Reclaimed Bank Charges SUCCESS stories

mountiebassist

Bank: Barclays
Amount reclaimed: £685
Amount they paid: £515

Sent the first letter to my bank which responded literally on the last day of the fourth week. Then made a complaint online - which means they had to respond in 5 days. On the fifth day I received a letter saying I would get a resolution in 4 weeks and indeed on the last day of the fourth week, I received a partial offer, which I decided to take.

I took the offer because I want to change bank asap. I currently have a brilliantly marketed 'Graduate Additions' account, which sounds great if you are a recent grad like me, but actually involves a monthly fee + i nterest working out at about 15% a year if you are overdrawn. Scandalous!

160968Paul

Amount Claimed: £1800
Amount Received: £1719

Just a quick note for anyone is dealing with N&P THEY WILL FOLD DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT. Take the swines to court and they are the ones who will bottle it and cought up. :j

Twinkly

mrblue wrote: »

Looking for some advice from those more experienced.

I am claiming £944 in Bank charges from HSBC, with interest it totals £1100, and was holding off taking them to court, actually giving them a longer time to respond. I then recieved a letter on the Friday, stating that they had not yet fully investigated my complaint and "hoped to have a response by 5th April". I obviously thought they were buying for time with the OFT ruling duly went onto MCOL and started proceedings that day. I also wrote to the bank telling them that I thought their response was unacceptable and that I had taken court action. They wouldn't have recieved this till the Tuesday, but on that day I recieved a letter offering me £850. Seeing as I had already started court proceedings I'm not sure whether to accept this offer. My point being that they offered me £850 without knowing I'd started proceedings. They have know filed an Acknowledgment of Service giving them 28 Days to file their defence which is obviously buying them time.

Do I accept the £850 given that it's just cost me an extra £120 to take them court?

Do I hold my nerve and keep the claim lodged in an attempt to get the full amount of £1220 back including the court fees?

Obviously my other concern is the OFT ruling and whether that will mean my expected claim could be cut in half, or is it the case that seeing as I have started proceedings prior to the ruling will the OFT the claim value will not be affected?

Any adviced greatly appreciated.

I would advise to hold your nerve, see the court stage through and go for the lot. Others have, many times, and won. Please see the success thread for a boost and encouragement on this its very reassuring.

The OFT report does not mean that your claim will be cut in half. No matter what is in the report the OFT do not make the law. The OFT report is an opinion and suggestion on what they could or should do but only a law can change it for the definite. For as long as the charge outweighs the actual cost to the banks they will remain unlawful penalties and reclaimable.

Good luck with your claim

fuzzgun19

Barclays
Amount - £420
Prelim letter sent 7/3/07
Full refund credited 19/3/07

160968Paul

Hi, my advice would be to hold out. They have admitted in part by making you an offer and are just stalling for time in the hope that you wil get scared and drop the case. I had exactly the same with N&P and they caved in at the last moment. Be brave and stick with it.

160968Paul

Twinkly wrote: »

I would advise to hold your nerve, see the court stage through and go for the lot. Others have, many times, and won. Please see the success thread for a boost and encouragement on this its very reassuring.

The OFT report does not mean that your claim will be cut in half. No matter what is in the report the OFT do not make the law. The OFT report is an opinion and suggestion on what they could or should do but only a law can change it for the definite. For as long as the charge outweighs the actual cost to the banks they will remain unlawful penalties and reclaimable.

Good luck with your claim

Hi, my advice would be to hold out. They have admitted in part by making you an offer and are just stalling for time in the hope that you wil get scared and drop the case. I had exactly the same with N&P and they caved in at the last moment. Be brave, stick with it and good luck.

pigsmightfly

pigsmightfly wrote: »

Ok so I am claiming from Egg for charges on my credit card. After ny first letter requesting charges got a letter back saying don't think charges are unlawful, won't be paying etc.

So sent the next letter threatening court action. Got the following reply:

The Office of Fair Trading indidcated that it would not proceed further against Egg on the basis that Egg reduced its charges from £20.00 to £16.00.

