Bank Charges - illegal?

spankymonkey_2

it was spanky....

Brenny

Apologies if this question has already been asked but most months I use my overdraft facility and Alliance & Leicester and get charged interest for the privilege, which I think is fair enough, but also get charged a month OD charge of £5. Can someone tell me whether this charge would come under the "illegal" banner and I could persue A&L for its recovery?

dchurch24

Spanky - you are deleted ;-)

If you re-register - it should work - sorry for any inconvenience.

spankymonkey_2

that is great, just printed off the letter have to get other half to sign it though as its a joint account, i am sending it to the A+L is it ok to use the address on your website to send it to?

dchurch24

Brenny wrote:

Apologies if this question has already been asked but most months I use my overdraft facility and Alliance & Leicester and get charged interest for the privilege, which I think is fair enough, but also get charged a month OD charge of £5. Can someone tell me whether this charge would come under the "illegal" banner and I could persue A&L for its recovery?

No hope - they are simply charging you for a service.

dchurch24

Narva wrote:

i also cant log on, although i had registered, i didnt recive an comformation email! please help as i need to get in to the library to source the letters as i wish to proced againest HSBC.

Is there any one who would be kind enough to hold my hand whilst i do this. I am prepared to have a go, but just want to re assure from someone that has done it before............... please pm me.

That's what we're here for - at the BAG site, there are lots of people who have done this before (and probably quite a few in this thread now ;-) ) - it is quite daunting the first time, but after a while it's quite fun (without trying to trivialise the issue) - which is one of the reasons I set the BAG site up - I have no more banks to retreive charges from any more - so I help others get their charges back, and will continue to do so until the banks are forced to act in a resposible way.

ceebee_2

Thanks dchurch for all your effort. I have usually queried all 'charges' on credit cards and had them re-funded.

However, I am amazed at how many people are unaware of and don't believe the illegality of these charges and won't do anything about it.

Without wishing to impose on you too much, can you draft a short general letter which could be printed off and handed to friends, explaining the general facts and a website (Money Saving Expert.com ?) to peruse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

carlih1

dchurch24 wrote:

It has effected my credit rating - in a good way.

Every time a bank wants to settle, I have insisted that they repair my credit report too. Also, with the money I have gotten back from banks (and my partner) we have subsiquently paid off debts (that for the most part, were caused through 'illegal' charging - we have it down now to an easily managable 3k) and that has improved our credit rating (we just remortgaged, so our credit can't be too bad!).

So, in essence - you have everything to gain.

If you need more specific help, or pro-forma letters, spreadsheets for interest, or just want to see how everyone else is getting on with getting their cash back etc..., come over to the https://www.bankactiongroup.com forum.

Hi dchurch,

How do they repair your credit rating, i have a few defaults as a direct result of their charging, i am in the process of waiting a response to my letter before actino to Halifax and Capital one, can you advise me further please.

Carli

Blade26

Just wanted to thank dchurch24 for a very informative thread, its taken me all weekend on and off to read from start to finish. I am now in the process of helping my Mum send letter to the credit card companies who have charged her a hell of a lot of money over the last few years in charges, late fees etc which have contributed to the situation she found herself in about a year ago.

I had a long thread on Debt Free Wannabee about her situation, but cant find it at the mo!

I hope I never find myslef personally in this situation, but I am obviously now armed with the knowledge from this site and also Bank Action Group and Bank Charges Hell.

Myonly worry is that my Mum doesn't really understand about it all at the moment, so thats going to be the biggest hurdle I think. She is also in the mindset that some of the credit card companies are being 'nice' to her and therefore doesnt want to rock the boat. Once she has had it all explained to her, I am sure she will see the sense and I for one am looking forward to the ensuing battles!

Thanks again.

Blade26

dchurch24

ceebee wrote:

Thanks dchurch for all your effort. I have usually queried all 'charges' on credit cards and had them re-funded.

However, I am amazed at how many people are unaware of and don't believe the illegality of these charges and won't do anything about it.

Without wishing to impose on you too much, can you draft a short general letter which could be printed off and handed to friends, explaining the general facts and a website (Money Saving Expert.com ?) to peruse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You could try the Step-By-Step guide in the FAQ's section of the https://www.bankactiongroup.co.uk (or .com) forum.

(also, if you wanted to write a 'fact' sheet, I'd gladly include it in the library section of the BAG forum ;-) - a bit cheeky I know, but we need all the help we can get!)