Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

Roryboy88

But was there not a law out in 2012 that they could only charge a maximum of £12 per charge?

[Deleted User]

Roryboy88 wrote: »

But was there not a law out in 2012 that they could only charge a maximum of £12 per charge?

Not that I'm aware of? You have no legal right to any refund anyhow.

Roryboy88

But if there is a law out in 2012 to say they can't charge more than £12 surely I should have charges over £12 refunded or am I talking nonsense?

meer53

Roryboy88 wrote: »

But if there is a law out in 2012 to say they can't charge more than £12 surely I should have charges over £12 refunded or am I talking nonsense?

If they've said no refund, then it's game over i'm afraid. Plus you said you defaulted on your mobile phone bill, that indicates a mobile contract. If you're in financial hardship, you would be expected to cancel your contract and use a PAYG phone to manage your costs better.

There's no set figure for bank charges, you accept them by continuing to bank with them.

Banksrthieves

Hi there - I'm a newbie looking for a bit of advice on reclaiming charges and getting subsequent defaults cleared.

My mate John planned to leave the country for a while in 2010 and told Natwest to close his current account (which they never did). On day of departure, he made a withdrawal of about £30 and unknowingly took the account overdrawn. Was overseas for a good year and a half, in which £1000+ of charges simply snowballed on the account. on some occasions £170, £300 at a time for unauthorised overdraft. John was completely unaware that this was happening.

Upon his return about 18 months later, he found out bailiffs and what not were after him for the debt and being scared and unaware of what to do he made an arrangement with debt recovery firm to start a payment plan of charges, which they agreed to reduce by £250. They also said a default would be registered against him and that he could not complain about the charges until repayment had begun. John made a complaint and the bank has agreed to wipe the rest of the charges, but will not give a refund of that already repaid nor will they remove the default.

Is this a reasonable settlement or can John push further to say that he wants the default removed too? Two of the unfairness principles apply; 1) the charges snowballed - from being about £25 overdrawn, some £1000 worth of charges were applied over a 12 month (or so) period, 2) the charges are disproportionate to the debt, £1000+ for £25?!:mad:

Any advice would be welcomed as the bank are now saying they'll cancel the remaining balance but the default will remain and my concern is that the default is going to mess up John's credit for the remaining years it has left to run. I've read the guide but still a little unclear as to where John stands in this matter.

Thanks in advance
Banksrthieves! :mad:

[Deleted User]

Banksrthieves wrote: »

Any advice would be welcomed as the bank are now saying they'll cancel the remaining balance but the default will remain and my concern is that the default is going to mess up John's credit for the remaining years it has left to run. I've read the guide but still a little unclear as to where John stands in this matter.

Regardless of the amount being charged, your "friend" did indeed leave the country with an outstanding amount on his Bank account. The charges didn't cause the default, therefore, he did it himself by not properly checking that the account was fully closed.
I sincerely doubt he'll have any success in trying to get the Default removed.

Banksrthieves

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Regardless of the amount being charged, your "friend" did indeed leave the country with an outstanding amount on his Bank account. The charges didn't cause the default, therefore, he did it himself by not properly checking that the account was fully closed.
I sincerely doubt he'll have any success in trying to get the Default removed.

Thanks for your opinion....seems a bit harsh to charge so much imo...

Just out of interest - have you had to go through the process yourself also?

[Deleted User]

Banksrthieves wrote: »

...seems a bit harsh to charge so much imo...

But they've agreed to waive much of those charges, no?

As I said, they won't remove a Default that wasn't caused by their error. Your friend did leave the country with an outstanding amount on his bank account and he has no one to blame for this other than himself.

£30 or £30,000, it was not his money. You say he instructed the Bank to close the account, but he made this instruction impossible by failing to clear his debt!

Safety_first

Hi

Is anyone still getting money back from their bank. My brother followed the appeal process, was told to wait until the court decision by his bank and because he hadn't heard frontmen assumes he did not have a case. Surely this can't be right. I assumed he would have been successful and have only just found out.

I bet they have assumed people would give up

Thanks

cinders13

not sure if this is the right place or not. i used to bank with ulster bank and was constantly charged bank charges to cut a long story short i got into diffs with them an many others and couldnt pay my bills etc. i ended up taking out an iva and for five years i practically lived off buttons as the bulk of my money went to paying the iva. my question is, would it be worth my while trying to claim from the bank even though ive been through an iva which is now completed? thank you to anyone who replies. :T