Bank Charges - illegal?

aliyah

aliyah wrote:

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 the charges were never withdrawn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

hi again! just to let those interested know - i received the list of charges from lloyds 5 days ago. after adding them up, i have paid a total of 1202.00 over a hundred pounds more than i thought!

then today i received another letter in response to the letter i sent (details in quote above)

"i was most concerned to learn of your complaint following your recent communication. thankyou for contacting us.
i have arranged for a member of my service recovery team to carry out an immediate investigation, so that you will receive a full response from us. because of the issues that you have raised, it may take a little time to gather all the information together, but we will respond to you within 15 days.
in the meantime i have enclosed a copy of the banks booklet 'how to voice your concerns'which gives you more details about resolving your complaint with us.
senior officer, service recovery centre"

i feel that things are not taking the course that i wanted, ie. are they just taking this as a customer services complaint?

the original 30 days i gave before legal action ends on 30th of march.

what do i do now?
dchurch/janet? any ideas anyone??

thanks,

seanparkin

Aliyah, While I'm far from being an expert on this,

The letter you've received is a fairly standard letter, and what he's outlined is pretty much standard policy.

To submit a claim I believe you need to have given them a reasonable chance to respond. Wait for their response - they will respond within 15 days (usually less) or they are in breach of the guidelines issued to them by the FSA.

If they refuse to offer you the charges back, submit a claim against them immediately. If they offer you a partial refund, write back refusing to accept the matter as satisfied and demand the full repayment - on failure to provide this submit a claim.

chaos5678

Hi
If you register on the Bank Action Group website all the letters and forms you need are there right up to going to the small claims court.
Theres so much free advice there

djohn2002uk

Aliyah, the 15 days they quote goes past the 30th March. It's obvious they are ignoring your deadline.
I would phone them and send a covering letter explaining that your date still stands and that if they have not responded positively by that date, you will proceed with court action.
That will show them that you mean buisness. I certainly wouldn't let them play games with dates that you set.

aliyah

thanks, sean, chaos and djohn,

all excellent advice. djohn, thanks for pointing out the fact that the 15 days takes me over the original 30 days i gave the bank to settle. am now firing off a letter confirming that i expect repayment by 30th . great tip!

glad it seems a standard letter. the fact that it is from the collections department worried me a bit as i thought they were straying from the issue of illegal charges and more into a customer care complaint thing...

oh well, will update when i get any more mail.....

thanks as always

scottishspendaholic

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to introduce myself.

I sent off my preliminary letter to RBS to today (well actually 2 letters - one to branch and one to head office) for £973 of charges over the last five years (I'm in Scotland so can only claim for the last five years in the small claims court).

Oh well, fingers crossed! I'm very nervous - I think I was shaking when I posted them (recorded, of course!)

Good luck everyone

scottishspendaholic x

aliyah

hi spendaholic!

welcome and best of luck with your mission

do keep us posted with any news ...

aliyah

Brown_suga

I got a result from Halifax, letter offering full refund after 1 letter. Only £65 but still a result!!

Still awaiting the response from HSBC, have submitted claim on moneyclaim.

Many thanks to dchurch24 for all advice, have nominated him for post of the month!!

maka_2

I sent my letters 2 weeks ago to cap one and lloyds still no reply.

Tabs_2

maka wrote:

I sent my letters 2 weeks ago to cap one and lloyds still no reply.

What did the letters say?

If you were just requesting details of the charges applied (i.e. a Data Subject Access Request) then they have 40 calendar days in which to respond to you.

If, however, you know the amount you are claiming for and you have asked for a refund from the Bank, you may have to progress to filing a claim via the Small Claims Court now. This obviously depends on how long you gave the bank to respond ...