Bank Charges - illegal?

Pere_Ubu

Inmypocketsnottheirs - I read you got money back from GE Money for "excessive charge for processing standard document". What is this? We have our mortagge with GE Money and will now be looking very closely at the paper work!

dchurch24

Were the charges on the HP agreement for breaching the contract (i.e. not paying on time, or missing a payment) ?

If so, then yes - they are bound by the same legalities and can be recovered in the same way.

As per the court date you have, I would explain to the judge that the charges that make up part of the debt are punitive, and politely draw his attention to the relevent case law in this thread and on the aforementioned websites.
If you are prepared to pay the debt on some sort of plan, you could explain that the amount is in dispute as you are unsure about interest applied to the whole amount which would of course be higher due to the interest on the charges. Also, add that if you were to issue a counter claim (and I think I would be tempted to do so) for the charges that you would be allowed by the 1984 County Courts Act to charge interest at 8% and were unsure, again, of the amount in dispute and this is why you haven't paid.

It's a tough one, but if it were me (and this is just me) - I would fight tooth and nail and would probably have had a counter claim in for the charges plus interest already.

Play them at their own game.

...I'll probably come unstuck one day - so only accept my advice if you want to.

dchurch24

Also, has anyone any idea how this might apply to the Rule of 78, or early redemption penalties. As far as I can tell, these are excessive too and therefore a penalty, and thus the same case law (and subsiquent Acts) apply, no?

fagun

dchurch24 wrote:

Also, has anyone any idea how this might apply to the Rule of 78, or early redemption penalties. As far as I can tell, these are excessive too and therefore a penalty, and thus the same case law (and subsiquent Acts) apply, no?

From the FSA website:
Mortgage early repayment charges

Blemain Finance is an Appointed Representative of Cheshire Mortgage Corporation Limited. A term in one of its residential mortgage deeds enabled Blemain to use a method called the 'Rule of 78' to calculate a consumer's early repayment charge.

We viewed this as unfair because it could result in the consumer paying a charge much higher than would reasonably compensate the firm for charges lost through early repayment.

In this case the firm agreed to stop calculating early repayment charges using the 'Rule of 78' method.

dchurch24

Very interesting.

lamaar75

I have been banking with Abbey for over two years and have always found them fine. However, recently, I was hit with three charges, one for going over my Overdraft and two for allowing them to pay money out of my account when I over my overdraft. These amount to £80 in total.

I queried these charges and they say they were for two debit payments ( one for £1.33 and one for £5.33 ). These transactions were on the 16th Jan. I went on the bank on the 18th and withdrew my available balance. The visa debit payments then went through on the 19th. I argued to Abbey that this was not my issue and they agreed to waive two of the charges but they were not budging on the third. I am furious. I have written to them but the call centre people tell me that nothing will happen. They say the payments did not go through as stores opearate a 'floor level' where certain payments below a certain level do not need authorising. How was I to know this?

Any advice on how to get the third removed?

dchurch24

Write them a letter demanding the unlawful payment back within 7 days.

If they do not, then start legal proceedings against them for recovery of it - this is exactly what the small claims track is for.

They will give the money back then. Either that, or they really do have less brain cells than even I gave them credit for.

System

Hi Chaps,

Just need a little advice, i'm currently in the process of filling in the details for the Money Claim Online. And this is all new to me.

I'm currently wording the particulars of claim following the example for bank charges claim online.

When it mentions the claimant held a current account, do i just enter the start date as the account is still active?, then again i have had the account so long i cant remember the start date.

And could someone please explain the 8% interest rate???

Thanks

Pere_Ubu

fagun wrote:

From the FSA website:
Mortgage early repayment charges

Blemain Finance is an Appointed Representative of Cheshire Mortgage Corporation Limited. A term in one of its residential mortgage deeds enabled Blemain to use a method called the 'Rule of 78' to calculate a consumer's early repayment charge.

We viewed this as unfair because it could result in the consumer paying a charge much higher than would reasonably compensate the firm for charges lost through early repayment.

In this case the firm agreed to stop calculating early repayment charges using the 'Rule of 78' method.

This is VERY interesting. I was charged 3k for early redemption just 2 years ago. Are you saying then that this too can be claimed back? What is Rule of 78? If I wrote to me previous mortgage provider do I simply ask how they calculated the early redemtion figure and take it from there?

ali82

You can claim back charges as far back as 6 years by writing to them and enclosing a £10 payment and requesting all of your statements and an breakdown of charges (they have a max of 40 days to comply with this).

Does any one think it is possible to claim back charges from credit cards and store cards ( Barclaycard and GE Money etc...) for late payments or for going over your credit limit?

I am just about to begin my claim with the Halifax