Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

basj

Hi! Wonder if anyone can help me, I claimed my bank charges back some time ago and after the Court Case came to the end the bank (LLoyds TSB) contacted me saying they wouldn't give me my money back. I had 8 or 9 weeks to reply to but never did it. Now my case is closed and I wonder if can I still reclaim the money under the same case or do I need to write a new letter, as if I've never been claiming the charges before? Will they open the same case and take the previous letter (which was sent to them in Dec 2008) into account? Don't really know which template to use either...

natweststaffmember

basj wrote: »

Hi! Wonder if anyone can help me, I claimed my bank charges back some time ago and after the Court Case came to the end the bank (LLoyds TSB) contacted me saying they wouldn't give me my money back. I had 8 or 9 weeks to reply to but never did it. Now my case is closed and I wonder if can I still reclaim the money under the same case or do I need to write a new letter, as if I've never been claiming the charges before? Will they open the same case and take the previous letter (which was sent to them in Dec 2008) into account? Don't really know which template to use either...

Are you arguing legal or hardship?

JayMac_3

natweststaffmember wrote: »

Are you arguing legal or hardship?

My query is similar to this actually. HSBC rejected my case after the banks won in the high court and they gave me 8 weeks to respond, which I didn't do as I thought there was no point.

My circumstances have now changed and I think I fall into the hardship criteria.

Can I try and claim again or can i not bother due to the fact it is more than 8 weeks since HSBC rejected my claim.

Thanks

natweststaffmember

JayMac wrote: »

My query is similar to this actually. HSBC rejected my case after the banks won in the high court and they gave me 8 weeks to respond, which I didn't do as I thought there was no point.

My circumstances have now changed and I think I fall into the hardship criteria.

Can I try and claim again or can i not bother due to the fact it is more than 8 weeks since HSBC rejected my claim.

Thanks

If you currently bank with them then there is nothing to stop you asking them about financial hardship but do not expect them to refund 100% of the charges even if they deem you to be in financial hardship since the banks do not even have to refund anything under financial hardship.
You need to provide proof of your financial hardship such as priority debts being made worse by the charges you are receiving.

JayMac_3

natweststaffmember wrote: »

If you currently bank with them then there is nothing to stop you asking them about financial hardship but do not expect them to refund 100% of the charges even if they deem you to be in financial hardship since the banks do not even have to refund anything under financial hardship.
You need to provide proof of your financial hardship such as priority debts being made worse by the charges you are receiving.

I will give it a try, they can only say no.

Thanks for the reply.

basj

Does the overdraft being taken each month is counted as financial hardship? For about a year I've been on planned overdraft and basically my salary is too low to cover it so I keep using it all the time. I thought about arguing hardship for claiming the bank charges back. What kind of letter do you write to them?
Thanks for your help

Aushra

Premier wrote: »

Well the bank has refused your claim. They assert the charges were fair ... and no one has yet proved otherwise.

What was the basis of your claim? Did you claim using both the human argument as well as the legal argument because they don't appear to have responded to any human argument element?
You can only take claims based on the human argument to the FOS.
Even if you prove financial hardship, you are not automatically entitled to any refund.

Otherwise it's off to the court if you wish to pursue it on legal grounds, I'm afraid.

Yes, when I send a letter I did use both the human argument as well as the legal argument.

i'm lost and don't know what to do now. I would like to claim money back but I'm scared that I can lose in court and will have to pay the fees.

What other people do when they been refused by bank? maybe someone could speak from their experience?

natweststaffmember

basj wrote: »

Does the overdraft being taken each month is counted as financial hardship? For about a year I've been on planned overdraft and basically my salary is too low to cover it so I keep using it all the time. I thought about arguing hardship for claiming the bank charges back. What kind of letter do you write to them?
Thanks for your help

Do you have priority debt arrears?

Maxtrex

Last year I made a claim for £2,200 worth of bank charges from Barclays under hardship claim. In September'09 I was given £1000 as a good will gesture but as I was already overdrawn with Barclays by £400 I was left with only £600 to help me through my hardship.

Then in December Barclays sent me a letter saying because of the court ruling they are not obliged to pay out the rest and will be closing my case if I did not get back to them with in a month, I never did get back to them. I am now struggling to keep up with my bills and payments because my salary is not adequate. Can I reclaim the remainder of my bank charges after Barclays sent the letter saying they will be closing the case?

natweststaffmember

Maxtrex wrote: »

Last year I made a claim for £2,200 worth of bank charges from Barclays under hardship claim. In September'09 I was given £1000 as a good will gesture but as I was already overdrawn with Barclays by £400 I was left with only £600 to help me through my hardship.

Then in December Barclays sent me a letter saying because of the court ruling they are not obliged to pay out the rest and will be closing my case if I did not get back to them with in a month, I never did get back to them. I am now struggling to keep up with my bills and payments because my salary is not adequate. Can I reclaim the remainder of my bank charges after Barclays sent the letter saying they will be closing the case?

You have always been able to approach your bank with regards to financial hardship. I would also contact your priority creditors(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities) to see what help they can give as well before approaching Barclays. The FOS will only look at current financial hardship ie charges since your income became insufficient to cover outgoings when they become due.