Bank Charges - illegal?

System

Hi All,

Many thanks for all the advice you have all been giving.
In May 2004, i suffered a serious no fault road traffic accident and had no choice to end my self employment which led to financial difficulties for me.
I tried my damn best to keep my personal bank accounts within its overdraft.
At times, i had gone over my small amounts, but i got charged silly amounts all the time.
Now i am well enough to get things in order i followed the advice given and wrote to my two banks using the template.

I'm trying to get back bank charges from Natwest approx £300 and Halifax approx £500.
I have now received back replies from them.

Halifax waffle on about...
"We clearly outline our charging policy in the terms and conditions that apply to your account. In addition, we are commited to comply with the Banking Code,"
"However, to be excessive or unfair, bank charges must be punitive in terms of law. Having sought clarification from our Legal and Banking Product departments, I confirm we base our charges on a genuine pre-estimate of our loss and as such are legally enforcable."
And basically if im unhappy i can contact the Ombudsman.

And Natwest seem to thank me and feel sorry.
They mention the following which is interesting...
"I would like to clarify the point that you made about the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). The OFT is currently consulting with banks regarding the level of credit card administration. At present, this does not extend to bank charges."
Natwest are willing to offer me £50 in full and final settlement if i sign and accept and send back a copy of the letter.
Looks like they have rolled over a little, but it was only the other month i payed in £80 into my account to cover £79 worth of bank charges.
So i feel that this £50 is not acceptable to me.

I'm now thinking of proceding in taking them to court using the online option. But before i do i would like to hear your opinions.

If i do carry this out, what other information would i have to have handy if the courts asked for them?

Many thanks for listening.

digp

do all your research first: https://www.bankchargeshell.info or Trietel on contract

System

Thanks for the reply.
I have done my research and i am aware of how to use the Courts Service Money Claim Online and the relevant pro forma County Court claim.
Just wondered if there was anything else or wanted to hear anyone opinion on my above post.
Has someone been successful as of yet with Halifax or Natwest?
Thank you.

sproggi

I wish that I had known about this a few years ago!!

When the government decided that they wanted all benifits payed into bank accounts, I duly signed the paperwork.
The first payment was due into my account on the Thursday and that afternoon I went to draw some cash out of the ATM to pay a bill. My account did not seem to be showing any credits so I went into the bank to check my account, no credits :-(
I immediatly phoned SS to find out what had happened and they replied that there was a computer error and that they would send me out a cheque straight away.
The next day there was no sign of the cheque so I again phoned SS to be told that it had been posted and should be with me in the next post (Saturday).
In the meantime, several DD that were due out had been refused and charges placed onto my account, this in turn took it overdrawn and incurred more charges.
On checking the paperwork from SS, I noticed that they had included a paragraph stating that they would not be liable for any of the costs incurred if they were late paying you and you inccured bank fees because of this, they said that it was up to you to make sure that there was sufficient funds in your account!! HOW can I do this when the only money we recieved was IS, DLA and SDA all due in that one payment!!!!
OH has disabilites which mean that I cannot work as I have to be there for him.

We finally got the cheque, paid the bank fees and sorted out the companies whos payments were refused, only to have this happen a furthur 2 times :-(
I could not save enough money from our income to cover the bank fees AND cover the DD's if the money was paid late.

In the end, I cancelled the DD's, phoned each company (water, elec, gas etc) to arrainge a temperary payment plan and without the bank fees I finally managed to save enough in my account to cover if payments were late.

I hate to think how much money the banks make out of people who were/are in the same situation.

Sproggi

inmypocketnottheirs

[Jay] wrote:

Thanks for the reply.
I have done my research and i am aware of how to use the Courts Service Money Claim Online and the relevant pro forma County Court claim.
Just wondered if there was anything else or wanted to hear anyone opinion on my above post.
Has someone been successful as of yet with Halifax or Natwest?
Thank you.

I have had success this month with getting my charges back from co-op. The banks you mention are trying to pre-empt your claim by saying that there charges are justified and reasonable. They can not make this decision, only a court of law. There legal department are talking cr*p.

Just write to them,heading your letter 'Final Notice Prior To Legal Action' and give them 7 days notice to pay your claim in full. If they fail to do so then start proceedings.

The co-op paid up on this 7 day notice without any quibble. They will try and put you off, but don't be. Just remember they are bullying thugs.

It would go against them in court if they use their defence that the charges are justified. Bring them down to size!

All the best and keep us informed!

virgin_moneysaver

Russe11 wrote:

"In September, HSBC increased the overdraft penalty charges from £20 to £25, while NatWest raised the figure from £35 to £38."


I see, one has not had the pleasure......yet, of the new 25 pound charge.

slightly incorrect - the overdraft penalty charge at Natwest is £28, it is the unpaid d/d or s/o fee that is now £38 - just a point I know which still does not stop it from being ridiculously high!!

Turning_into_scrooge

I have a really stupid question here. Do you actually have to go to court and speak if you take the banks on or is it all just decided by a judge in absence of both parties?

digp

can be done on paper if parties consent

digp

in pre-action letters always remind them of the overriding objective of the cpr, as defned in rule 1 thereof!

inmypocketnottheirs

Further to my recent postings and success thanks to this thread (in particular dchurch24 and https://www.bankchargeshell.co.uk) I thought should add that at no time during my correspondence with co-op did I mention closing my account. Neither did they mention it! My account has been conducted impecably for the last year or so and I am pleased to keep the account open as I would find it difficult to get another with cheque book and £100 cheque card.

So do not assume your account will get closed.