Egg takes steps to help you aviod charges. For example the agreement requires you to maintain a direct debit to make your monthy payment so you won't miss a payment. You can avoid going over your credit limit by checking your account online at any time.

I am now due to start a court claim and am aware that this may be a "put off" letter but does anyone know if what they say about the OFT is true?

Don't want to put a court claim in if so and also, I've searched for other people who may be claiming off Egg and can't find any so is this why?

Thanks

Hi,

Can anyone help me with the above please - it seems to have got a little lost.

Need to know if I should start a court claim or not?

Thanks

Twinkly

kaz07 wrote: »

im not sure if this is the correct board to post this but maybe someone can help.

i have sent my 1st stage letter reguesting £640.02 from natwest last tuesday, i just rang them to ask if they had recieved it and was told no, i then asked the lady if i was awarded anything how would they pay me, and she said as i ow £1619 (overdraft) they would pay this off first, i went on to tell her in my stage one letter i had added a paragraphe saying i do not want any award paid into my bank as i have other more serious debt, like rent arrears (i have a small child cant risk losing my home) and i have a door step loan i have failed behind keep getting threatened with them taking possessions of mine, so i need to pay this, anyway my question is, shall i just go to small claims now, or wait for an offer and then ring to see if they will send me a cheque if they say no then go to small claims? i can prove i have other debt far more important etc.

i do have another account with natwest which im waiting for bank statements i ow £879 on that but i know i will get around 3k as i have had £655 charges since oct 2006! anyway i will be happy for them to pay that of and send me a cheque for the remaining! but for the £1619 account i cant afford them taking the money for that account!

any help would be great!

The bank does have the right to 'set off' any monies reclaimed against an overdraft. You may have some comeback and it depends on your particular circumstances. Please see here for more information about this:

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/40/40_setoff.htm


Something that may apply is this (from the article):

Certain conditions must be met before the firm can exercise its right of ‘set off’.

one of which is:

The debt must be due and payable. For example, if a customer misses making a loan payment, then (at least until it calls in the loan) the firm can take only the missed payment – not the balance of the loan.

If you have an arrangement in place to pay off the overdraft at a regular payment this clause may apply.


Further in the article it states:

The general position can be modified by agreement between the firm and its customer. This might include:
an agreement that money held by a customer in one capacity can be used to pay debts owed by the same customer in a different capacity.

By which I take to mean that is is worth trying to come to some arrangement with the bank to only take a portion of the refund, stating your other financial commitments.


I personally dont see why they should take money that wasnt lawfully theirs in the first place regardless of it being in their banking system. If they put their hand in my purse it would be smacked hard !


I wish you the best of luck with this

160968Paul

redruby wrote: »

Hi,

My bank (first direct ) filed a defence against my court claim, and the very next day an offer letter arrived from their solicitors with an offer of my full claim minus 80.00 which they said was out of date !! I have accepcted there offer ( they should have got letter today ) I have also recievd a questionaire from my local court which needs to be sent back by 2nd April. My questions are -

1) How long on average will it take for the money to come through ?

2) What happens if it has not come through before I have to send the court papers back ? ( do I carry on and send them )

3) If the money does come through :beer: , how do I stop the court proceedings ?

Thanks in advance for any help, great website very helpfull x

Hi, first port of call should be the court helpline they will tell you all you need to know, I found them very helpful. If you filed your claim online then the number is 0845 601 5935. Secondly speak to your bank (you are now the boss they folded remember so do not take any s**t) and agree a deadline, say 7 days, reminding them of course that you still have a case pending.

Well done. :T

Leon_Telford

Bank: Royal Bank of Scotland
Amount Reclaimed:£300
Amount they paid:£300
The story: Sent letter off on 28th Feb, replied Today offering me a goodwill payment of the full amount! Didnt even have to send the threat of Court Letter, won after the 1st letter asking for my money back!

Thanks :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: