that ? It is common sense really .... just me and icefall never thought of it

:rotfl: