Claim back any unfair bank charges! Article Discussion Area

melpomene · 27 August 2006 at 7:53AM

Gem+Dave+Kaci wrote:

will I get a quicker response if I send my letter to the local branch rather than the head office address?

I sent mine to Head Office in both cases, bt others have handdelivered to their local branches. Up to you. It may make a marginal difference depending on the bank, but you are giving them 14 days at each stage, so no big deal.

Also should I include all of my previous addresses at the top of the letter?? (I lived with my parants, then lived in my own flat, and have recently loved into a house all within the past 6 years).

Only if you all shared the bank account (s)!

I managed to get myself into serious debt when I was about 18 thanks to Barclays unauthorised overdraft fees, so as I only turned 24 last July I've got my fingers crossed that all of those charges or at least some of them can be claimed back still!!!

Get claiming - draw up (from statements) or request your list of charges & take it from there! Good luck!

shaun1977 · 27 August 2006 at 8:18AM

hi,it doesnt matter which one you send it to but make sure its recorded,and if taking it to the branch make sure you get a reciept, and they only need the last address which was registered with them.

yes it is the same for mobile phones, catalogues, utility companies. infact any company you have a contract with and has charged you a penalty.

Gem+Dave+Kaci · 27 August 2006 at 1:39PM

Thanks for all the replies!! One last question - if sending the letter to the head office who should I address it to?? Do I just put the address on the envelope or should I put it f.a.o. the Data handler or something like that??

Shaun - don;t know if anyone's already told you but the web address in your sig has been wrote as .co.ok - the link is correct and still takes you to the website though.

geoffreystuartlongden · 27 August 2006 at 1:51PM

Hey there

Just wondering if anyone can help or has any suggestions. After reading up on how to get my unfair charges back I wrote to the bank requesting my statements for the past 6 years together with my cheque for £10. 40 days went by and nothing came through. I wrote a letter to the bank explaining what I had done together with another request and £10 cheque as I know that they will say it got lost. I sent it by recorded delivery as I Know I should of done first time round.
Anyway, I cancelled the first cheque as I am assuming its now lost and have found out that the bank has now charged me £10. (idiots!!). I hope I can claim that back. They dont charge when cancelling a cheque if it is lost or stolen and so by charging me they are accepting that they had the cheque all along. I have just posted a letter to the Information Commissioner explaining all this and was just wondering if anyone has had this problem or anyone has any tips.

Thanks for any help

shaun1977 · 27 August 2006 at 1:55PM

Gem+Dave+Kaci wrote:

Shaun - don;t know if anyone's already told you but the web address in your sig has been wrote as .co.ok - the link is correct and still takes you to the website though.

thanks for that

dont address the letter to anyone in particular, it will get passed through to the data contol manager or the masses of people that are dealing with these now:rotfl:

shaun1977 · 27 August 2006 at 2:02PM

geoffreystuartlongden wrote:

Hey there

Just wondering if anyone can help or has any suggestions. After reading up on how to get my unfair charges back I wrote to the bank requesting my statements for the past 6 years together with my cheque for £10. 40 days went by and nothing came through. I wrote a letter to the bank explaining what I had done together with another request and £10 cheque as I know that they will say it got lost. I sent it by recorded delivery as I Know I should of done first time round.
Anyway, I cancelled the first cheque as I am assuming its now lost and have found out that the bank has now charged me £10. (idiots!!). I hope I can claim that back. They dont charge when cancelling a cheque if it is lost or stolen and so by charging me they are accepting that they had the cheque all along. I have just posted a letter to the Information Commissioner explaining all this and was just wondering if anyone has had this problem or anyone has any tips.

Thanks for any help

hi, it seems that they still have not taken payment, so the best thing you can do now that it is recorded is call them every now and then (pester them) if they think your not bothered they wont be. the 40 days do not start until they cash the cheque, the ico will probably do nothing just yet. they are so busy that they want to see you have done everything possible first. which you will have done once pestering them for a while. also write them another letter explaining about the £10 charge and explain what you have said about only charging if they have the cheque. you can claim that charge back as well as the £10 for the statements.
dont let up

bexsy64 · 27 August 2006 at 3:27PM

Hi shaun1977,

thanks for replying to my question about business accounts. do you know where I can find the correct wording to use in my initial letter to the bank?

mind you, they have just asked me to repay my overdraft in full (after knocking back 3 direct debits while I was on holiday), so perhaps now's not the time to tackle them. what do you think?

shaun1977 · 27 August 2006 at 4:31PM

bexsy64 wrote:

Hi shaun1977,

thanks for replying to my question about business accounts. do you know where I can find the correct wording to use in my initial letter to the bank?

mind you, they have just asked me to repay my overdraft in full (after knocking back 3 direct debits while I was on holiday), so perhaps now's not the time to tackle them. what do you think?

hi, yes you will find it our template library at the link in my sig.

yes it is definately the time to tackle them. dont know how far you want to push the bank but you can refuse to pay them the overdraft in full and offer them weekly/monthly payments which they dont have much choice in accepting. or you can put your account into dispute which basically freezes all interest and any demands for payment, until your charges are sorted out, but as for not claiming them back yet. the answer is definately do it now.

hope that helps.