Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

Little_Mo_70

Skully112 wrote: »

Firstly I have to say; Thank you Mo for your rounded response, I feel lucky to have access to your knowledge and thoughts.

I'm not sure whether I sit in the bracket of hardship as my wage over the 5 year period has been, 17k, 19k, 20k, 10k, 16k, however I have missed a few payments / DD'd here and there (prob only 2-5% of all transactions) but was let off the rent on far too many occasions. I managed to clear my £3000 debts myself but still have a £660 overdraft on the account. I borrowed £3000 6 months ago from my mother to purchase a car for my business which is what I currently owe to her. So in theory I am at minus -3660. I have scraped around and lived off beans on toast.... etc etc...

HSBC send me monthly letters stating the months charges to be deducted and I have received a couple of calls. I can't recall and fail to distinguish whether they were trying to advise me (as I may have flagged up as needing assistance), or whether they were trying to sell me something. On both occasions they basically offered the notion of changing to an account where I pay, say £10 a month for whatever perks that come with it. For whatever reason, I declined.

You mentioned that Card accounts do not have the hardship conditions applied to it? Does this mean Credit Card? I have a Visa debit card only and have never owned a CC.

So you think I should just tell them my story and see where it leads?

Many thanks in advance - great work! - I'm not sure if you are connected but I often hear Martin Lewis on Radio 5 Live and you certainly share his enthusiasm - All the best

Hello Skully

No I have no connection to MSE, I'm just another hopeful trying to get charges back and like everyone else I'm grateful for MSE's help and advice. Some of your first posting struck home, hence my reply. I am passionate about seeing justice done and it pains me greatly to see so much unhappiness on here.

Now then. Firstly regarding your income. As far as I'm concerned even if you currently earn 16k, after tax, n/i conts. pension etc. your net income will be considerably less. Out of that, if you have more going out due to debts/bills/rent etc than coming in then you could be classed as being in hardship. However if you were asked to prove all your outgoings then probly the 'h' will go against you unless you have managed to curb the 'h' (and I sincerely hope so) in which case, perhaps it might not. Financial hardship includes things like difficulty paying daily living costs etc.etc.

Also, it could be argued that although you borrowed £3k for the car it was to enable you to try and continue running the business and earn an income, no car no business in effect. Anyway that was six months ago.

You have two choices then, either get an appointment to go in and speak as before. Make notes, ask them exactly what are they saying? Ask them for written guides and information on what they might be offering you so you can take them to study at home before deciding. It's a great pity you cannot remember why you declined the £10 p/month account offer. It looks as though they were offering some sort of affordable means for you even if it did have frills. Ask them again what it was. You 're in charge as to whether to accept that account or not. And, you still need to pay off what you owe so would that account be of any use at then end of the day? They need to be made aware you want to sort things, Debts etc. out so that some time soon you will be debt free for your new start.

Or you can write to get your SAR data and try to claim charges back. However, as mentioned in prev.post you have to have a bomb proof basis for claiming hardship and your charges will continue to escalate on the present account. It can take ages and you could be turned down at the end of it all.

I don't know, on reflection if you could do both, at least you would be addressing both problems. Not quite sure how that would work though.
Perhaps some input from the MSE EXPERTS would be good?:money:

Yes it's credit cards that don't have to meet the financial hardship criteria although you still have to have a good reason for the basis of your claim.

Anyway you know what your actual current cirmstances are, you will have to decide what is best for you. Do your pros and cons sheet, I'm sure you will make the right decision in the end.
Good luck with both hurdles!!

Mo

sammitchell05

To Little Mo

Please can you help and shed some light on my claim? I have recently wrote in the 'Success and failures' thread.. I have just received an email, after sending a lot of emails/letters etc.

I am trying to apply for the charges totalling £1047 or £1177 including interest, from 09-12.

I got told yesterday on the phone, I did not qualify under 'hardship' even though I pointed out I am in collections with Natwest and my Store card from House of Fraser. Aswell as in 2009-2010 I was working as a casual leisure attendant, and monthly income was between £400-£600, I got charged an unauthorised overdraft fee for going 36 over my limit... this was Dec 23rd 2009. For this charge they proceeded to take £240 out of my account at the end of Jan 2010. This was due to having 12 'fees' of £20 come out of my account over a period of 3 weeks... surely this is an error?

anyway, i only requested that they repay the past 3 years. As this has left me in debt, and being threatened with default notices.

I got offered £100 as a good will gesture. Needless to say, I have pursued it and sent various emails to CEO's etc.

I have just received this email and I am not sure what to make of it?:

"Dear Mr Mitchell (even though I specifically stated I was a Miss!!)

Thank you for your email which has been received by Stephen Hester's office.

I am sorry to hear of the problems you have encountered recently. In view of your comments, we have asked for a full briefing from those involved. Once this is received, your complaint will be allocated to a case manager who will be in touch within the next two weeks.

We will aim to get a response out to you as soon as we can but we also want to make sure that a thorough investigation takes place. If, for any reason, there looks like being a delay, we will, of course, write to you again to explain why.

If you do have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact us.

Yours sincerely

Group Executive Office"




Thoughts anyone please??

Little_Mo_70

sammitchell05 wrote: »

To Little Mo

Please can you help and shed some light on my claim? I have recently wrote in the 'Success and failures' thread.. I have just received an email, after sending a lot of emails/letters etc.

I am trying to apply for the charges totalling £1047 or £1177 including interest, from 09-12.

