MSE News: Bank charges: banks win test case appeal

orc_2

mogsy77 wrote: »

i have accepted it thats the last of my charges back ive had 5 grand off them in two years it was like a savings club lol

Its not over yet! It will just take a slightly different approach and a bit more time.

mogsy77

interested to see if they do give it to me though. . . . . . . . . . .

orc_2

mogsy77 wrote: »

interested to see if they do give it to me though. . . . . . . . . . .

If you have the letter don't give them time to retract.

Thriftysaver

Just make sure that you post the letter recorded to prove you sent it and then they can't revoke the offer before you have accepted because you already have accepted it, if you see what I mean.

Thrifty

fatlad9

Viper_7 wrote: »

However do believe banks shouldn't double charge, for say a charge which puts you overdrawn and then charged again for being overdrawn!

Both Lloyds and HSBC have been fair to me, and havent double charged when this has happened to me, recently.

khdgsa

I guess that as the banks are now effectively government controlled, the government's Supreme Court couldn't rule in favour of the government paying money back to us proles ! Perhaps we can get the Supreme Court to refund the money our government gave the banks in interest free loans !

RachelW1987

Tiger_greeneyes wrote: »

Do you think he drives a Porsche, Rachel? :D

Indeed I do :rotfl:

orc_2

Update from FOS for information. Hope this helps folk.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/faq/bank-charges.html

complaints about bank charges
frequently-asked questions

complaints about bank charges

what's happening on complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges?

The Financial Ombudsman Service – and courts across the country – put individual complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges on hold, while waiting for an important legal "test case".
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) also agreed that banks could suspend their work on complaints about these charges, until the "test case" decision was made.
The Supreme Court issued its decision on the "test case" [summary in PDF format] on 25 November 2009. The Court made a unanimous ruling on the issues on which the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) had sought a decision. The courts ruled that the OFT is restricted in its power to assess the fairness of unauthorised overdraft charges made by banks.
The law is one of the things that the ombudsman has to take into account when we decide cases. This is why the Supreme Court's ruling is very important to our work.
So we are now considering the Supreme Court's decision – and its implications – very carefully. However, our initial understanding is that it means it will be unlikely that the cases we have on hold would succeed.

my complaint with the ombudsman service was put on hold during the court case. What do I need to do now?

You don't need to do anything. We will be in touch with you, once we have been able to consider in detail the Supreme Court's decision – and what it means for the complaints we put on hold.

what about complaints that involve bank charges as well as financial hardship problems?

If you are in genuine financial hardship, you should let your bank or building society know as soon as possible. Give them the necessary information about your financial circumstances to enable them to consider your situation fully.
If you are unhappy with their response, you can make an official complaint – and your bank or building society must deal with that complaint.
If your bank or building society agrees that you are experiencing financial hardship, they should suggest an appropriate settlement. This may or may not involve a refund of charges – depending on the circumstances.
If you're not happy with your bank or building society's response to an official complaint, we can look to see if we are able to deal with your case before the legal position on bank charges has been finally settled.
We have written to the major current-account providers [letter opens in PDF] and claims-management companies [letter opens in PDF] to set out our approach to cases involving current account-charges and financial hardship – and to ask for cooperation in ensuring the efficient handling of these complaints.

mr.brightside87

mramra wrote: »

This is a good decision for the majority of people who believe in budgeting and careful management of their finances. This could have ended with everyone facing annual/monthly charges for their current accounts. Thankfully, common sense prevailed. :T

So those who budget can't afford a little fee at the end of the month? I asked someone today about this. He said:

"I pay 30k into the bank every year. I never go into the red and have lots of money left at the end of the month to spend on myself. Why should I bail out someone who can't afford to keep in the black"

I replied:

"Because this is blatant profiteering of those who are most vulnerable. On top of that, if you have lots of money at the end of the month, a little charge wont mean squat to you"

Common sense hasn't prevailed one bit and it's just another reason this country is in the mess it is. It's only going to get worse now as there is no way out of the debt that has been occured.. You may not have gone overdrawn but once you do, it's an evil and vicious cycle to get out of. £35 for an unpaid direct debit. Then another the month after as you have to pay the DD twice and go over drawn... And so on and so on. Yet instead of cancelling the debit until the charges have been paid, the bank continues that cycle until you are up the proverbial creek without a paddle. How is that fair exactly? We all have paid our taxes to help the banks out yet they can not stop extortion taking even more money from the taxpayers!?! It's no wonder they bankrupted the country.

If you can not see this, then I'm afriad cloud cuckoo land must be an amazing place to live.

A £2 job should not cost £35... In normal trade, that's being a cowboy yet the banks seem to think it is legal.

I'm massively in debt with the bank but I managed my finances. Just because sky took a payment out early (a week early may I add!) then my financial clout went balls up and I have got no way out of it.

So do not think everyone who has gone overdrawn mis manages their money because it doesn't

Premier_2

Viper_7 wrote: »

...
This doesn't mean people can't question the fees for small oversights. Banks may still waver these, but they don't have to.

Yes.

I'm sure I like many others have made the odd mistake over the years; we're all human. A simple call and it's often waived no problem.
I even had credit card charges waived once when I forgot to pay the monthly bill :eek:... and that was quite hefty too.

But I was listening to one guy on the radio today who was moaning about how the bank charged him £28 for going overdrawn. When he called them, they said they had already waived many charges amounting to over £100 at his request on his account recently. He was trying to argue that was not the point. :rolleyes:

But that is exactly the point. The odd error is often waived if you approach them nicely. Expecting or demanding the charge to be waived is not approaching them nicely. And obviously if you don't learn from your previous mistakes you can't expect to carry on getting away with it.