Reclaimed Bank Charges SUCCESS stories

louloujs

Lizmcd49 - that message was for you too. Why not ring MCOL, they don't tend to give advice per se, but they will certainly have had benefit of a bit of experience with these claims of late...

cloth_ears_2

Getting a bit worried now - I have sent three separate claims to Clydesdale Bank as three different accounts. However total is still under £750. If gets to court stage would I be better to do one claim and can I if three separate accounts and I have originally done three separate letters?. Also seen more on this (particularly the Clydesdale bank) on CAG site but find it quite difficult to navigate and don't have time just now!

Edinburghlass_2

If it comes to the court stage then yes put it in as one claim as apart from anything you will only be paying one court fee.

To lizmd, don't be put off sending the next letter because you feel you won't be able to take them to court, there are a few options if it comes to that.

monkfish25

Hi everyone.
Just wanted to share our good news. After several months of letters etc we have finally settled with HSBC for just over £7000!! I will give you a detailed run down of what we did in case it helps anyone else.

First, we sent the request for statements letters. We have 2 HSBC accounts, and as the total of both was over £5000 we decided to claim for both accounts separatley to keep it in the small claims court.
After recieving the statements and adding up the charges we then sent the request for refunded charges letters with the 14 day timeline. The reply from HSBC on the 13th day was that the charges were legal, and this was their final response on the matter. Any more queries should be made to the Financial Ombudsman.

So we sent letter number 2, final request before court action. No response. The next stage was moneyclaim online. We started court proceedings on both accounts. The bank had 14 days to respond. Again they did on the 13th day! Then they had to put in a defence, which they did at the last minute. As they had put in the defence we got an allocation questionnaire in the post which brought it to our local court. There were more fees for this, but we figured we had come so far, there was no way were backing down now!

We returned the questionnaire and fees in plenty of time for the deadline. The bank, however, did not. The court then wrote to them, copied to us, with another deadline or their defence would be struck out. Their response came a day late. The district Judge decided not to strike it out but to go ahead with a court date. In hindsight I believe it was because he could see the banks are delaying all the time so he just wanted to get on with it. Also at this point we got a letter from HSBC's solicitors asking for a breakdown of charges. THis is the first thing you send them!! After speakig to the court, they suggested it wouldn't harm our case either way, but would probably delay matters if we responded!

A few days later we recieved a court date in the post. The same day we received a letter from the solicitors saying that HSBC again confirm the charges are not illegal, and they have done nothing wrong. However, due to court time and costs they would settle the full amount!! Payment was made a week later! We also crossed out the confidentiality agreement of the form. We also added a clause that they don't close our accounts in retaliation!

So after several months and £440 costs, we won! Our advice to anyone trying to claim is just perservere. The banks will try anything to delay matters, but that's all they are doing. They know they can't go to court so just push you to see how far you will go.

And finally, use this site. We used all the templates, and if we were ever stuck, posted a question and always got the right advice. So thanks to the site and everyone involved. Couldn't have done it without you.
Good luck to everyone else!!

NicolaLouise_2

i have posted my 1st template letter to my bank, saying that they have overcharged me by £150, its been 14 days and the bank have not responded.
i have now found more charges on statements i thought i'd lost but have now found. this extra £50 of charges - do i have to write the 1st template letter again to my bank with the new increased amount of £200 on, and wait another 14 days, before then sending the 2nd template letter? or can i send the 2nd template letter saying i'm taking them to court if they dont settle in another 14days with this new amount of £200?
i mean, do the 1st and 2nd letters have to have the exact same amount of charges on them? or can i assume if the bank refused to respond to the £150 charges, that they will still fail to respond to the £200 charges, so i can go straight to the 2nd template letter.

thanks.

NicolaLouise_2

i am making 4 claims.
1st - my personal current account.
2nd - my boyfs personal current account.
3rd - our joint account in both our names.
4th - my boyfs mastercard.
all 4 accounts are with Natwest.
all 4 accounts are listed at our home joint address.

i have written 4 separate letters to natwest (the 1st template letter saying how much they have overcharged),
after 14days, when i come to send the next letter threatening court action, and then when i fill out the court form online after a further 14days, how can we group these together?
from other posts i have guessed any accounts with my name on i can group together? but can me and my boyf submit the 2nd letter and court claim as 1 claim? or should i do my personal current acc and our joint acc, and he can submit a separate claim for his personal acc and his mastercard?

also - i'm hearing that banks are inclined to settle immediately if the total is under £1000. my personal current acc (£120) and our joint acc (£600) charges are both under £1000. his personal current acc (£4000) and his mastercard (£500)are jointly over £1000. should we separate the claims to allow the banks to easily pay off smaller sums?
or will we save money in court claim costs (and save the courst time) by lumping all 4 or 2 claims together?
thanks.

sexualfloody

Hi was looking for anyboby's personal opinion here. I sent myfirst letter requesting my statements fromthe royal bank ofscotland 3 weeks ago and havent heard.(i know they have 40 days) the issue is that i have statemnets from july 2005 to the present day and charges total over £1000. Should i claim for theses now as obviously the oft ruling will affect any claim i make due to the timescale. With the staements i have do i highlight the charges and send or do i make a separate list? or should i wait till i recieve the last 5 years statements? i have read the article on reclaiming the charges and have read the relevant threads on the forums. I am unsure what to do in my situation?

Edinburghlass_2

Please read this thread carefully, the OFT "ruling" will not make any difference to your claim.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=391787

When you do come to working out your charges, make a list with date the charge was taken, description and the amount.

liam7_2

Bank: Halifax
Amount claim request: Just over 1,300
Amount accepted : 1,274

Sent the usual letter on the 12th of Feb, I received the usual letter back off them saying they'll look into it on the 19th of Feb. They received the letter on the 14th of Feb and today I got an offer for 1,274.

I think I'll be accepting that. What a great way to start the week with payday on Friday as well :j:j

Thanks for this wonderful site and all your advice.

electriclady

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of claiming bank charges back from lloyds tsb for my mum.

She got her bank statements today, I have gone through them and the charges total to £4246.50.

There are lots of small charges for £4, £5 and £7 and they show n the statements as account charge. Is this a fee that she has to pay for the bank account even though it doesn't havea debit card facility etc?
Most of these fee's are showing straight after a unauthorised direct debit or standing order charge.

I hope I have explained this well enough and hope someone can advise me if i can claim these as I am looking to send he second letter tommorow to claim them.

Thanks