Claim back any unfair bank charges! Article Discussion Area

oldwiring

Plutos wrote:

....."LEGAL bids to reclaim overdraft charges are being kicked out of county courts because of a test case that could finally force banks to come clean on fees."

"In the past week, small claims court orders against Halifax and Lloyds TSB have been rejected by courts in Gloucestershire and Uxbridge, Middlesex, on the grounds that a case has been submitted to a higher court which could set a precedent in these types of cases.

The test case involves a customer in dispute with Lloyds TSB which will be heard by London Mercantile Court. Cases at the Mercantile Court relate to commercial or business matters and are heard by a judge. "

Now, if this case goes against the plaintiff- i.e the bank wins, and indeed has application to so called unfair charges, will the banks and creidit card providers have a right to appeal against decisions made in the lower court?

Plutos_2

oldwiring wrote:

Now, if this case goes against the plaintiff- i.e the bank wins, and indeed has application to so called unfair charges, will the banks and creidit card providers have a right to appeal against decisions made in the lower court?

...and if the bank looses will they all have to refund the charges they'e made over the last 6 years?

I'm just not sure what step to take next - do I send the letters (I've got the DPA request back and know they owe me £841....)?

dchurch24

Lloyds have capitulated and given the money back to the claimant in the 'test' case, rather than go to court.

This actually happened just before the Mail article.

Plutos_2

dchurch24 wrote:

Lloyds have capitulated and given the money back to the claimant in the 'test' case, rather than go to court.

This actually happened just before the Mail article.

Thanks for that - good to know. I went into Natwest today and complained. She just kept referring to 'the legal department'.

Money's been a bit tight this month, so I've hit my overdraft limit again. The charged me £38 for my phone bill direct debit, £38 for a £4 subscription, £38 for bouncing my credit card direct debit (and so the credit card company has charged me £20 returned payment fee, and £20 late payment fee). Every time I put more money in, backdated charges come out of the account and so its gone....



They make it impossible to live if you are ever near the limit......

Reverend_Darkman

This really works!!

Just had a letter of offer from HSBC's solicitors after taking them to court - I claimed £3098 plus my £120 court costs and they have offered me £3218.

Now I also cliamed the 8% interest which today is £552.46 - do I refuse the offer on the grounds that the interest isn't in the offer? The extra £500 will clear my visa card with them leaving me totally debt free with HSBC!

Plutos_2

Reverend_Darkman wrote:

This really works!!

Just had a letter of offer from HSBC's solicitors after taking them to court - I claimed £3098 plus my £120 court costs and they have offered me £3218.

Now I also cliamed the 8% interest which today is £552.46 - do I refuse the offer on the grounds that the interest isn't in the offer? The extra £500 will clear my visa card with them leaving me totally debt free with HSBC!

Wow that's great to hear - congratulations! I'm not sure of the technicalities of claiming the interest, but I can understand it must be tempting to take the £3.2k cash...

Another question... what about charges after you've claimed? Can you get them to stop adding them to your account, or do you have to write one letter a year (or something) claiming them back in one go!

Reverend_Darkman

Plutos wrote:

Wow that's great to hear - congratulations! I'm not sure of the technicalities of claiming the interest, but I can understand it must be tempting to take the £3.2k cash...

Another question... what about charges after you've claimed? Can you get them to stop adding them to your account, or do you have to write one letter a year (or something) claiming them back in one go!

Well i'm going to try that out very soon - you see I stopped paying money into my HSBC account when they stopped my ATM card which meant i couldn't get money out to pay the bills/food etc - I have a loan with them also and I can't cancel the direct debit for the loan payment yet they still try and pay it every month and then charge me, even though I'm paying into the loan account via my other bank account (not always on time though!) So I reckon when I get this money and then go and see the branch armed with the letters I now have they, will repay every penny!

Hourglass

Hi,

I'm looking into reclaiming bank charges after just discovering this site and have already posted on the Debt-Free Wannabe threads. This is probably a stupid question but I've looked on the Consumer Action Group site and can't find the answer. I would need to write to my banks for the relevant information as I have not kept statements that far back. It states there is a £10 fee for this information - how do you make the payment? By cheque, and if so, who to? Just "HSBS Bank"? :rolleyes:

Thanks for any help....

T

Reverend_Darkman

Hourglass wrote:

Hi,

I'm looking into reclaiming bank charges after just discovering this site and have already posted on the Debt-Free Wannabe threads. This is probably a stupid question but I've looked on the Consumer Action Group site and can't find the answer. I would need to write to my banks for the relevant information as I have not kept statements that far back. It states there is a £10 fee for this information - how do you make the payment? By cheque, and if so, who to? Just "HSBS Bank"? :rolleyes:

Thanks for any help....

T

Yes just send a cheque made payable to whoever the bank is and complete the request lettter from consumeractiongroup

Plutos_2

Hourglass wrote:

Hi,

I'm looking into reclaiming bank charges after just discovering this site and have already posted on the Debt-Free Wannabe threads. This is probably a stupid question but I've looked on the Consumer Action Group site and can't find the answer. I would need to write to my banks for the relevant information as I have not kept statements that far back. It states there is a £10 fee for this information - how do you make the payment? By cheque, and if so, who to? Just "HSBS Bank"? :rolleyes:

Thanks for any help....

T

You want to make a request under the data protection act. I just sent cash, recorded delivery, but most people use a cheque payable to their bank.

The Consumer Action data protection letter is here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-data-protection-act-subject.html

remember that you will have to be registered and logged in to see it (try going to the forums section of the website and logging in first. Then click on the link).

You should either hand the letter into your local branch in person, or send the letter using recorded delivery so you can prove they recieved it (and can prove the data).

Then sit back and wait for the day when you can see how ripped off you've been!