Report Bank Charges successes and failures

chris.nl

Dear All ,

I have my business account and personal account with Lloyd tsb , recently i went abroad for business and withdrew Euro from

cash counter to pay my clients ,now i noticed bank charged me almost 2000 pounds cash charges and interesticon . please advice me if there any way i can claim this amount back ?


Thanks

Chris

Mqnkeybqy

Bank name: Santander
Amount Reclaimed: £2200
Amount they paid: £59 (so Far)
The story: I wrote to Santander last week, I have also been into the bank recently to ask them for help and advice. They told me that rather than go into a personal finance agreement (after going through our income and expenditures) I should apply for a consolidation loan for £17K to clear my debt, stop me getting charges and defaults, and reduce our monthly payments. Sounded great, then they noticed I have had charges within the last 6 months and so was told they couldn't help. I asked what I should do as it appeared that we were heading for bankruptcy. They told me to try another bank, so we went to NatWest, who we have another account with. We explained everything again but were again told no, due to charges. They told us that they could help us by offering us a credit card (we had just explained to them that we're struggling with bills and creditors from 3 credit cards and 2 loans). We declined and explained that we were trying to get away from borrowing more, as another credit card would just let us take out more cash when we need fuel or food. However, Natwest a week later we received a letter from Natwest saying we couldn't have another credit card!? So they had applied for it without our permission.
I then wrote to Santander and explained that we have now entered into an agreement with Gregory Pennington to repay our debts to the total of £17K. I explained that for the last 4 years we have incurred charges of around £2200 and that we are and have been stuck in a cycle of charges, which has resulted in us missing payments, which not only gives us bank charges but more charges with out creditors. I told them that although I have not added the £750 overdraft I have with them to the debt repayment, i have made a promise to GP to repay this over the next 4 years. I have done this because I'm currently paying fees to GP for using there services to help us repay our debts as they've stopped most of the charges and interest with our creditors. I made this point only as I wish to use the refunded charges to pay GP to reduce the amount of the services we use (monthly fees), as I am aware that Santander may have chosen to put the refund against our overdraft and this would have just held us in this position for even longer. I am still having to draw money out knowing full well that the money should be paying debts but need food and fuel in the car to get to work.
I received a phone call from Santander (Blocked Number) saying they wanted to talk to me about my complaint. I was happy to until she said, remember they rang me, they needed to ask some security questions, i declined and said this didn't sound like something a bank would or should do. They explained they would send a written response instead, that day I logged onto the internet and found they'd refunded £59 of charges and had cancelled the £135 charges about to be applied to our account.
Whilst this is great news and it has helped us this month, it doesn't go far enough to stop our mounting problems.
I have rang the ombudsman for advice and they have told me to make a complaint to them, which I have and am just awaiting the paperwork in the post. Will update if this goes any further....

LisaJane

Hello not sure if this is the right place but wanted to share...

Bank name: Halifax
Amount Reclaimed: £6
Amount they paid:£6
The story: I stupidly used a card from an old unused account with no money in it to buy some electricity. I didn't notice for a few days what I had done and had accumulated 6 days of Halifax's £1 a day overdraft charge. I rang up Halifax and explained what had happened and that I wished to close the account (which I should have done AGES ago!!). The girl on the phone was extremely helpful and agreed to refund the £6 charge despite it not even being the bank's fault. A small amount of money, but I was delighted with the service!

Notts_Will

Bank: HSBC
Amount Claimed: £1000+
Amount Returned: Zero

Due to a failed business attempt I had built up a few thousand pounds on a couple of credit cards.
My income unfortunately went down after this.
My outgoings (cards, bills etc) were greater than my income.

This meant I was regularly going overdrawn on my bank account to try and pay my bills.
I was getting returned direct debits etc.

After being with HSBC for 17 years charge free I suddenly built up £1000+ during a 12 month period.
I tried multiple times for a consolidation loan and even another credit card or an extension to my overdraft.
I was turned down every time as I had incurred charges.
I managed to get one employee to admit that my 17 years 'good service' counted for nothing.

I thought it was terribly unfair that while being in financial hardship that they were giving me charge after charge.

I used a template letter off here and complained to HSBC. They declined a refund and told me to contact their money management team.
I sent it to the Ombudsman and they ruled in favour of HSBC.
Wasn't happy and was on the phone for 40 mins to the person at the Ombudsman who got my case.
The woman at the Ombudsman was nice enough but I found her reasoning a bit strange.

