Bank Charges - illegal?

hendersonb

VeryTrying wrote:

One way of looking at it is that if they refund only the £260 charges you mention, that's over half your overdraft settled. And perhaps they owe you some more as well (which would cover the rest)? I think they will allow the loan to run its course because you will both have agreed a loan period in advance eg 36 months. Also, I think that while you are disputing the illegal charges which form over half your overdraft they are not able to pass you on to debt collectors.

But don't listen to me - I'm not an expert on this and have only replied to your post because it seems to have been missed by those who know what they are talking about. You need some encouragement to carry on and not let the bankers frighten you into submission. I've just been following the thread in shock at the way the banks are treating people who are already in difficulties, but you can get some more help. Try the bank action group site.

Can anybody else give hendersonb a more helpful reply than I have? Please?

Yeah the figure I got off the online banking on goes back as far as October 2005 - there are some other payments before that however not as many. It seems to be a bit of a spiral the banks put you in - $130 charges in a month are very high and to try and then not go over buget the next month is very near impossible - I live quite close to the breadline so from what started off at only a few pounds over my limit has spiralled further and further.

mjanet

=chipmunk
I'm scared that, if I go ahead, Abbey will ask me to close my account with them (which I have had for years) and I have a £600 overdraft with them which I take advantage of every month. I'm worried that a new bank might not extend me the same size overdraft and, although I haven't incurred any bank charges for the last couple of years, I do need this overdraft!

This must be your judgement call but you must be fully aware that the banks in retaliation can and sometimes do call the overdfafts in and close the accounts .

Matlow

Had a snotty phone call from the smile/co-op today saying I had to pay money into my account to bring it within the limit,quoted the terms and conditions to me saying I had to pay at least £1000 into the account every month etc,etc.
I explained to her I wouldn't be paying any money into the account until the charges issue was sorted,she said she expects money to be paid into the account by the end of the week.
The mail this morning included a threatning letter describing court orders,baliffs and the like,
I've noticed the charges have been frozen on my account since I started writing my letters but should I pay money into the account to cover the overlimit or ignore them and go straight for the small claims court on Thursday which is when the 14 days is up?
I've noticed everything is from the co-op regarding court,debt etc,all I get from Smile is a 'sorry you have a complaint' letter.

carlih1

Hi

Got a reply today from Moorcroft who control my Argos account saying:-

Further to your recent correspodnance, please refer to your terms and condityyions for details of late payment charges and administration charges. These terms are legally binding and a contract that you willingly entered into. Breach of contract may result in charges and as a consumer you have declared that you have read, understood and accepted these terms.

Any suggestions on how to follow that up, want to send one more letter before i take action!!!

Carli

aliyah

aliyah wrote:

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,

following on from this i have received the following letter...

'thankyou for your letter. unfortunately i am unable to add any further information to my letter dated 13 march and i am only able to refer you to the terms and conditions of your account, although i do respect your opinion about our charges. (!)
this letter is the banks final response which means that if you are still dissatisfied you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman service. You must do this within 6 months'

they enclosed an ombudsman leaflet.

as the 30 days is up tomorrow, do i file a claim then?

what is confusing me is that this complaint is being dealt with by 2 departments (the now infamous david just and the collections dept) they seem to be seeing this as a customer service complaint (as in the first letter in quote). i replied to them also stating the time period ends on 30th of march, but as yet no reply.

i realise the bank is trying to make me think that there is really no point in taking this further, but although the cost of filing he complaint is hard at the mo, i really want to do this.

anyone who has read my previous posts will see that, financial implications aside, I have been treated appallingly by lloyds and need, for my own sanity, to do something about it.

sorry for this obsessive and annoying post, but any advice and support would be greatly appreciated.

x

aliyah

one good point....

my husband, who is a very careful banker and has never had any charges, usually transfers funds between two Royal Bank of Scotland accounts to pay a £15 monthly direct debit.

but because he has been staying in hospital with our son last week, he was a day late doing this and was charged £38 by the bank... :mad:

he was shocked as there are always more than enough funds in the other account, it was simply circumstances.

because of the advice read on this site, I immediately wrote and received a very kind letter back today (i only wrote to them 2 days ago) sympathising with our difficulties, offering help if needed and refunding the £38. :j

so thanks everyone ...sorted.

moonrakerz

aliyah wrote:

following on from this i have received the following letter...

'thankyou for your letter. unfortunately i am unable to add any further information to my letter dated 13 march and i am only able to refer you to the terms and conditions of your account, although i do respect your opinion about our charges. (!)
this letter is the banks final response which means that if you are still dissatisfied you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman service. You must do this within 6 months'


x

This is just stalling tactics by the bank. I have had a similar one from Alliance & Leicester. You note that they don't actually answer any of the points you put to them, they are just trying to push you off down a blind alley that will waste time and eventually make you give up.
They also sent me a copy of their complaints procedure (which I have ignored) which states they would respond to a complaint within 7 days - it took them 3 weeks !!

I just wrote a very brief letter back saying that I did not accept the contents their letter and that I was going ahead with Court action - which I am.

aliyah

thanks moonrakerz,

i agree that this is a another attempt at getting me to delay or even cancel my promised legal action. but i wont give up now!

the 30 day limit is up tomorrow and i am all ready to file my claim...wish me luck!

x

aliyah

UPDATE:::

received letter from lloyds this morning from the service recovery branch in brighton. basically said the usual ' you knew the terms and conditions when signing up blah blah' then went on to say that they apologise if i 'got the impression' that their staff were being unsympathetic.

They went on to say my claim for a refund is not justified or supported by the events that prompted me to write BUT ...

they are prepared to waive the £23.29 interest incurred since november 2005 and refund £168.00 which is the Select fee incurred on my account since referral to the collections department on the condition that I downgrade my account. (shows how much they know, as i did this about a year ago!)

have enclosed an acceptance form for signing and then close by saying 'i hope i have been able to fully answer the points you raised with us, if not please let me know what else i can do to help'

that was signed by Daniel Burton (senior advisor for the service recovery centre)

***
am still filing my claim today . bit more hopeful now!

code-a-holic

carlih1 wrote:

Hi

Got a reply today from Moorcroft who control my Argos account saying:-

Further to your recent correspodnance, please refer to your terms and condityyions for details of late payment charges and administration charges. These terms are legally binding and a contract that you willingly entered into. Breach of contract may result in charges and as a consumer you have declared that you have read, understood and accepted these terms.

Any suggestions on how to follow that up, want to send one more letter before i take action!!!

Carli

Cant find any more postas about your situation with moorcroft / argos. But i would like to know more! I had a argos account which was transfered to moorcroft and i have ben paying £10 a month for over a year. Have £600 outstanding on it. All purchases were made 3 yrs ago. After reading MSE i sent a letter to argos requesting proof of me signing a agreement and a cheque - they cashed the cheque a month ago and i have heared nothing - i had actually forgoten until i read the post here now. Im going to ring them now....,