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Bank Charges - illegal?
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sportbeth wrote:I got my cash back from the woolwich. I didn't get paid and my employer went bust overnight. I then had £300 slapped on my account within about a month for unauthorised overdraft, daily interest and bounced direct debits. After 6 months of argueing that figure was at £821. Got the lot back after digging my heels in and still have my account with them
This is an excellent result.
Any advance on getting £821 back anybody?..0 -
westernpromise wrote:May,
since it is my intention that the manner in which this matter is resolved should set a precedent which can be invoked in the event of further such charges in the future. I understand that the Ombudsman's decisions are not binding in this way and therefore would not address the wider picture.
Love
May[/i]
1) Do results in the small claims court actually set precedents?
2) I love the general drift of your letter but the use of the word "Love"
is a bridge too far for me...0 -
dchurch24 wrote:You most certainly do have a leg to stand on - I'm fed up with being drawn into arguments about the rights/wrongs of 'spending money you don't have' by people who don't know the law in the forums. .
Well Said! How anyone can argue that the banks' position is morally defensible in any way shape or form, when what they are doing is hitting people for illegal charges, is beyond me.
The people hit hardest are the most vulnerable, those who live in the poverty trap, who usually have no alternative but to have their benefits/wages paid into the bank. One late payment by the employer/DWP and they get hit for charges that can amount to a weeks' income or more. They don't have the funds to pay, and so get hit time and time again. The banks are making fat profits on vulnerable people who often don't have the knowledge or resources to fight back.
These charges are UNENFORCEABLE IN LAW. It is not illegal to have them in the contract. It is not illegal to take the money if the poor and unsuspecting client agrees to it (ie doesn't object because they don't know the law), but it IS unlawful to attempt to enforce the charge if the account holder refuses to pay it.
This is a money saving site. I am amazed that so many MSE'rs appear to want to defend the banks' actions in making these charges.
DaisyI'm a retired employment solicitor. Hopefully some of my comments might be useful, but they are only my opinion and not intended as legal advice.0 -
Robert_Sterling wrote:1) Do results in the small claims court actually set precedents?
No. They don't.
If you rock up to a small claims court and you've been totally obstructive up to that point, though, you probably lower your chances of a win. Courts are supposed to be a last resort, not a first, so if you have failed to negotiate, it can reportedly count against you.
So the idea is simply to come up with a plausible reason for the court later on why she didn't first go to the ombudsman.
The real reason is that the ombudsman is likely to rule that the charges are in line with the bank's T & Cs, and therefore OK. He will not want to get drawn into considering whether the T & Cs themselves are fair - and it's that which is the real issue here.
May can't very well say she avoided the ombudsman because she thought he'd rule against her, so she has to say something else instead to justify not going the bank's route.
While the SCC outcome won't actually set a precedent for other customers, it will provide some excellent ammunition if they ever try to pull the same trick on her again. She can remind them what happened last time.0 -
I find all this discussion around the legality of bank charges very interesting - especially as it is something that is affecting me and my partner at the moment. We have been charged by various companies for late payments over the last few months as we hit a few financial difficulties. Having come across this website and forum I fully intend on now trying to recover these charges and helping myself out of the debt I now find myself wallowing in.
Would someone be able to point me in the direction of a good letter template that I could use to get the ball rolling? I was unsure of where to look for one. Our grips are with banks and credit card companies.
Oh and incidently, if you are charged something via Direct Debit and it means that your account goes overdrawn and you incure a charge becuase of this, is it the company who tried to take the money from you or the bank's for charging you who is liable to pay you back?0 -
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i'm afraid that link is dead0
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It worked when I posted it but I have copied it again from the site and it works fine now.0
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Any advance on getting £821 back anybody?
I got £1711 from Abbey and £183 from Smile.
About to get £340 from Barclays and about 2k for my partner from Abbey again.
EDIT: Just worked out the 8% APR and they will end up owing my partner £2841.71!!! (over a period of 3 years).
To zeddy:
It's largely academic who is to blame for the DD charge, as the bank cannot enforce it, so you can claim it back from them. If they want to chase whoever made the payment late then that's up to them. I doubt they would somehow.0 -
dchurch24 wrote:I got £1711 from Abbey and £183 from Smile.
About to get £340 from Barclays and about 2k for my partner from Abbey again.
How long did abbey take to let you know that they would not refund the charges after you wrote to them?
I sent a letter for my friend on Wednesday and her sister told her yesterday that there was a letter from abbey arrived that morning but I don't yet know what it was as she has not rung me. It may have been a circular or something but I did wonder whether they had a stock reply to the letter recommended and simply send out a refusal to repay the money immediately.0
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