Help! I've just started reclaiming bank charges

cybermonkey

I've been getting some very good advice on the debt free wannabees forum, so I hope someone here can offer up some help...

I contacted Barclays recently to get a copy of the charges on my current account, worked out what they had taken from me in unauthorised fees (£867 inc interest), and then sent them a letter and a list of the charges. I also applied for financial hardship.

So where I'm at now is that I got several letters back from them today.

• The first one is asking me to complete a budget planner, send it back, and then they will assess how hard up I am. Do I really need to give them all this information?
• The second letter is acknowledging my "complaint about bank charges and your claim for financial difficulty". They have given me a claim reference number and cheekily enclosed a 'How to Keep Your Finances on Track' booklet. They then apologise and say they can't do anything with my case until the test court case has been resolved.
• The third letter is also acknowledging my bank charges letter, but also informing me that they "will not be refunding these charges as a result of your complaint".

I'm assuming that they won't progress any of my case until I send back the completed budget planner so i'll get that back to them next week. But what's with them sending me so many letters? Are they just trying to frighten me off, or confuse me?

The third letter did state that "I will keep your complaint file open for 8 weeks so that you have time to consider my response. If I have not heard from you by then, I will regard your complaint as closed". Can they do this and is there a time limit on responding back to them?

If anyone is getting this kind of response from Barclays I'd love to hear how you're getting on with them...

natweststaffmember

The FSA Waiver on Bank charges states in the hardship bit on Annex 2


"6.
Where the firm does not have sufficient evidence to assess whether or not the complainant is in fact in financial difficulty, the firm will seek such further relevant information as is reasonably required to make that assessment. In the event that the firm reasonably requires relevant information to be provided by the complainant and the complainant does not provide the requested information within a reasonable period of time, the firm shall not be obliged to treat such a complainant as being in financial difficulty."


You need to fill in the I&E form with household income. If you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities) then send copies of them as well.

Orford

cybermonkey wrote: »

• The first one is asking me to complete a budget planner, send it back, and then they will assess how hard up I am. Do I really need to give them all this information?

Yes, if you are claiming Financial Hardship, it's not unreasonable for the bank to satisfy themselves that that is the case. Also include any documentary evidence of priority debt arrears (mortgage, rent, council tax, utilities etc)

cybermonkey

Ok thanks for that, i'll make sure they get the budget planner back next week

cybermonkey

Can anyone tell me what's going on with letter 3?

The third letter is also acknowledging my bank charges letter, but also informing me that they "will not be refunding these charges as a result of your complaint".

Does that mean they will not be taking my claim for unfair charges further? If that's the case what do I do? Are they just trying to frighten me off?
I'm going to call the bank tomorrow to get some answers, but if anyone can give me some pointers before then i'd be grateful. I'll scan the letter in and attach it if anyone can shed any light on this...

natweststaffmember

cybermonkey wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what's going on with letter 3?

The third letter is also acknowledging my bank charges letter, but also informing me that they "will not be refunding these charges as a result of your complaint".

Does that mean they will not be taking my claim for unfair charges further? If that's the case what do I do? Are they just trying to frighten me off?
I'm going to call the bank tomorrow to get some answers, but if anyone can give me some pointers before then i'd be grateful. I'll scan the letter in and attach it if anyone can shed any light on this...

I would send the completed income and expenditure form back to them since it is unlikely they would have made any decision without it.

plshelpme_2

hello natweststaffmember,
I saw on my old credit card statements that they also charged me payment protection at £15.oo every month.
Can I also claim this on my credit card charges?
thanks again.

natweststaffmember

plshelpme wrote: »

hello natweststaffmember,
I saw on my old credit card statements that they also charged me payment protection at £15.oo every month.
Can I also claim this on my credit card charges?
thanks again.

On the PPI forum they can advise you on how the process works for reclaiming PPI.

cybermonkey

I've just re-read the second letter that has my financial difficulty claim reference number on it. It says a bit lower down: "we have checked our records and during the time you are complaining about, you have incurred both unauthorised overdraft charges, and fees relating to personal reserve (introduced by the Bank on 18 August 2008). You will receive a separate letter in relation to the personal reserve fees."

The third letter must be for the personal reserve fees, although it doesn't state that specifically in the third letter. So even though the bank has categorically told me that they will not be refunding these charges, can I still pursue this claim? Will it be a separate claim for unauthorised overdraft charges now?

natweststaffmember

cybermonkey wrote: »

I've just re-read the second letter that has my financial difficulty claim reference number on it. It says a bit lower down: "we have checked our records and during the time you are complaining about, you have incurred both unauthorised overdraft charges, and fees relating to personal reserve (introduced by the Bank on 18 August 2008). You will receive a separate letter in relation to the personal reserve fees."

The third letter must be for the personal reserve fees, although it doesn't state that specifically in the third letter. So even though the bank has categorically told me that they will not be refunding these charges, can I still pursue this claim? Will it be a separate claim for unauthorised overdraft charges now?

Hmmmm, this is the one thing I have a problem with is that many claimants are not being allowed to claim via hardship on the basis of the new terms and conditions introduced by them. I'm not sure I like the way this is being dealt with.

cybermonkey

I'm not too happy either, surely the new T&Cs they imposed are in the same legal bracket as the original ones that are going through the courts right now, ie unfair.

I was just going to post the completed budget planner back to them tomorrow, but should I now also include a cover letter asking for confirmation of what will happen with both the unauthorised overdraft fees and the personal reserve fees?

I'm pretty sure my financial hardship claim will be rejected, as i've only just recently been seeing a small surplus in my income vs expenditure (due largely to help by people on this forum). So if that happens then i'm assuming that the bank will respond saying my claim for the unauthorised overdraft will be put on hold until the courts have ruled, but that they will not be pursuing my claim on the personal reserve fees any further. Can I expect this kind of response from them?

From what I've read on this site I thought both these charges I'm claiming for are considered unfair, have I got that right?