Report Bank Charges successes and failures

zppp

goose32 wrote: »

I seem to be in a similar position to a lot of people over the past 2 or 3 pages that i've read, in that I have received an offer but unsre what to do next.

I decided recently to seek advice from a local organisation that provide a free of charge service to help get my debts under control.

I am focusing on 1 bank at a time, currently reclaiming around £1400 in previous charges, with an overdraft of £1250 on the account, which had went into the dreaded unauthorised zone. Within 5 working days I had received a letter refunding £198.00 of charges and cancelling fees that were due to be added at the end of the month. This letter made refernece to a letter that had been sent by the local organisation I contacted a few weeks ago stating that I was in financial hardship. I realise that I am fortunate to receive a positive reply in such a short space of time.

WhatI am unsure about is what to do next. My gut instinct is to persue further, but what I'd really like clarification on is that if I due pursue the matter further, by responding to their letter and ultimately writing to the FOS, could the bank withdraw the offer that they have currently made? I haven't came across a post yet that suggests that this is a possibility?

The problem with the FOS is that they cannot compel the bank to refund you under the grounds of financial hardship. All the bank has to do is show they have been sympathetic in regards to your situation. Agreeing a refund of £200 is probably going to be enough. IMO you are not going to get any more money from them.

zppp

JayMac wrote: »

Been trying to reclaim over £3000 in charges from HSBC. Took the case to the Ombudsman via the hardship route.

Ombudsman have phoned me today to confirm that HSBC have made an offer of £210.

Does anybody know if that's an offer I have to accept? Or could the offer be increased if I reject it?

I know they are not obliged to refund me a penny but that does feel like a pitiful offer.

On the basis that as you say the FOS cannot tell them to increase this, if you have recieved a final response, IMO I would be accepting.

goose32

zppp wrote: »

The problem with the FOS is that they cannot compel the bank to refund you under the grounds of financial hardship. All the bank has to do is show they have been sympathetic in regards to your situation. Agreeing a refund of £200 is probably going to be enough. IMO you are not going to get any more money from them.

The individual who is assisting me with my debt situation advised in the first instance that I was free to write to the bank, but that I would not get anywhere with them. The bank's letter of a partial refund suggests otherwise.

Whilst I appreciate that the FOS cannot force the banks under the grounds of financial hardship, is there any potential damage to be done in writing to the bank for a second time, and then the FOS (apart from the potential time scales involved)?

jayne1982_2

Hi all i'm Jayne

I wrote to Barclays Bank trying to reclaim just under £8000 in charges over the last six years. I've an overdraft of £2500. They charge me about £200 to £250 per month. Reserve fees, returned dd, etc. I was out of work from November to February due to ill health. I wrote to Barclays twice, twice got rejected by them. I have now completed the application to the ombudsman.

I have attached all correspondence. Dunno what will happen but will keep you posted.

fingerscrossed

Anyone any luck with the FOS?

Spizmo_2

Hi!
This is me atm...
Bank name: HSBC
Amount Reclaimed: £2725.11 (£640.11 of that is interest!!) :rotfl:
Amount they paid: Nothing so far
The story: (Just a few sentences, please include how far you went did you a. just write a letter, b. threaten to go to court or c. actually go to court) Originally sent a letter to bank Nov 09. They weren't having any of it! Wrote back to bank again June/July 10, have since written 3/4 letters to HSBC with a final response of 'no'.:mad:

I am currently dealing with the Ombudsman (have been since Aug 10) case has been reffered to an adjudicator, got a letter of him a few days ago saying no basically...:mad: If i object to his decision/have any more evidence then write back to him before 5th nov. I sent a letter back straight away as naturally I did XD :A (I had actually found some more dirt on HSBC that will fingers crossed throw it in our favour...). Now waiting on final reply pretty much. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE lol:):):)

zppp

goose32 wrote: »

The individual who is assisting me with my debt situation advised in the first instance that I was free to write to the bank, but that I would not get anywhere with them. The bank's letter of a partial refund suggests otherwise.

Whilst I appreciate that the FOS cannot force the banks under the grounds of financial hardship, is there any potential damage to be done in writing to the bank for a second time, and then the FOS (apart from the potential time scales involved)?

It depends. If the letter you have recieved has the words Final Reponse or Deadlock on the letter, this is the final decision they have come to. At this point if you are unhappy you can refer to the ombudsman.

If not, you could still send in another letter, but what you need to understand is that banks are dealing with this in a standard way, removing the last 6 months of charges to mitigate the hardship. If you feel there are things they haven't considered, by all means write in again.

goose32

zppp wrote: »

It depends. If the letter you have recieved has the words Final Reponse or Deadlock on the letter, this is the final decision they have come to. At this point if you are unhappy you can refer to the ombudsman.

If not, you could still send in another letter, but what you need to understand is that banks are dealing with this in a standard way, removing the last 6 months of charges to mitigate the hardship. If you feel there are things they haven't considered, by all means write in again.

No it's not a final response. Sent a second letter today, I don't see that it can do any harm, if they respond with the same figure then so be it - as I metioned in my other post the only cost I can envisage is time (and a recorded delivery letter of course). Worst case scenario, i've still saved £198 + this month's impending charges.

Thanks for your advice!

Mariaelizarose

I recently wrote to NATWEST asking for repayment of unfair charges, claiming financial hardship. I haven't paid council tax in over three months at the moment and have been stuck in a cycle of charges for many years, not earning enough to cover the charges and pay bills. They replied with a financial hardship form stating that if I filled it in they would take steps to eleviate my situation by downgrading my bank account to a cash account, cancel my cheque book and visa debit card, set up a standing order to pay off my overdraft and cancel all direct debits. There was no mention of my request for money. They also said that if I didn't reply they would assume I had changed my mind and not go ahead with the suggestions.
Quite shocked. Not read anyone else on the forum get this particular letter, bit worried about what to do next. Anyone else had this letter and what did you do next? should I just ignore it and carry on with the procedure outlined in the article on MSE?

Spizmo_2

My OH received a phone call off the adjudicator that has been assigned our case saying that he is looking into HSBC again for us (found evidence that they had taken 1000 out of his bank account over 5 weeks w/o permission whilst e was in Iraq and had his loan on hold!!!) Yay, fingers crossed something comes of it... got luck on our side atm... OH has also just found out that he's getting a 3200 tax rebate woop woop

zppp

Mariaelizarose wrote: »

I recently wrote to NATWEST asking for repayment of unfair charges, claiming financial hardship. I haven't paid council tax in over three months at the moment and have been stuck in a cycle of charges for many years, not earning enough to cover the charges and pay bills. They replied with a financial hardship form stating that if I filled it in they would take steps to eleviate my situation by downgrading my bank account to a cash account, cancel my cheque book and visa debit card, set up a standing order to pay off my overdraft and cancel all direct debits. There was no mention of my request for money. They also said that if I didn't reply they would assume I had changed my mind and not go ahead with the suggestions.
Quite shocked. Not read anyone else on the forum get this particular letter, bit worried about what to do next. Anyone else had this letter and what did you do next? should I just ignore it and carry on with the procedure outlined in the article on MSE?

The position is as you are probably aware that they are no obligation to refund or remove a single charge on your account, even if you are deemed to be in financial harship by the bank and or the FOS.

In this case it is up to you and entirely depends on the response you have had from the bank about the charges. if you fel this hasn't been looked at send them a letter saying your dissatisfied they haven't looked at the charges. If and when you get a final response, this is the point you can go to FOS.