I was challenging HSBC on whether they were fair to me in dishing out charges while in such trouble. I said I had been to see them loads and asked for help but they did nothing.
She said that according to HSBC records I hadn't been in once. I said they hadn't recorded anything and she said I had to prove I had been in to talk to someone.
She argued that help was given in their reply to my complaint (the Money Management Team). I said the damage had been done by that point and she said she has to take all communication from HSBC as evidence even if they offer help well after the incident.
Im now on a debt management plan with Stepchange (I owe £15,000 to creditors and £8,000 to family).
HSBC have zeroed my interest on my overdraft for this which the Ombudsman says is showing more goodwill from them to my situation so she cant penalise them.
So if you stab someone in the back but then help them treat their wounds there is no ill feelings!!!

Anthonyb9749

I wanted to make everyone aware of some difficukty that I have faced with RBS recently. I have been an RBS customer for circa 18 years now. When I opened this account I was a naive teenager. I was taken to a private conusltation room and explained to the advisor there that all I needed was a basic account to have my wages paid into with a debit card and minimal overdraft. The advisor told me that because I was only 18 the only thing they could offer me was their packaged Royalties account.
Due to my lack of knowledge and naivity I accepted this and opened the account.

Many years have now passed and over the years the charges on this packaged account have now risen have risen. Over the time I have never used or registered to use any of the supposed benefits of this account. In 2011 RBS took the decison to discontinue the Royalties account and repalce with Royalties Gold. Every time I went into my branch tehy were pushing me to upgrade. I resisted this for a long time as it was more money for prioducts I would not use. eventually in October 2011 I caved in mainly due to the pushiness of RBS staff. Once again I was taken into a private consultation Room at RBS (this time in Kuntsford). I expressed once again that it really doesnt benefit me. The advisor told mne in no uncertain terms that if i didnt take it and in fact downgraded my account the bank could call in the full amount of my overdraft(£1500) immediately or enforce other penalties in lieu of this I could only take him at his word so reluctantly signed up for Royalties Gold.
It was a long time later that I found out he had misinformed and misold to again!!!
in may of thsi year I posted a letter to RBS stating that I wanted this to be investigated and my charges refunded. After hearing nothing after 8 weeks I followed this up with a phone call. I was pushed from one department to another to then be told that it was stuick in thier system and still under investigation. A week later I still hadnt heard back so I called again. I was then told it had been approved for refund and I would recieve a letter with a settlement amount.. 2 weeks later I called again.. Suddenly then is no record of any of this. I was then forced to start the process again. I called up again earlier this week to be told that a letter had been sent out on 28/08.. This has still not been recieved however a bracnh manager did read a copy of this supposed letter to me. It would appear RBS are looking for loopholes to avoid paying me back. for expmple using terms like "you would have been told" although no one can prove a "would". The interesting thing is they claim that I have used thier travel insurance. The thing uis with that i would never be eligible for thier travel insurance. This is due to the fact that I suffer from a heart condition and have a defribillator fitted to my heart. I require specialist travel insurance.. I spoke with a ladty called Farah Iqbal who had alledgedy signed and sent the missing letter. One of the things that she asked me is what I want to or expect to gain from my complaint. I think that that is obvious. She did agree to reopen the case after I advised her I had taken advice from the Ombudsamen who are also in agreement with me.. The case goes on.

AutisticA

Having read the MSE info about fee paying bank accounts I contacted my bank, Barclays. I have held a fee paying account since 1999, when it started at £10 per month. I never used the services that I got with the account until 2010 when my mobile phone was stolen and I used the phone insurance. I contacted the bank in the 1st week of September. Yesterday they paid £1318-50 into my account - all my monthly fees from 1999 to 2010. Thank you MSE - I am so happy right now!!!!! :j

Atidi

^^^

Congratulations, but wrong thread mate.

Here is the MSE article on reclaiming packaged bank account charges
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/reclaim-packaged-bank-accounts
and if you had read that article carefully, you would have seen the link at the bottom of it that links to the thread to discuss that article and/or report any successes or failures from following the advice given.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/58816197#Comment_58816197

Sarr1985x

Hi there have just sent a letter to natwest trying to claim refunds on my bank charges which add up to nearly 4,000 pounds, they sent me back a letter within 2 weeks with a definite no, so do I send them another letter or go to the ombudsman???

wwfwilla

Ombudsman as they have made their mind up and won't change it.

Gypsey

Sorry everyone, I am new here, so I don't know if I'm posting in the correct place.
I was hoping someone could help me, I have tried to claim back, my bank charges with Halifax. I followed Martins advice and used the template letters. I had a telephone conversation with them today, and they said its Halifaxs policy to only look at the past 2 years of bank charges and no further. Although, I have had charges in the last 2 years, I had double figures previous to this. Could someone please give me some advice.
Many thanks