I got told yesterday on the phone, I did not qualify under 'hardship' even though I pointed out I am in collections with Natwest and my Store card from House of Fraser. Aswell as in 2009-2010 I was working as a casual leisure attendant, and monthly income was between £400-£600, I got charged an unauthorised overdraft fee for going 36 over my limit... this was Dec 23rd 2009. For this charge they proceeded to take £240 out of my account at the end of Jan 2010. This was due to having 12 'fees' of £20 come out of my account over a period of 3 weeks... surely this is an error?

anyway, i only requested that they repay the past 3 years. As this has left me in debt, and being threatened with default notices.

I got offered £100 as a good will gesture. Needless to say, I have pursued it and sent various emails to CEO's etc.

I have just received this email and I am not sure what to make of it?:

"Dear Mr Mitchell (even though I specifically stated I was a Miss!!)

Thank you for your email which has been received by Stephen Hester's office.

I am sorry to hear of the problems you have encountered recently. In view of your comments, we have asked for a full briefing from those involved. Once this is received, your complaint will be allocated to a case manager who will be in touch within the next two weeks.

We will aim to get a response out to you as soon as we can but we also want to make sure that a thorough investigation takes place. If, for any reason, there looks like being a delay, we will, of course, write to you again to explain why.

If you do have any queries in the meantime, please feel free to contact us.

Yours sincerely

Group Executive Office"

Thoughts anyone please??

Hello Sam

I am no expert, but as you have asked I will give my take on your posting

The e-mail is basically self explanatory. They are reviewing your complaint. Your claim under the hardship criteria needs to have a very strong basis. For example, being in debt to others isn't in itself a strong reason even if you feel that the charges caused this. Being currently unable to pay your rent/mortgate/food bills etc, however, is. As is having recently lost your job which causes difficulties to meet daily living costs etc. I don't know the basis of your claim but if you have mentioned anything about their charges being unfair and therefore causing your hardship I fear the worst.

If you get a negative response final answer you can always persue through the FOS if you feel your hardship meets the FOS criteria. Remember though if you lose you will end up with nothing.
Basically, it doesn't matter how many years of charges you claim it's up to the bank to decide if they want to offer you anything at all.

At least they have agreed to look into it further for you.:)

sammitchell05

Hi Mo

thanks for your reply. Yeah i see what you mean, I will wait and see what they offer..
I did mention that I thought the charges were unfair, as they had charged me £240 for going £6 overdrawn in one month, and this occurred a few times.

I have received a similar email from Santander regarding my House of Fraser account. so I will keep you posted!!

thanks again
Sam

Gaw79

Reclaimed hardship
Asked for over £4000 back off Lloyds tsb
Offered £350
What to do ??

Little_Mo_70

Gaw79 wrote: »

Reclaimed hardship
Asked for over £4000 back off Lloyds tsb
Offered £350
What to do ??

Difficult to advise without any details I'm afraid.

chohan11

Hi Guys,

Needs some good advice.

Basically I have banked with santander (formally alliance and leicester) & MBNA (formally alliance and leicester i think), and was wondering should I ring them both up as I have 2 accounts in question one is a current account and the other is a credit card. I have had these account for around 8-10 years and have lots of charges on them.

The question is should i call them both and ask for a statement of charges or full statements and also should I write to them via post, which would be better and quicker. Also If i request statements for the last 8-10 years will it cost a maximum of £10 or more??

Can you please give me some advice as soon as possible so I can get the ball rolling.

Thanks people.

Little_Mo_70

chohan11 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

Needs some good advice.

Basically I have banked with santander (formally alliance and leicester) & MBNA (formally alliance and leicester i think), and was wondering should I ring them both up as I have 2 accounts in question one is a current account and the other is a credit card. I have had these account for around 8-10 years and have lots of charges on them.

The question is should i call them both and ask for a statement of charges or full statements and also should I write to them via post, which would be better and quicker. Also If i request statements for the last 8-10 years will it cost a maximum of £10 or more??

Can you please give me some advice as soon as possible so I can get the ball rolling.

Thanks people.

Always write and then you have records of all replies.

MBNA Europe Bank Limited
P.O. Box 1004
Chester Business Park
Wrexham Road
Chester
CH4 9WW


Santander Cards UK Limited,
Capital House 2,
Bruntcliffe Way,
Morley,
Leeds
LS27 0JG

Santander
PO Box 1125
BRADFORD
BD1 9PG

You need to study advice set out on MSE website first
www.moneysavingexpert.com
Don't ask for your statements, use the template letter requesting ALL data including charges etc.
Follow all the guides/criteria for claiming carefully first and don't request refund of charges because you feel they were unfair or you might as well not bother.

One off payment of £10 should suffice

Whitemaster

I have been following the forum for a while now and only decided to finally do something about my charges after my brother had success with his reclaiming.
I am currently requesting £2700 of charges back from Natwest. There reply was to provide a financial statement which i have done, and they have since come back and said i do not qualify as my account is in satisfactory order (the only reason for this is they refuse to give me an overdraft in the past).

New letter has been sent today asking them to re-consider and if not i will be sending a letter to the Managing Director of Natwest and then to the Ombudsman.

Will keep you posted.

Next up.....Credit Cards

sarahg786

Hi everyone,

First time post on any website and MSE seemed to be a better place than any to start with!!

Need some advice, I have followed the MSE bank reclaiming guide and written to my bank (HSBC) with details of the hardships I have gone through in the last few years (redundancy and the debilitating illness preventing me from finding work) with dates and details that are reflected in the bad state my finances were at the time and included the list of charges which total to over £3200.
(I was being charged on average £525 in charges each year therefore qualifying for hardship)

I have had a standard letter sent to me citing the test case result and they believe the charges were applied properly and the complaint is not viable.

My question is, rather than write another letter I am thinking of calling them this time but I have no idea what conversation I am to lead with in trying to persuade them to refund me back for what I feel is an extortionate amount for a few returned DDs charges which snowballed. What do I say to them now that they've already tried to dismiss me??!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Sarah