Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

dunstonh

cinders13 wrote: »

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

Financial hardship claims are about current financial hardship. Not historic.

Aquamania

cinders13 wrote: »

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

See post#1281 at top of page

doogs

Hey all

between 2005 and 2009 I was a student and was constantly in my overdraft. Being the silly lass that I was, I was never very good at paying my bills on time and was always receiving bank charges. Having looked through my old statements, I was being charge £8 a time from RBS for unpaid item fees etc. I was wondering if I have any cause for reclaiming? In one month, I was charged over £100 in bank charges....do I have a case to fight for?

[Deleted User]

doogs wrote: »

between 2005 and 2009 I was being charge £8 a time from RBS for unpaid item fees etc. I was wondering if I have any cause for reclaiming? In one month, I was charged over £100 in bank charges....do I have a case to fight for?

No one receives refunds of historical charges, the Banks won their court case on that some years back.

Nowadays, you have to be in current financial hardship and, if the Bank agree, they typically refund some recent charges -usually only from the last six months.

You have no hope of recovering charges from 2005-2009.

Scrimpers

I'm in genuine and current financial hardship and following the templates here I've now written to my bank to reclaim bank charges. Twice! The bank is not responding to my letters despite my last letter being sent by Recorded Delivery (they had to sign on receipt, which they have done). What can I do now to make them respond - or should I go directly to the Financial Ombudsmen? Advice would be much appreciated - many thanks in anticipation.

[Deleted User]

Scrimpers wrote: »

I'm in genuine and current financial hardship and following the templates here I've now written to my bank to reclaim bank charges. Twice! The bank is not responding to my letters despite my last letter being sent by Recorded Delivery (they had to sign on receipt, which they have done). What can I do now to make them respond - or should I go directly to the Financial Ombudsmen? Advice would be much appreciated - many thanks in anticipation.

Don't send letters to the Bank via recorded delivery is my advice. They don't get signed for at the department responsible and people often report that they get delayed or "lost" as a result. Just put an ordinary first class stamp on the envelope and get a receipt as proof of posting. Be aware that the Bank have eight weeks to consider your complaint.

Do realise that even if you are in genuine financial hardship, the Bank won't refund historical charges and typically they only consider refunding (some) charges from the last six months.

If you currently have a Pay TV subscription, mobile phone contract or are even often eating out at restaurants the Bank will deem this to indicate that you are not in financial hardship. You need to meet the Bank's criteria for "hardship" whereby you are struggling to pay for essential bills and food and are caught in a cycle of charges whereby one month's round of charges causes you to be overdrawn the next and so on.

There is really no point going to the Ombudsman until the Bank have responded to your concerns.

Scrimpers

Many thanks for your response Money Ineptitude. I take on board your comments about Recorded Delivery and guess I will just have to be patient and wait until the 8 weeks are up. If I've not heard anything then I will physically hand in a 3rd letter to the branch. Its strange I've not even had an acknowledgement though.

I'm as broke as broke can be - and even a refund of the last six months charges would make a big difference.

I'll keep the forum posted IF I hear anything from the bank.

Thanks again.

Atidi

Scrimpers wrote: »

I'm in genuine and current financial hardship and following the templates here I've now written to my bank to reclaim bank charges. Twice! The bank is not responding to my letters despite my last letter being sent by Recorded Delivery (they had to sign on receipt, which they have done). What can I do now to make them respond - or should I go directly to the Financial Ombudsmen? Advice would be much appreciated - many thanks in anticipation.

How long was it since they received your first letter of complaint?

You have to wait 8 weeks to go to the ombudsman if there is no response.

[Deleted User]

Atidi wrote: »

You have to wait 8 weeks to go to the ombudsman if there is no response.

The Ombudsman won't uphold complaints about bank charges unless the Bank have not been "sympathetic".

Game_Over

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

The Ombudsman won't accept complaints about bank charges unless the Bank have not been "sympathetic".

I would suggest ignoring a complaint for 8 weeks is a case where the bank have not been sympathetic.

But there is no such eligibility requirement I see on the FOS website anyway.

I think some people just make stuff up on this site, sometimes.