Report Bank Charges successes and failures

Gem04

Today I've had no less than 4 phone calls from a company claiming to be calling from the legal dept of the claims and finance dept of the UK. They were quoting the supreme court ruling on reclaiming bank charges, apart from a lot of background noise in the office, quick repitition of information they obviously run through all day and not the best interpretation of the English language, I found that they phoned to discuss my personal details which the majority of which they had on their systems. They had my name, address, DOB, 16 digit card number, expiry date and wanted me to confirm the last 3 digits on the reverse of my card. On the fourth call of the day I explained my reluctance at providing this number due but was informed this was the last piece of my information they needed to confirm they had the right person and couldn't tell me any more information before that.
I know I shouldn't but I did give them the number - only for them to confirm that was what they had on file for me anyway.
They went through a whole host of charges which I might have been charged in the past and the whole time I felt like there was someone else in the background quoting more stuff - they could've been in training but didn't say so. I continued to tell them it was a bad line and I couldn't understand a lot of what they were telling me but in the end it seemed to boil down to did I have PPI on my mortgage - which I don't - and after this they basically said thanks and hung up.
I'm extremely annoyed about this call, firstly because they have all my information, secondly as they were annoying me all day, thirdly because I don't really know what they were trying to tell me and finally, because they hung up as I was trying to get to the gist of the call.
Anyone else suffered this nuisance calls? I would normally tell them to remove my name from their call lists or press and hold 9 when they phone through but this time they didn't give me the chance and had my intrigued with all the info they had on me.
ANYONE ELSE ANY COMEBACK ON SUCH CALLS? ANY SUCCESSES IN RECLAIMING MONIES THIS WAY?
I have claimed back some PPI charges on loans held over the years with a little success. I've done it through one of those companies advertised on TV and so far it seems to be successful - although waiting for monies to arrive in bank just now.
I've looked into reclaiming Credit Card charges but it turns out I didn't incur any. I think I'll look into reclaiming bank charges myself following Martin's tips on how to do it and that way won't have to pay fees to anyone if I do get money back.

ElspethR

I have been reclaiming for 2 years, having exhausted FO and banks complaints procedures while it grew to a huge ammount, and written to any body that is suppoed to be able to help, without success. I find that sites like these are not about getting someone well qualified and well known to champion you but to make one's circs public. I see little value in that.

I would like those visiting to sign my petition urgently I'm not allowed to post with links whic is pointless as it's what I've joined to do but it's on Go petition and the keywords are banking and bankruptcy

billbuf

My bank had been charging us on a regular basis as a result of our circumstances changing for the worse a few years ago.

Whilst we are now back on the straight and narrow financially our account remains with the Collections department of Lloyds TSB as we have a reducing overdraft facility with them which we rigidly adhere to and stay within.

They recently annoyed us as we requested a new cheque book only to be told that we could not have one as our account was with Collections. I sent a long letter asking why we were still being dealt with by Collections department which brought no response.

I then sent a reminder using your template requesting copy statements etc. and citing the fact that as we are still being dealt with by Collectoins we must still be considered by them to be in financial difficulties and all the charges they had levied in the previous six years only compounded the problem.

Within five days I received a phone call from the bank agreeing to refund over £2,200!

:beer:

aminafzal

I sent Lloyds TSB a letter claiming they owe me £1600 in bank charges and they wrote back saying they wont pay out the court ruling confirms they charges are fair etc.

I think I take my case to FOS. See if they can help.

Katescottie

Hi AminaFzal, same situation, sent letter to lloyds claiming 1400 back in charges & they said the same thing, have sent the 2nd letter today saying if they do not pay then I will go to the ombudsman or court, fingers crossed as could really do with the money, even if it's just reducing my overdraft which has increased significantly due to charges, good luck & I hope we get good news like so many other people on this site.

adsteps

Hi,

I'd just like to share a recent success story I've had through Lloyds TSB.

I ran up lots of debt as a student and lived the high life in the credit boom. I once remember coming out of a lecture and a credit card company had set up a stand in the foyer. 2 weeks later I had a credit limit of 2k increased to 5k after a few months.

My debts eventually spiralled and I ended up on a repayment plan with CCCS 2 1/2 years ago. I had about 7 creditors who all agreed to freeze interest and charges, except Lloyds TSB.

A few weeks ago I had a flash of inspiration and decided to take action and wrote a letter to their chief executive directly ,after googling who it was ,explaining the situation.

Within a week I had a telephone call from their executive complaints department asking for more information and apologising for the situation. The next call was a total shock, she had gone through my accounts history and agreed to pay back £2500 in charges, interest and late fees as well.

I then asked her to consider another current account and another card which totalled around £200 which she wiped off as well just like that.

I am living proof of if you don't ask, you don't get. And this is a different approach. Write to the chief executive, plead your case and see what happens. All it cost was the cost of a stamp!

Give it a try, you never know what may happen!

Adam

aminafzal

wow Adsteps thats good news

i have written to FOS - I wait and see what they say, fingers crossed dude.

Brightness

Well done adsteps

candystripes24

Wrote to nationwide detailing the charges and interest I was asking to have refunded and filled in the financial statemnet they asked me to.. clearly showing a difference between my income and outgoings of minus nearly £300.
I also said I would pay off my existing debts (including a loan from a friend) with the refund and how much better off that would make me ech month.

They wrote back saying I was not in financial hardship( !) and and they were rejecting my claim - I expected this and phoned them straight away telling them I wanted the claim escalated and they assured me it would be the same day.
I received another letter saying there were too many transactions on my account to paypal, sky digital (once a month and this includes phone calls, internet and the sky tv vasic plus a 1 extra package) , weight watchers and a dating website.
I told them I use paypal to buy 2nd hand clothes for my kids from ebay and weight watchers and the dating website were more than 2 and 3 years ago for a period of about 3/4 months each. During this time my account did NOT incurr any charges so I questionned the relevance of pointing this out - they couldn't answer !

I got another letter this morning noting my call explaining the circumstances above and direct quote : "you are experiencing difficulties and financial hardship is not pleasant"
and again pointing out they are not obliged to refund charges etc etc..

My question is - have they now accepted I am in financial hardship ? and is the next step for me the Ombudsman ?

hate-banks

Bank: Clydesdale Bank
Amount: £1200
Paid: £0

Created the claim in 2008. Clydesdale offered £200 which I rejected. Took it to the FO. The first assessor rules in favor of the bank (no surprise) so decided to appeal and took it to the Ombudsman guy. It's been in "instruction" for 2 years now. Every 3 months I receive a letter apologizing for the delay but still no decision..... I don't live in a fairy world though so I'm not hoping for anything in my favor.... Sorry for the negative, but this is my testimony.