Claim back any unfair bank charges! Article Discussion Area

kit

carebear wrote:

Any ideas where I stand?

Reclaiming charges from old joint bank account when I was married, now divorced. Charges are £1050. Can I claim total back in my name only or am I only entitled to 50%?

This was a joint account but either of us to could withdraw money (reason for charges, ex kept taking money out!!).

Halifax have offered to pay £500 but I do not know whether to accept or take to court. Will I only be able to claim 50% THROUGH COURT?

Thanks

I have just got back all the charges on a joint account with my ex husband. All the way through they offered me more and more money but asked for his signature before they would release it. I didnt want to accept their offers anyway so it didnt matter.

I appled to court, in just my name, and they paid up before court date.

HOWEVER, they paid it straight in to the joint bank account which is frozen and will remain frozen for a long time yet! They would not pay it to me directly.

I think it will depend on whether or not you still have the account open and what sort of signature arrangements you have on the account.

HTH

oldwiring

Even before I read kit's post I had been wondering not so much what the bank may or not do, but what the legal situation may be. But for the bank's taking the charges it would have formed part of the couples estate beore the divorce took place and financial settlement made. Perhaps refrecne to that settlemet should be made. I wonder if doing anyhting with money received from a victory over the bank, which is outside the term of the divorce settlement terms, might constitute a contempt of court, or cause for action by the other partner.

Just wondering as a non legal man. Perhaps the OP needs professional advice.

tenuissent

I came back from a week abroad to find that I had not only gone into overdraft, but exceeded the limit by 4p, over a period of 6 days, during which A&L honoured several cheques at £25 each and charged me another £25 for exceeding the limit. I immediately transferred £1000 from a savings account attached to the current account.

Then I wrote a polite letter (9th August) asking them to return the charges as a gesture of goodwill, explaining there had been an unfortunate coincidence of absence, DD, late pay cheque - and pointing out how quickly I had acted to put the situation right. I added that in a sense, I was not overdrawn because the savings account had more than enough to cover the overdraft.

Before reading this encouraging site today I was pessimistic and depressed about these extra costs caused by my week away, but now I am raring to go with the letter templates and threats of legal action. Thank you.

Years and years ago, A&L had a marvellous current account which automatically transferred money from the attached savings account to prevent accidental overdrafts. Are these automatic transfers expensive to handle?

terriblesaver

HI guys
Im fairly new tio this reclaiiming stuff and having read numerous posts have a couple fof questions.

1. I bank with Nationwide - its a basic accounts so all charges are for bounced DD's - can I claim for these?

2. Is it true that they will close my account down?

3. I am in a DMP with B&E trying to get out of it at the moment - can i reclaim charges from any of the people i actually owe money to? MBNA Credit Card , Lloyds TSB Loan, Credit Card and Bank account, Halifax CVredit Card etc

Sorry if I am being dim!

Grateful for any direction for you old hands!

melpomene

terriblesaver wrote:

1. I bank with Nationwide - its a basic accounts so all charges are for bounced DD's - can I claim for these?

yes!
2. They may - you can protect yourself by opening a new account. Have a look at the 'Nationawide' threads/cases on the CAG site to get an idea as to how they tend to behave.

3. I think so, but can't advise on this.

ludwig

What can I do if the bank asks me to repay my overdraft immediately (something I am not in a position to do)?

melpomene

People, I'm stuck & would love some input.

Chronological Sequence of Events

2.8.2006 I had already extracted my list of charges from bank statements, so sent preliminary letter to First Direct seeking refund of charges £407.50=£87.09 interest=£494.59.

9.8.2006 Letter dated 7 August received from Robert Kernaghan (CSM) offers £377.50 in full & final settlement, to be applied to my O/D. Explains the difference as being due to some charges having been for services requested by me.

11.8.2006 I replied with a LBA, refusing the offer, reiterating my claim for the full amount, requesting settlement by cheque.

16.8.2006 Letter dated 14 August received, again signed by RK, argues that he is unable to refund debit interest as this 'has been correctly applied in line with our published Rate & T, in relation to the debit balance of your account. Furthermore interest will continue to accrue daily and be applied monthly, until such time as your debit balance has been fully repaid'.

He goes on to state that £30 of the charges were for facilities requested by me (ie arrangement & renewal fees).

Dilemma : What should i do now? Obviously the interest I'm claiming is interest on the unlawful charges, not on the rest of my (undisputed) debt which I've been paying religiously since the account was closed (in 2003). I worked it out proportionately.

Is he right that the arrangement & renewal fees are excluded?

Should I accept the £377.50?

Please let me have your thoughts.

I need to know whether to deduct the £30 from my claim, AND what to do about the interest ON THE CHARGES.

Many thanks. I freaked a bit when I got the letter, partly because the circumstances that led to my going overdrawn back in 2002 were horrible.

Thanks!
Mel

melpomene

ludwig wrote:

What can I do if the bank asks me to repay my overdraft immediately (something I am not in a position to do)?

You would need to weigh everything up - for example, do you still have time to claim for the charges (ie within the 6 years) by postponing your claim to a time when you may be in a position to clear the debt?

At worst the bank might call in your OD, & you could go to court to establish what you can afford to pay instalments wise. Not ideal I know.

Have you had a good look to see what others have done in the same predicament?

Mel

Greenstuff_2

Hi, can anyone help me? I have a self cert Mortgage with First National bank, I want to move house and keep the same product but borrow an additional amount. It's fixed rate so there is a redemtion fee, fair enough, but I don't want to redeem it but take it to my new property, they will give me the same Mortgage with the same rate etc. the additional part is a different rate which is their current one, but they are saying that as it's not 'portable' I have to still pay the redemtion fee.
This I think is totally unfair, I am happy to stay with the company, their rates are pretty competitive so am happy with that, but even so I have to pay the redemtion fee of almost £4000. Is this counted as an unfair charge?
If so what can I do about it, as I said I m happy to stay with them, but if I have to pay the penaly I may as well go elswhere as I can get a slightly better rate. I'm concerned that if I do that they will be at an advantage as they can say it's a straightforward redemtion fee. Can anyone give me some advise as to where to go please?
Thanks

sallywoo

ludwig wrote:

What can I do if the bank asks me to repay my overdraft immediately (something I am not in a position to do)?

i have the same bother but i am under ther imprestion that
l the repayment of charges will cover the cost of the overdraft and then some left. bank will probably ask for od under terms and conditions as soon as you post the letter for charges under the data protection act. theres no way they are going to make life easy for you

its the bank loan that bothers me
personaly i want to get a new loan somewhere else to cover loan and o/d before we send them any form of letter