Claim back any unfair bank charges! Article Discussion Area

bookworm1363

kfn1502 wrote:

I work as a volunteer personal budget counsellor, usually with people on low incomes (benefits, mainly). I have two people at the moment who are affected financially as a result of bank charges.

1st case - a single mother whose ex-partner defaulted on the mortgage payments for months, causing arrear letters to litter her doorstep at the cost of £35 per time. Since I've been working with her, her finances are much more organised, and she has contacted the bank (numerous times in person, by phone & by letter) to explain what's happening regarding mortgage payments & her finances. In January, they charged her £35 for responding to one of the information letters which she had sent. Her solicitor wrote to the bank asking them to refund these costs & they have refused saying she didn't keep them informed (how much more information they wanted, I don't know!!!).

Question: can she legitimately claim back these £35 charges from her mortgage lender using the process described in the article?

2nd case: a grandmother who constantly bails out her adult kids' financial mistakes (another story!) and then goes into unauthorised overdraft herself. She has also occasionally made late payments to credit card companies.

Clarification: from what I've read in the article & in the chat forum, this lady should be able to write to the various financial institutions (her bank and the credit card companies) to reclaim the charges. Is this a correct assumption?

Thanks so much for your help.

In short, yes and yes.

Edited: Sorry, I should say that in the 1st case, that depends on who wrote the letter. If it was their solicitor, then probably not. Need more info.

Templates can be found on https://www.bankactiongroup.co.uk. Read the FAQ 1st!

bookworm1363

wee_mouse wrote:

does this work with Student Loans too?

If you mean reclaiming unlawful charges, that depends on whether they apply penalty charges or not, so you'll have to give a bit more info.

davilown

Received £225 from Barclays today for charges from the last six years. Letter from their legal services said the usual - their T&Cs, legal argument would not stand up in court etc.
It was, they said, a goodwill gesture.

Many Thanks to all on this thread, esp ddchurch for all the advice he has written.

Also, and I know some of you won't like it, but thanks to Barclays CS for sorting it out in just over three weeks.

Good luck all

monster

steggy_2

I'm very interested in trying to get back all the money my bank (HSBC) has charged me over the years.

But I have one problem, I currently have a loan with HSBC for £14,500 and having recently tried to apply for loans and been refused I dont really have an option to move this at the moment.

Is there a chance that HSBC will demand all of this money back if I try to get my money back from them, if there is a chance do they have a track record of closing accounts?

My charges must come up to close to £1000 so will be very handy, but still wont cover the loan.

blacksta

steggy wrote:

I'm very interested in trying to get back all the money my bank (HSBC) has charged me over the years.

But I have one problem, I currently have a loan with HSBC for £14,500 and having recently tried to apply for loans and been refused I dont really have an option to move this at the moment.

Is there a chance that HSBC will demand all of this money back if I try to get my money back from them, if there is a chance do they have a track record of closing accounts?

My charges must come up to close to £1000 so will be very handy, but still wont cover the loan.

It states in their t and c " they can demand loan/overdraft back at anytime giving you possibly a notice of about a month"

CharleneUK

davilown wrote:

Received £225 from Barclays today for charges from the last six years. Letter from their legal services said the usual - their T&Cs, legal argument would not stand up in court etc.
It was, they said, a goodwill gesture.

Many Thanks to all on this thread, esp ddchurch for all the advice he has written.

Also, and I know some of you won't like it, but thanks to Barclays CS for sorting it out in just over three weeks.

Good luck all

monster

Good for you!! How long did it take, from sending the letter to getting your money back?

steggy_2

Damn I was affraid of that, I may have to find another lender before I make this little venture.

Will still go ahead and enquire how much they've ripped off of me.

davilown

CharleneUK wrote:

Good for you!! How long did it take, from sending the letter to getting your money back?

Hi Charlene

Sent letter 17th feb, reply received today (8th mar) so 19 days overall or fourteen working days - Not bad I thought!

:beer: monster

davilown

steggy wrote:

Damn I was affraid of that, I may have to find another lender before I make this little venture.

Will still go ahead and enquire how much they've ripped off of me.

The interest you'll end up paying on your loan will probably outstrip the charges - give it a go and see what they say. There's usually very little harm in asking!

:beer: monster

tigerlily

Well I've only had one charge to claim back :A lol!! more luck than judgement!! Anyways, I wrote my letter to the bank (barclays) and had the standard "we'll get back to you letter", I've just checked my balance and they have refunded the cash!! Result!! £30 better off....good luck to everybody else who is claiming. :beer: