Bank Charges - illegal?

Falkirk1746

I have the same problem, and I've approached it by breaking the charges down. For example, I've made one claim for charges for bounced DDs, another claim for charges for going O/D etc.

Takes a bit more work but worth it. You could also break them down chronologically into 6 month or 1 year batches.

TPAOY

Thanks for that idea. Have you then had individual refunds back from the bank? I'm with BoS (I know - part of the Halifax :mad: ) so if they live up to the deplorable standards they now have, it will be an interesting challenge.

ali82

From what I read on the other site, as long the claim is under 5k it will be conducted in the small claims court.

Can anyone clarify on this as I can't find exactly where I read this.

Esmerelda

I phoned the NatWest this morning about that £38 charge they put on my account and they said they would refund it as a one off gesture of good will. The chap on the phone was very nice (and English!) and I didn't even have to get narky. Thanks for the encouragement to call.

system15000

sent my first letter to hsbc on the 15th feb and recieved my reply on 20th feb here's what it says:

Thank you for your letter dated 15 february 2006 concerning the recent circumstances on your account.

I am looking into the matters you have raised and will contact you with a full response as soon as i have completed my investigations.

In the meantime, i have enclosed a copy of our leaflet which explains how these matters are dealt with.

what letter should i send next because i gave them 7 days on the original

dchurch24

ali82 wrote:

From what I read on the other site, as long the claim is under 5k it will be conducted in the small claims court.

Can anyone clarify on this as I can't find exactly where I read this.

Not in Scotland, sadly.

dchurch24

jamiebraund wrote:

sent my first letter to hsbc on the 15th feb and recieved my reply on 20th feb here's what it says:

Thank you for your letter dated 15 february 2006 concerning the recent circumstances on your account.

I am looking into the matters you have raised and will contact you with a full response as soon as i have completed my investigations.

In the meantime, i have enclosed a copy of our leaflet which explains how these matters are dealt with.

what letter should i send next because i gave them 7 days on the original

Don't send them any letter - this is a stalling tactic - if you gave them 7 days (and you know how much they owe you) - then 7 days is what they had - they chose not to give you your money back, so let the court decide if the charges are a penalty or not.

No point making threats that you aren't going to follow through on - they will just be laughing at you if you don't.

Sending another letter, saying "I mean it, I really will do it, I REALLY mean it this time..." is just bowing to their childish, playground antics.

If you said you would sue them within 7 days, then do it.

If you REALLY want to be sure (I don't think it matters) then give them 14 days - that's what they would give you if wanted their money back. Difference is, they have access to that sort of money immediatly - if it were the other way around and they were calling in a debt, it's pretty obvious that the person wouldn't have the money. I think 7 days is enough.

westernpromise

Who specifically do you sue when doing so? Any branch of the bank?

If it's Smile or Egg do you serve the summons on head office?

dchurch24

It shouldn't matter - all branches are registered offices.

I would address it to the branch, but see if you could get the head office cc'ed in.

dchurch24

As a side note, if anyone wanted to come along to the protest about bank charges outside the OFT's HQ on March 3rd, then if you send a blank email to:

:: Email removed for privacy - FM ::

you will be sent back details of the meet, time, place, map etc... straight away.

(in fact, I wonder if it would be ok to start a different thread about the protest? Mods?)