Bank Charges - illegal?

seanparkin

Wow, I always suspected this lot was the case but never expected to actually find the law was on our sides for once!

I'm going to use this information to try and claim back the £140 HSBC have hit me with because they were late with putting money into my account (I put £200 in cash in my account on a Thursday, to cover direct debits due to go out on Monday but this didn't go into my account till Tuesday) last month, the £200 natwest charged because of an incorrect direct debit causing spiralling costs, and also the £50 a month for the last two years my fiance has been charged because of Alliance and Leicester always being slow to report transactions and not correctly informing us of actual amounts that are in the bank.

Thanks for all the information, I'll keep you updated.

dchurch24

I think, with respect, that there is some confusion over the role of the ombudsman.

The ombudsman exists to resolve complaints that cannot be resolved between the bank and yourself. There is no complaint in this case. The fact is that you want your money back and the bank are not giving it quoting their t&c's.

I certainly haven't bothered with the ombudsman, apart from with HFC who simply didn't respond to my letter at all. My complaint was that they would not even enter into correspondence with me. The ombudsman got in touch nd HFC started running and refunded all the charges. Not too sure of the legalities at this point (I have heavily reseached it since), I pushed for more and got them to wipe out my overdraft for all but 100 quid as well. However, that was lucky, if I'd just written to the ombudsman stating that they won't give me my money back they would not have become involved as there would have been no complaint to uphold.
Reading this back, it doesn't sound very clear, but I can't think how else to put it, so sorry in advance.

dchurch24

I think, if I remember correctly, that it was about 10 days after I sent the letter. But as I was one of the first to 'attack' them on this front (I think I was the third), they probably wern't prepared then. Now I think they are being bombarded with legal cases and people requesting their charges back, so you'd think that they would have a standard letter for it by now.

seanparkin

Am I also right in considering that you are entitled to claim for up to 6 years in the past?

inmypocketnottheirs

seanparkin wrote:

Am I also right in considering that you are entitled to claim for up to 6 years in the past?

Correct, under Statute of Limitations you have a period of six years, which is the furthest you can go back. The only exception (to my knowledge and I am not a solicitor) is property. Then it is twelve years.

The six year rule also applies regarding debts. In the case of debts from credit cards, loans or bank finance, the six year period starts from the date of a default notice being filed.

HTH

seanparkin

thanks!

I've already got my HSBC letter and claim drafted, I'll post this tomorrow. Need to obtain my statements from Natwest first before starting on them!

If they're successful, I'll try going through my fiances A&L account as they've given her hundreds and hundreds of pounds of illegal penalty charges - often applying £50 bills for £5 direct debits etc!

I'll post any developments in these as information to anybody else who may be considering the same.

Alienfingers

hello dchurch, I for one agree with and support your "fight" against the banks. Ive just about managed to claw my way out of a £14.5k debt, which was all my fault (stupid spending and living above my means when younger) but was made no easier by the banks/credit card companies etc.

Ive actually emailed the "bankchargeshell" website with a question as I didnt realise you were involved with that site. My question was about how far back I could claim for, but Ive since found out from these posts that it is 6years, which is great (mine mainly happened 3-4 years ago).

The other problem Ive now come up with though is that I recently (within last few months) shredded my rather extensive stash of bank statements (found some going back to 1993!) and I can only view last 6mths on Natwest online banking. Cant find anywhere on their site to order past statements but realise I must be able to do it, can you (or anyone who has a natwest account) give me idea of how to go about this and if there will be a charge from the bank for providing me with this info?

Just so im straight on the best way to go about claiming this money back, is it best to send a letter (like one of the templates posted) to the bank first to see what they say, and in this letter do I have to say why went overdrawn for each occasion or just list each of the charges they put on my account with dates/times/amounts I was overdrawn?

It will be nice New Year if I can get some of this money back and might help me pay that very last bit of my debt off (only £600 left on my debt now, had £14.5k in Jan this year-been working v.hard!)

Cheers

dchurch24

Hi,

You probably won't get the money back this side of xmas, sadly. It all takes time, especially when you get the courts involved.

How you can get a list of charges from them is easy. This information is covered by the Data Protection Act (1998).
Some banks claim that this information is not personal data and therefore not covered by the act and so they do not have to furnish you with the information.
The best way to counter this is to bring their attention to the Durant vs. LloydsTSB case, where the judge ruled that bank statement information is indeed personal data.

As you are requesting the informtion with a view to taking legal action they have to furnish you with the information within 20 days of an official request. If they do not then you must report them to the information commissioner.

I would write them a letter asking for your money back, or if they do not agree that the charges are a punitive measure for a breach of contract that they send you a list of all charges made on the account in the last 6 years. Make sure you let them know that it is an official request under the Data Protection Act.

In your letter you do not have to mention the dates, etc... they already have all that information at their fingertips.

There is one other thing you should know about Natwest that I won't mention here in the forums, you should PM for this info.

EDIT: sometimes there is a charge, the Information Commisioners site states that £10 is the max - although Barclaycard attempted to charge me £216!!

virgin_moneysaver

Alienfingers wrote:

hello dchurch, I for one agree with and support your "fight" against the banks. Ive just about managed to claw my way out of a £14.5k debt, which was all my fault (stupid spending and living above my means when younger) but was made no easier by the banks/credit card companies etc.

Ive actually emailed the "bankchargeshell" website with a question as I didnt realise you were involved with that site. My question was about how far back I could claim for, but Ive since found out from these posts that it is 6years, which is great (mine mainly happened 3-4 years ago).

The other problem Ive now come up with though is that I recently (within last few months) shredded my rather extensive stash of bank statements (found some going back to 1993!) and I can only view last 6mths on Natwest online banking. Cant find anywhere on their site to order past statements but realise I must be able to do it, can you (or anyone who has a natwest account) give me idea of how to go about this and if there will be a charge from the bank for providing me with this info?

Just so im straight on the best way to go about claiming this money back, is it best to send a letter (like one of the templates posted) to the bank first to see what they say, and in this letter do I have to say why went overdrawn for each occasion or just list each of the charges they put on my account with dates/times/amounts I was overdrawn?

It will be nice New Year if I can get some of this money back and might help me pay that very last bit of my debt off (only £600 left on my debt now, had £14.5k in Jan this year-been working v.hard!)

Cheers

order at any branch by providing them with the dates (not sheet numbers) & it costs £5 per order NOT per sheet

dchurch24

Is that specific to Natwest?