Report Bank Charges successes and failures

mannieseven

Bank: First Trust N.I.
Amount: £5000
Repaid: nothing to date

Hi, am very glad to learn of the success stories there has been regarding reclaiming from banks. I am in process of doing same and would very much welcome any help.
I originally asked my bank for copy statements back in 2008 which they sent and said they assumed it was for reclaiming bank charges and my complaint would be held until after the "big court case.". I heard nothing and just last week I sent in a further letter with copy info pertaining to my original complaint. Problem is the bank has sent me a reply saying they are only recognising my claim from this year back to 2004 - but my original claim was submitted back in 2008! They also sent a long-winded form to complete regarding my financial situ and have said "Unless you can bring this complaint within an exception we will not consider charges on the account prior to Nov 2004." What exactly does within an exception mean and the form they have sent - what period is it pertaining to? They don't explain these things and I really don't know what to reply or do! Please help,
thanks.:o

Premier_2

mannieseven wrote: »

Bank: First Trust N.I.
Amount: £5000
Repaid: nothing to date

Hi, am very glad to learn of the success stories there has been regarding reclaiming from banks. I am in process of doing same and would very much welcome any help.
I originally asked my bank for copy statements back in 2008 which they sent and said they assumed it was for reclaiming bank charges and my complaint would be held until after the "big court case.". I heard nothing and just last week I sent in a further letter with copy info pertaining to my original complaint. Problem is the bank has sent me a reply saying they are only recognising my claim from this year back to 2004 - but my original claim was submitted back in 2008! They also sent a long-winded form to complete regarding my financial situ and have said "Unless you can bring this complaint within an exception we will not consider charges on the account prior to Nov 2004." What exactly does within an exception mean and the form they have sent - what period is it pertaining to? They don't explain these things and I really don't know what to reply or do! Please help,
thanks.:o

Hi mannieseven, and welcome to MSE :hello:

Lets start at the beginning. As per the MSE guides, there are effectively 2 methods to try to reclaim bank charges.
The first is by claiming financial hardship. I suspect this doesn't apply to you as if it did, you could have used this 2 years ago as claims were not being stayed for those in financial hardship.
Furthermore, if I'm wrong and it does apply, don't worry about fees from over 6 years ago, based on reports from others you are very unlikely get a refund of anything over 6 months old ... and even that's not gauranteed.

The other method is via a legal challenge in court. Don't worry about whether its 6 years or 8 years back you can claim (go back as far as you like) as the bank are highly unlikely to accept it anyway, and no one has won in court yet. Read the cautions in the MSE article of the possible expense you may incur if you attempt to follow this route.

What the bank are saying is even if you have a claim (which is not admitted by them) then they feel the limitations act will apply and that means you can only go back 6 years from the time you start action (and I don't think you've commenced any court action yet have you?)
This may not apply if the grounds you are seeking to claim upon are not covered by the said act.

SomethingLearned

Since the economic crisis my life had taken a pitiful downwards spiral, from employed in the city with money, flat and a loving relationship, to unemployed, peniless (having to sell my last possession to eat); homeless (physically walking the street without anywhere to stay at night) and single (my partner rightfully bailed out and went home).

Hard it has been - there are no words.

Why I left it so long to read this site and take action, I do not know.

But eventually when I realised that I could not think straight because of cold, tiredness and shortness of breath from hunger, I shuffled in from the snow into a cyber/telephone cafe with my very last £4.

I decided to contact both my banks and punch back! Mine weren't big debts, just over £1,000 each, but when you have nothing - and I mean nothing - it seems like a towering and growing mountain.

I picked up that phone and told the bank collections man my story and he said (immediately), 'we'll half it' (the outstanding debt) and I thanked him profusely, but said, 'c'mon guys' I really am in the s**t and they said, 'write us a letter and we'll probably write it all off'. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I wrote a letter (from MoneySavingExpert template), printed it and sent it.

Debt all gone. Wow!

MoneySavingExpert 1
Bank 0

Who would have thought it possible. The other bank asked me to write in and because of my dire situation they also agreed to write it all off. Frankly, I would not have paid them anyway because I could not afford to and they probably knew it, although I did not say that.

Since that recent time I have got a hold of a few hundred quid and am about to move into a shared flat, plus I have a good interview coming up. If I get it, she will return and this stupid capitalist game will start all over again.

No money, No honey, Not very funny.

My experience can help everyone out there who is (for some reason) 'scared' of banks. Are you scared of, your own shadow too?

Martin is the MoneySavingExpert, so if you have a real and true hardship, why not have a chat with your bank?

Banks have to listen and help. They are obliged by law and morally, as fellow human beings, they must listen.

MoneySavingExpert 2
Banks 0

I am now over £2,000 better off and an enormous thanks to Martin and MoneySavingExpert for that, but also to both banks.

emptypocketskt

what should i do????
charges: £1478
bank: hsbc

had an ongoing complaint with hsbc since sept 2011,refused to refund my charges so went to fos under financial hardship.after some dragging of heels on thier side hsbc have said to fos they will give me £125 as a goodwill gesture oh and debt advice very nice but.... it seems a little small to me??and i was kind of hoping for a little more(how greedy i am!!)what would you do??also i know they are under no obligation to refund me anything its just i dont feel i have won the battle....and ive fought too hard to get £125 is a bit of an insult!!

Premier_2

emptypocketskt wrote: »

what should i do????
charges: £1478
bank: hsbc

had an ongoing complaint with hsbc since sept 2011,refused to refund my charges so went to fos under financial hardship.after some dragging of heels on thier side hsbc have said to fos they will give me £125 as a goodwill gesture oh and debt advice very nice but.... it seems a little small to me??and i was kind of hoping for a little more(how greedy i am!!)what would you do??also i know they are under no obligation to refund me anything its just i dont feel i have won the battle....and ive fought too hard to get £125 is a bit of an insult!!

You're £125 up on where you were about 3 weeks ago

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/38611622#Comment_38611622

I'm not sure why you claim the bank were dragging their feet when 3 weeks ago you hadn't given the bank the information to assess your financial situation.

emptypocketskt

sorry for asking premier!!

i didnt want to go into great detail re my case but they have dragged their feet(in my personal opinion) as it has been going on for some time now,and they requsted the paperwork for my income and exp 8 weeks into my complaint so i think that is quite slow....but thanks anyway for your feedback but i dont think im going to accept £125

Premier_2

SomethingLearned wrote: »

...Banks have to listen and help. They are obliged by law ...

Source? :huh:

Much of the advice in this forum to date has been based on the Lending Code, a self regulatory code where subscribers are expected to deal quickly and sympathetically with things that go wrong and act sympathetically and positively when considering a customer’s financial difficulties.

If you've something more substantive, please share this with us all. I'm sure it would be of great benefit to us all

Edit: from the FOS website:

"I have heard that consumers who are in financial hardship are entitled to have all their current account charges refunded."

No. A bank should respond helpfully and fairly where a consumer is in genuine financial difficulty, but that will not necessarily involve refunds of charges. There are various measures that might represent a fair outcome as part of putting things right.

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/financial-hardship-unaffordable-lending.htm

emptypocketskt

source?? im really grateful for your feedback premier and apoligies for the first comment its just you came across a little harsh and i guess you said what i didnt want to hear.... i dont know anything about banks or charges im just a girl trying to get some of my cash back....i guess i will just have to keep fighting

lilaclily

can anyone direct me to the template letters

thanks in advance

Premier_2

lilaclily wrote: »

can anyone direct me to the template letters

thanks in advance

:huh:
Which template letter are you seeking? Most are contained within the MSE guide linked to in the OP.