Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

Chomerly

natweststaffmember wrote: »

What date was on the letter?

Hi,
sorry, i should have stated that on my previous post.
The date on the letter is 7th January 2010.
I know the letter states that if they do not hear from me within the 8 week period then they will consider the matter closed.
I will be contacting the bank in due course in order to keep this matter open. I openly stated that i have no issue with paying charges but in no way can it be considered fair, legally or not, that someone can be overdrawn by as little as £1.56 and be charged £38 because of no overdraft facility.
Surely the bank knew this also. Why else would they reduce the charges to £5?

natweststaffmember

That means you have until 4th March 2009 to respond by which time a new guide to reclaiming will be available to you. A reduction in charges means nothing since the level of charges is not challengeable.

bankkiller

hey guys,
anybody on here who can help?
my original court case was stayed,
and then last month when I sent them the new recent template letters using new arguments, I got this response recently.
Wonder if anybody else has got any responses yet to the new templates?

what do i do next?

chrisharri

Hello, May I ask which template you used? Was it the one from the Govan Law Centre website? I'm waiting n a response from Natwest using that template. I'm not sure though what you can do now. Maybe go to the FOS and see what they say?

bankkiller

chrisharri wrote: »

Hello, May I ask which template you used? Was it the one from the Govan Law Centre website? I'm waiting n a response from Natwest using that template. I'm not sure though what you can do now. Maybe go to the FOS and see what they say?

Hi
yes, I used one from the Penalty charges forum.
don't know what to do next though.

amtrakuk

mayolad wrote: »

As far back as 1992 I challenged the level of bank charges on the basis that, in their letter informing customers of the charge, the banks (at least, Nat West & Lloyds) specifically stated that the charge was "to help towards the banks admin costs". When I asked for itemization of these costs I was threatened with account closure. It is my understanding that when a charge is levied for a stated purpose ("to help towards the banks admin cost") it has to be used specifically for this purpose and to use the money for any other purpose is, in fact, a criminal not a civil offence. The fact that the banks' letter states "towards" their costs suggests they are claiming that their costs are even higher than the £35.00 levied and yet, to my knowledge, no bank has ever been able to justify this which is surprizing as banks must be the most closely audited institutions on the planet. I moved to Ireland in 2006 and registered a claim for refund just prior to the hold put on claims due to the legal action so could not proceed and I am now investigating ways to move my claim forward as, with interest, it amounts to just under £10,000.00 from two business and one personal account.

Has anyone any knowledge if this apparent "loophole" has been investigated?

If thats common law, then it looks like it could be a loophole to investigate. However Im sure you will need to provide physical evidence of the letter. I think you would be one of the only ones to get such the quotation "to help towards the banks admin costs." Perhaps goto CAB or other public legal service and test the water.

mayolad

I don't know what UK banks put on their letters now as I have lived in Ireland for 4 years but I know both Nat West and LloydsTSB used to state "towards the banks admin costs" on their standard letters informing customers of the charges. According to statute this would certainly be ilegal on the face of it but I am not aware of any caselaw (common law) that may clarify it. (Maybe a judge would argue that although it stated that on their letters it is not what was meant because it didn't state that in the terms & conditions, I don't know). I used to be a CAB advisor and they do a great job but I think this issue is too complex, if there is no case law at present it may need one to determine it and that could be megabucks unless the banks agreed to have an individual case heard under small claims rules (no appeal but no legal precedent).

Broadstone

Hi all,

I need some advise.

Last week, I submitted a credit slip via my paying-in book to my local bank for 3 cheques made payable to me. The credit slip and my counterfoil were both stamped and signed by the cashier.

On Friday, I received a letter from my bank to advise that they have amended my credit slip and reduced it by £100 as the total value of the cheques had been added up incorrectly. To be fair, I think they are probably correct as I probably did not add up the amounts correctly. However, the cashier was very lazy and did not even look at the amounts on the cheques before stamping and signing. It was very near closing time and I'm guessing she just wanted to get the branch closed.

My question is have I got any legal entitlement to insist that they honour the original amount, which their cashier stamped and signed against the credit slip.

It would be good if I have a case as I am currently disputing my bank charges with this bank; so if I can get a win with the credit slip, it would mitigate any losses with regards the bank charges; although I'm still hoping that we will all win this debate evetually.

Thanks

natweststaffmember

Broadstone wrote: »

Hi all,

I need some advise.

Last week, I submitted a credit slip via my paying-in book to my local bank for 3 cheques made payable to me. The credit slip and my counterfoil were both stamped and signed by the cashier.

On Friday, I received a letter from my bank to advise that they have amended my credit slip and reduced it by £100 as the total value of the cheques had been added up incorrectly. To be fair, I think they are probably correct as I probably did not add up the amounts correctly. However, the cashier was very lazy and did not even look at the amounts on the cheques before stamping and signing. It was very near closing time and I'm guessing she just wanted to get the branch closed.

My question is have I got any legal entitlement to insist that they honour the original amount, which their cashier stamped and signed against the credit slip.

It would be good if I have a case as I am currently disputing my bank charges with this bank; so if I can get a win with the credit slip, it would mitigate any losses with regards the bank charges; although I'm still hoping that we will all win this debate evetually.

Thanks

I would ask the bank for a breakdown of the 3 cheques paid into the account which you are within your right to ask for if you have not recorded it down elsewhere.
You cannot ask for the money if the slip was genuinely incorrect since the extra amount was not there in the first place.

clipit101

Hi,

I have also recieved my 8 weeks to reply letter in relation to the carges on my HSBC account. Its a bit ridiculous as i have only just recieved the letter which is dated 18th December. Anyway to cut to the point this means i supposedly 11 days left until my bank disposes of my claim. What can i do to keep my claim open? Can i re-open my claim after they close it? Have i lost if i cant keep the case open long enough to get the new templates?

Im tying to claim £4000 back and dont want to keep fighting this. Please help?!?