Open Letter To David Cameron - 25 AUG REPONSE NOW IN

Graemeyh

Well said Martin. Dont expect any action. The man only knows PR. No substance.

tigerpatch

Don't get too excited. David Cameron is a good politician. Says a lot but does nothing. The Tories had 18 years to sort out the banks when they were in power, Labour 12 years so far and nothing has been done.

natweststaffmember

thejack1953 wrote: »

I am new to this forum hence the "one post". Anyway surely everyone has a right comment and no one has a monopoly of comment here....do they?

I assumed we were debating an issue and I was apologising to you but there had been a lot of single line posters simply saying "it's your fault", "stop complaining cos it's your fault".
I have apologised to you once and I will do it again. I assumed we were then debating viewpoints, or are we not?

BITDIZZY

My brother has been severely financially hampered through no fault of his own and has acquired countless charges. He does not want to try to reclaim the unfair charges as he does not want the Bank(s) to close his bank account. He could really do with getting those charges back as they would run into a few thousand pounds.

I get the feeling from some recent postings that Bank(s) are not closing accounts now willy nilly in these sort of circumstances.

natweststaffmember

BITDIZZY wrote: »

My brother has been severely financially hampered through no fault of his own and has acquired countless charges. He does not want to try to reclaim the unfair charges as he does not want the Bank(s) to close his bank account. He could really do with getting those charges back as they would run into a few thousand pounds.

I get the feeling from some recent postings that Bank(s) are not closing accounts now willy nilly in these sort of circumstances.

They aren't allowed to under the terms of the FSA Waiver on bank charges.

Bilbo777

Dear Martin, You certainly have a nerve to ridicule as you are in no position to criticize anybody!
Why do I say that, well refer to your emails dated 18th September 2007, 25th September 2007, 16th January 2008 and 6th February 2008. In all of these you advocated people to save in Icesave because they gave at least 6.2% interest. Nowhere in these emails did you warn people that Icesave deposits were not covered by the FSA scheme.
Result my wife invested a large sum of money in Icesave!
You were even advocating saving in Kauphing as late as 28th May 2008.

As you are supposed to be so very smart WHY didn’t you mention neither of the above were covered by the FSA???

I would not take your financial advice ever again!

berniesmaster

then why u on here bilbo????

Former_MSE_Andrea

Thanks for your thoughts

If you could post them on the Have a Go at Martin thread that would be great, so we can keep this thread on topic.

Thanks!

Back to the subject..

clarelea

Why are those of us who are able to properly administrate our accounts paying for people who can't? Due to the inevitably huge payouts the bank are going to be paying out there is now an increasing number of accounts that have a monthly fee and a rapidly decreasing number of free accounts. Banks have will have to recoup their money somehow, and so I fear that the era of free banking will soon be over. As usual it is everyone who will have to pay for the mistakes of a few.
Banks can't take fees from customers account without notice, they are required to send a letter to the customer showing the reason for the charge and when it will be taken. Most banks will reverse the first charge on your account if you have previously had good conduct, so if you do make a mistake (and are actually polite to the person you speak to at the bank) the likelihood is you will get your money back.
I admit that the amount of bank charges are high, but they are supposed to act as a deterant to abusing your account. And finally, lets not forget that these charges were all in the terms and conditions that everyone agreed to when they signed the account opening form!

natweststaffmember

clarelea wrote: »

Why are those of us who are able to properly administrate our accounts paying for people who can't?
you got that the wrong way round. It is them lot over there who are paying for our lovely free bank account. Get down you poor reclaiming peasants.
Due to the inevitably huge payouts the bank are going to be paying out there is now an increasing number of accounts that have a monthly fee and a rapidly decreasing number of free accounts.
To quote the banks: "free if in credit" because there is a difference. Furthermore, you are not forced to have a monthly fee with bells and whistles account.

Banks have will have to recoup their money somehow, and so I fear that the era of free banking will soon be over. As usual it is everyone who will have to pay for the mistakes of a few.
what is 20% of the population?
Do you agree that the rule of law should be followed?
Can I ask why you have come to that viewpoint? Banks have paid out billions in bank charges reclaims, endowment misselling, ppi misselling, credit card charges plus they have insured BILLIONS of pounds worth of debt with the government.

Banks can't take fees from customers account without notice, they are required to send a letter to the customer showing the reason for the charge and when it will be taken.
That isn't actually correct. NatWest/RBS followed a policy for 6 years that only on the first occasion was a letter sent and then no further letters would be sent. Pre advice statements were only sent for bells and whistles accounts and exceeding the overdraft facility.
Most banks will reverse the first charge on your account if you have previously had good conduct, so if you do make a mistake (and are actually polite to the person you speak to at the bank) the likelihood is you will get your money back.
Gesture of Goodwill payment will only be once and only exceptional factors(ie reputational risk) will produce a refund so most people will get a no.

I admit that the amount of bank charges are high, but they are supposed to act as a deterant to abusing your account.
The legal definition is still in the House of Lords and with the OFT test case. Many people are not complaining about necessarily the cost but the interplay of charges, ie one unpaid charge could trigger unarranged overdraft. Bank charges will not disappear but they may be fairer.
And finally, lets not forget that these charges were all in the terms and conditions that everyone agreed to when they signed the account opening form!

Those terms and conditions are part and parcel of the bank charges test case and so far 4 judges have said that the OFT can assess them for fairness. Furthermore, most banks will say "sign here and here"(they do not explain the contract the individual is signing nor how the charges work. For example, some people will have a payment bounced and others will have it paid when there are insufficient funds.
There is no explanation in the terms and conditions apart from "at out discretion" which means WE decide if we want to or don't want to pay the amount due out.