Report Bank Charges successes and failures

[Deleted User]

London907 said:

Any advice would be welcomed

My advice would be to read the advice on  your other threads where you have posted identically. 

mitch_maker

Thank you MSE! Ten years from the last post I see here I have just received a goodwill gesture from HSBC going back 7 years for disproportionate Bank Charges on a current account and Credit Card which was keeping me stuck in a cycle of debt.
I was refunded £1500 of charges (approximately half of the interest paid over the seven years) when the actual debt only amounted to £1250 in the last years (£2k at it highest point).
I made the case explaining what I would express to the Financial Ombudsmen should it be necessary to go that far. In the earlier instances, HSBC wanted to placate me by throwing smaller 'recharging' gestures at me, until I insisted the complaint be escalated beyond the usual customer service support. They were happy to write a verbatim complaint for me, read it to me, and then also send me copies of it. At this point a 'Consumer Advocate' at HSBC stepped in. She was actually very compassionate and understanding to my situation and why it may have taken me so long to step forward and give the full picture given my life circumstances at the time. So credit to HSBC as a bank, they handled the matter quickly and fairly and I had a good outcome.

Anyone can fall upon hard times and difficulties, and I strongly recommend pursuing a dialogue towards a refund if you are stuck in a cycle of debt because of disproportionate charges. Don't be afraid to be firm, and don't always accept the first offer. You can ask for what you think is right and just and fair. I did, and I am very pleased with the outcome - for the first time in seven years I am completely debt-free!

Thank you again MSE for the guidance and step-by-step approach. It made things easier and empowered me to ask for what I felt was right.

joannewright08

coled said:

Bank: Natwest
Amount Reclaimed: 1800
Amount they paid: 1800
How long did it take: since Sept 09

Wrote a letter to Natwest claiming hardship, they quickly sent reply asking me to fill out financial form. Filled it in and returned, after 2 weeks they sent me a letter saying I had undervalued my income and they didnt think I fell under the hardship category, I then sent them a stern letter with more evidence of hardship and threatening to go to the Ombudsman.

About 2 weeks later the supreme court ruling occured, thought that was it to be honest but I got a letter last week saying they are offering me the full amount :O)

Great Xmas present, thanks to all the guys on the forum especially Martin.

Hope this gives hope to other people to pursue it, you have nothing to lose.

That’s great could u send me the letters as im struggling with NatWest 

[Deleted User]

joannewright08 said:

That’s great could u send me the letters as im struggling with NatWest 

Unlikely, since that was posted 11 years ago...

-taff

joannewright08 said:

That’s great could u send me the letters as im struggling with NatWest 

You will struggle unless you're in current finanacial hardship. Historical financial hardship cuts no ice.

k-eastwood

Hello, I have been paying Barclays overdraft charges for years. £90 a month which I know is extreme! But due to a bad credit rating I've not been able to get a good loan deal to pay it off.   I am working hard to get my credit rating improved as I want a mortgage within the next 12 months.  When I last spoke to Barclays all they offered me was to get help, which would affect my credit rating.  Can anyone advise if this is the only way?  The last thing I want to do is harm my already low credit rating.

donz1970

Hi, first time on here and feeling a bit unsure and fragile tbh. I thought I had missed the boat with reclaiming bank charges then saw the section on martins site. I called the bank (RBS) and they posted my statements for the past six years. I highlighted all the charges and wrote a letter using martins template. I explained that I had been on benefits after being hospitalised with my first mental breakdown. I’ve been given various different diagnoses over the years. I don’t really cope well with things and I’m not very good at dealing with things. I still haven’t received any response from RBS, stupidly (I feel) I called the RBS phone number to enquire if they had received my letter and spoke with a guy who was obviously very annoyed with me for even daring to ask about bank charges once he stopped speaking over me and gave me a chance to speak and I explained I wasn’t demanding a refund but asking if the bank could take a look he told me to visit my branch. After speaking with him I was so upset I couldn’t face going there. I was just wondering if anyone could give me any advice. Sorry to be a bother and thank you.

[Deleted User]

donz1970 said:

Hi, first time on here and feeling a bit unsure and fragile tbh. I thought I had missed the boat with reclaiming bank charges then saw the section on martins site. I called the bank (RBS) and they posted my statements for the past six years. I highlighted all the charges and wrote a letter using martins template. I explained that I had been on benefits after being hospitalised with my first mental breakdown. I’ve been given various different diagnoses over the years. I don’t really cope well with things and I’m not very good at dealing with things. I still haven’t received any response from RBS, stupidly (I feel) I called the RBS phone number to enquire if they had received my letter and spoke with a guy who was obviously very annoyed with me for even daring to ask about bank charges once he stopped speaking over me and gave me a chance to speak and I explained I wasn’t demanding a refund but asking if the bank could take a look he told me to visit my branch. After speaking with him I was so upset I couldn’t face going there. I was just wondering if anyone could give me any advice. Sorry to be a bother and thank you.

Your mistake was not reading the article properly, it clearly states this is only for people in current financial hardship.

You have missed the boat, people haven't been able to claim back charges since the banks won the supreme court case in 2009. Sending lists of 6 years of charges will result in them simply referring to the judgement - the staff member might have seem rude but he was correct, you cannot claim back historic charges, period.

If you are in current financial hardship i.e. a cycle of charges being applied, causing you to be unable to pay the debt off and getting more charges, you can ask the bank for a financial hardship case to be opened, this can result in a refund of a small period of charges say last 6 months, not 6 years but it can also just be a freeze on future charges for example.

If you are not in current financial hardship, there is nothing to claim and taking statements into the bank won't achieve anything.

Assuming you are in current hardship and are with RBS, follow the guidance here:

https://personal.rbs.co.uk/personal/life-moments/Struggling-financially.html

donz1970

Thank you so much for your help.

Guiseley_Bulls

I have had a successful outcome to my claim against Halifax Bank for excessive overdraft fees and charges they levied which caused me severe financial  hardship for a number of years.
I had previously received a refund of £670.00 prior to the 2009 ruling closing down claims. At the time I had wanted to claim over £2000.00 in excessive fees but had to settle for the lower figure such was my financial problems and needing any money I could asap.
After using the severe financial hardship guidance on this website, I started a further claim against the Halifax in 2018. It also coincided with Halifax closing down my account due to the overdraft of £1999.99 I was unable to repay, at the same time Halifax (and others) changed the fees charged on overdrafts from £1 per day to 39.9% interest charged, which almost trebled the monthly fees I was likely to pay.
After Halifax turned down my claim, I approached the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for assistance.
Finally, after over two years of deliberation, argument and back and forth, Halifax has agreed to clear the £1999.99 overdraft (FOS asked Halifax to refund fees for the last six years of £1813.43) and for Halifax to backdate to February 2013 any negative information on their credit file, if it considers it appropriate to record such information.
The FOS found that Halifax didn’t act fairly and reasonably towards me when it renewed my overdraft for this account each year, when they knew I was not using my overdraft for its intended purpose, but that I was struggling to repay any of the overdraft facility at all.

The FOS said, Halifax ought reasonably to have realised that I was in financial difficulty by February 2013 at the latest and at this point it ought reasonably to have exercised forbearance and helped me managed my debt. Instead, Halifax added further

overdraft interest, fees and charges to my overdrawn balance.
After being in severe financial hardship since 2007, I am finally looking forward to a bright future, with the threat of financial hardship no longer there.