Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

ponsmeresarah

I am in the process of helping my partner (who has a complex mental health condition) reclaim six years' worth of fees on his current account from Santander. Having followed the bank charges reclaiming guide and used the template letter to Santander, they replied quoting lots of laws and refusing his claim. I am now in the process of writing to the Ombudsman. Again, I am following the guide. My question is regarding "...additional pages: Please give us any more details
A. This where you need to give full details in your own words of the personal circumstances that you feel are important to your case, such as why you believe the bank hasn’t treated you fairly and which of the fairness criteria you have used to complain to your bank." I have written this with my partner but should it be in his words or mine, eg, "This has affected John's health and wellbeing" or "This has effected my wellbeing".
The form does state that I am claiming on his behalf. Any advice would be gratefully received as I don't want to lose the appeal because of an admin error. Thank you.

Nasqueron

ponsmeresarah wrote: »

I am in the process of helping my partner (who has a complex mental health condition) reclaim six years' worth of fees on his current account from Santander. Having followed the bank charges reclaiming guide and used the template letter to Santander, they replied quoting lots of laws and refusing his claim. I am now in the process of writing to the Ombudsman. Again, I am following the guide. My question is regarding "...additional pages: Please give us any more details
A. This where you need to give full details in your own words of the personal circumstances that you feel are important to your case, such as why you believe the bank hasn’t treated you fairly and which of the fairness criteria you have used to complain to your bank." I have written this with my partner but should it be in his words or mine, eg, "This has affected John's health and wellbeing" or "This has effected my wellbeing".
The form does state that I am claiming on his behalf. Any advice would be gratefully received as I don't want to lose the appeal because of an admin error. Thank you.

You will lose the appeal because the banks won the court case in 2009 on charges, the FOS have no authority to rule against the bank, all they can do is ensure bank acted fairly, the reasons you are giving are irrelevant as there is no "back door" around the ruling i.e. you can't claim ill health and then get charges back. Bank is totally correct and you should have put in a claim for current financial hardship which will normally result in a refund of 6-12 months charges or a freezing of future charges to allow you to clear the problems.

Unfortunately the guide you are using has been changed and makes it clear you cannot claim back old bank charges as they were perfectly legitimate.

If you are talking about account fee (premium accounts) there is a different complaints procedure but I suspect by fees you mean charges for going over limits or late payments

BBRosie

I'm trying to help my otherhalf claim back the last two years of charges as every single month he has been charged for essentially being charged. £1100 fees in 24 months! The only problem is I fell pregnant last August and had to stop working so the luxuries such as sky and phones got changed to his account and I was giving him the money as and when I got it (so that they always got paid but I couldn't make sure I had the money when needed so it gave flexability.) Will this mean that he won't get anything back?

Nasqueron

BBRosie wrote: »

I'm trying to help my otherhalf claim back the last two years of charges as every single month he has been charged for essentially being charged. £1100 fees in 24 months! The only problem is I fell pregnant last August and had to stop working so the luxuries such as sky and phones got changed to his account and I was giving him the money as and when I got it (so that they always got paid but I couldn't make sure I had the money when needed so it gave flexability.) Will this mean that he won't get anything back?

BBRosie - as per previous advice, you cannot claim back historical charges, there is no basis for this, the banks won the court case in 2009 - all charges are fair and legitimate.

If he is struggling to pay bills then put in a financial hardship case and see if they will freeze future charges or refund some of the recent ones.

Yes having sky and mobile phone contracts will count against you - not to say it won't happen but they will view it that you are logically not struggling for money if you can afford these unnecessary luxuries - if you were struggling, logically you would cancel them to save money

dingus1954

Really disappointed as having followed all the guidelines, the Ombudsman has rejected my clain quoting that the Supreme Court has said that unfair or high charges do not have to be refunded. What a joke. My only recourse I feel now is to change banks and go to one that offers a cash incentive to swap. Thanks anyway MSE but trying to clain was a waste of time and effort. Once again the banks win.

dunstonh

Really disappointed as having followed all the guidelines, the Ombudsman has rejected my clain quoting that the Supreme Court has said that unfair or high charges do not have to be refunded. What a joke.

If you read the guides on this site, you would know that was the likely outcome. The banks won the court case on unfair bank charges. The FOS website states they dont consider unfair bank charge complaints.

No joke and no surprise.

Thanks anyway MSE but trying to clain was a waste of time and effort.

yes it was. However, you should have known that before you started.

Rob009

I have been contacted by a company called Thomson legal, offering to claim back my charges for me plus an extra 8% but then charge me 30%for the pleasure, so I said no it's fine il do it myself, but they said if I try and claim on my own and lose I can't try and claim again because it's classed as fraud, can anyone shed any light on this or had any dealings with this company.

I have looked through my statements and have been paying for an account since 2007 but I need to go back further because my online account only holds 8 years in the archive.

dunstonh

but they said if I try and claim on my own and lose I can't try and claim again because it's classed as fraud

It is fraud to lie to you and that is what they have done.

can anyone shed any light on this or had any dealings with this company.

There are barely any claims companies getting involved in bank charge cases nowadays. This follows the banks winning the court case and the FOS no longer considering complaints on unfair bank charges.

I have looked through my statements and have been paying for an account since 2007 but I need to go back further because my online account only holds 8 years in the archive.

That is different to the subject this thread covers. You appear to be talking about packaged account charges. There is nothing wrong with having a packaged account. However, the package has to be suitable and sold correctly. if you feel it wasnt, then you make your complaint using the free of charge complaints process. A claims company would use the same free of charge process.

Dookie213

Hi there, hope this is in the right forum? New to this so hope someone can help? I have had a ridiculous overdraft with natwest for over 10 years which was increased by them to £8000. I am charged approx £120 per month in interest. Awhile ago they called me and said that they were looking to remove the facility and would offer a loan to pay off the overdraft which would actually put me in more debt considering the interest which they quoted as around 14%. I was also sold the advantage gold account which I have never needed snd was not clued up when this was originally added. I cannot get out of my overdraft and struggle financially on a regular basis. Can anyone advise on whether I have a case to claim these charges back? Natwest kept increasing my limit saying that I was a good customer and never explained any interest charges, I know I was probably very stupid in not knowing this. Apologies if this is in the wrong forum but hoping someone can help, many thanks, ed

mykeeb

Well hello there.

Quick question after reading through a few of the last pages here.

I've been having bank charges applied for as long as I can remember. I've never been able to get out of the cycle. Possibly my fault but anyway I know that I cannot claim for historical charges.

Regarding the financial hardship case part of potentially claiming back the last 6-12 months and having a freeze on future charges. My ex partner has recently decided to change our pre-arranged agreement of payments for my daughters and start going through the CSA. This unfortunately co-incided with me having to change jobs and earning less. The CSA payments are fairly harsh and although I would never complain about paying for my daughters, this combined with the monthly charges I receive regularly has really put a strain on my finances.

I don't have any TV/internet packages, I have a very low month by month giffgaff sim only deal. I barely pay my rent and bills and have minimum amounts to live on each month. Sometimes surviving on 1-2 meals a day.

Does anyone think I may have a case for claiming financial hardship? With this route, would I need to get the last 12 months statements and go through my bank first or deal direct with the ombudsman?

Thanks for your time