Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

natweststaffmember

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/83/83-financial-difficulties.htm

If you are suffering financial hardship please read the above from Ombudsman news Jan/Feb and furthermore, please read case 5 which seems to cover a number of people on the MSE forum. NOT BEING NASTY but be realistic in your approach towards the bank and if they are unreasonable then ask the FOS for their view but argue your points in line with what they can do.

ashopper327

Hi,

I read the decision of the court and in January i received a letter from the bank to the effect that they were not going to repay me my bank charges.

I noted in one of the guides that it says about responding within 8 weeks, which is a bit i didn't read. So now it's over 8 weeks since receipt.

Do i still have any recourse to the banks (e.g. can i put in a new claim?).

Any ideas?

JaspaC

Hello, I am new to this thread, I have followed the guide so far but need some advice.

I wrote to the bank before the decision by the courts in November. I then recieved their rejection letters (I am claiming on 3 different accounts and have written 3 seperate letters at each stage of the process). I wrote back with both the human and legal arguements in each letter. They sent back responses that each had a financial statement included which they asked to be filled in and returned. I returned all of those together with copies of the original letters and cover notes and have now recieved three copies of this letter:

i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/jammyC/Natwest1.jpg
i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/jammyC/Natwest2.jpg
i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/jammyC/Natwest3.jpg
i117.photobucket.com/albums/o63/jammyC/Natwest4.jpg

(sorry, I can't post links because I'm a new user)



Each set of letters they send is a nightmare to try and relate to the corresponding letter that I sent. This is because they don't include account numbers on their letters, just their own reference numbers. These reference numbers change slightly with every new letter from them! So I just have to guess which letters relate to which accounts by looking at similarities in reference numbers between previous letters from the bank!

I have read on their letter that I have 6 months to go to the FO if I wish. But is there any time limit for me contacting the bank again before going to the FO?

As you can see they have implied that I have understated by income. But I don't think I have! Should I ask them why they think this? or ask what the limits are? Or are they just saying this as an auto-rejection method?

I am not a lawyer and therefore don't have much of an understanding of all this legal jargon. I am prepared to write back and fight this argument but I don't really know what to say. I could compose a challenging letter to them but I don't know whether their arguments are valid or what I need to say to contradict them.

So basically I would like some advice as to what to write to them. Should I try and fight back point by point somehow (anybody know any specific arguments?) or just write a summation letter stating that whilst I think their letter made interesting reading I don't believe the points raised affect my initial arguments?

It's also probably worth saying that I considered myself to be in financial hardship when the charges were applied a few years ago, but I'd say it's now debatable.

When financial hardship is referred to with regards to this case does it relate to my situation at the time of incurring these charges or my current situation?

natweststaffmember

Understating your income means that the financial form indicates one thing yet the evidence you have given indicates another thing

JaspaC

I put down my income as being my contracted pay at work (perhaps I ought to have sent a copy of the contract to them as evidence) but in reality my may differs from month to month by quite a substantial amount due to overtime being available or me having time off through ilness etc.. etc...

The last couple of months have actually been pretty good with regards to overtime so I have had some much bigger pay packets than usual. I just assumed they would look at my long term income and see the average amount I've been paid. Would they have only taken into account the last few months then?


I did not submit any evidence because (as the form stated) I did not need to if the transactions detailed on the form were connected with any of my natwest accounts, which all of them where.

Another thing which I found very confusing when filling in the form was were and how to put student loans. Not sure whether this may have affected their decision somehow.


If you have answers to my previous questions or any ideas as to what I should say about my income (as above), please let me know.

Cheers


J

P.S. (hope the whether is as lovely where you are as it is here)

Fay_elizabeth

Good afternoon all.
This is my first post but I read the forums pretty regularly. I just have one question regarding claiming back my bank charges (I have a £3000 overdraft of which £900 is charges.)
Can I claim back charges that I got while I was in financial hardship - even if I'm not so badly in hardship now?

neverheadgirl

Hi, I am probably not in the right thread and the answer is probably clear out there somewhere but my head is not in the right place right now.

I have submitted reclaims for bank charges for 3 banks and a few months ago got the standard response. I have just been diagnosed with a serious health condition which means I may or may not be able to work or even if I can, earn nothing near my normal salary anymore. My question is: Do I contact the financial ombudsman in the first instance in the hope of getting my pending charges repaid? Or do I contact each creditor/bank with whom I have a pending reclaim request and if they refuse, then go to the financial ombudsman?

Thanks very much for any advice.

Alpine_Star

neverheadgirl wrote: »

Hi, I am probably not in the right thread and the answer is probably clear out there somewhere but my head is not in the right place right now.

I have submitted reclaims for bank charges for 3 banks and a few months ago got the standard response. I have just been diagnosed with a serious health condition which means I may or may not be able to work or even if I can, earn nothing near my normal salary anymore. My question is: Do I contact the financial ombudsman in the first instance in the hope of getting my pending charges repaid? Or do I contact each creditor/bank with whom I have a pending reclaim request and if they refuse, then go to the financial ombudsman?

Thanks very much for any advice.

The Financial Ombudsman will only look at complaints when you have exhausted the bank's own complaints procedure - the banks must give you a final response within 8 weeks.

moneymonkey35

Hi,

Just thought I'd give an update on my progress with ongoing claim....
I started my claim 15 months ago and - to cut a long story short - have been in touch with both the bank and the ombudsman on numerous occasions.

Until very recently I have had little success and when I heard about the supreme court decision, I pretty much gave up on getting anywhere.
However, out of the blue a few weeks ago I received a letter from the bank offering me £113 to account for the last six months of charges (actually only amounted to 4!). The bank have told me that this is their final word.

As I have been in contact with the Ombudsman for the last six months or so, I have asked them to fight this as I am not prepared to accept this 'exceptional offer' (the words of my bank!) as it does not even amount to a tenth of my original claim. Whilst I would accept less, it won't be this much less!

I don't know whether this was the right move (maybe I should have accepted any offer I got) but its become a matter of principle now!

Hope it gives some people hope that things have not come to a complete halt with claims!

natweststaffmember

moneymonkey35 wrote: »

Hi,

Just thought I'd give an update on my progress with ongoing claim....
I started my claim 15 months ago and - to cut a long story short - have been in touch with both the bank and the ombudsman on numerous occasions.

Until very recently I have had little success and when I heard about the supreme court decision, I pretty much gave up on getting anywhere.
However, out of the blue a few weeks ago I received a letter from the bank offering me £113 to account for the last six months of charges (actually only amounted to 4!). The bank have told me that this is their final word.

As I have been in contact with the Ombudsman for the last six months or so, I have asked them to fight this as I am not prepared to accept this 'exceptional offer' (the words of my bank!) as it does not even amount to a tenth of my original claim. Whilst I would accept less, it won't be this much less!
It is completely irrelevant how much you are claiming, the only thing that matters is the period of financial hardship.
Do you use the account?
Do you have priority debts arrears(mortgage.rent, council tax,utilities)?
What did you do when you were struggling?
What caused your financial hardship?
I don't know whether this was the right move (maybe I should have accepted any offer I got) but its become a matter of principle now!
I don't give a damn about the principle but I do care about financial hardship claimants and can you clarify WHY you are disagreeing with the bank and please do not say it is because it is not 100% of the claim because that is an argument that I can run a bus through.
Hope it gives some people hope that things have not come to a complete halt with claims!

Please see the above post by me on here from 15th April with the link to the FOS own publication and read post 5 and you will see why I have posted the way I have.