Bank Charges Query

sgx.saint

Hey All.

Posted a few times on here already and received a lot of useful information. However I have a few questions about reclaiming bank charges and I couldnt find any specific answers when I searched the forums. I do apologise in advance if the answers are here somewhere, but I am blind and I couldnt see them! :rotfl:

I have a total debt of approximately £36,000 pounds which is spread across one overdraft, one large loan, four credit cards and two mobile phone contracts.

I have been on a self-made DMP with my creditors for around 7 months now. The road has been bumpy, and I always get a surprise now and again, but so far so good.

Now in relation to bank charges, I have defaulted on pretty much all of my accounts listed above and around 70% are now with a debt recovery company.

Now, I am sure that I will have received lots of charges and penalities over the past 7 months for defaulting, going over my limit and so forth. I would be very interested in claiming back these charges.

So my questions are as follows:

1) What is the success rate in claiming back charges and fees?
2) If you are succesful in claiming, does the refunded charges get paid back into your account or direct to you in the form of a cheque ec?
3) Off the accounts I listed above, can I claim back charges on all of them? Or are some excempt i.e. credit cards
4) How complicated is the procedure and how long does it normally take?
5) If I try to claim back charges whilst I am on a DMP, will my creditors get 'arsey' and start demanding more money than what we already agreed as a bullying tactic?

I havent posted an SOA on the site yet as I am currently receiving benefits and I am managing my budget aswell as can be with no areas of improvement. But in September all being well when I go back to Uni, I will need some help sorting them out then

Thanks

southernscouser

1) What is the success rate in claiming back charges and fees? There was one case last year that got to court and crazily the judge found in favour of the bank. However every case that people pursue they are being refunded.

2) If you are succesful in claiming, does the refunded charges get paid back into your account or direct to you in the form of a cheque ec? It can vary. Some have been paid into an account and for example it has only paid of overdrafts. Some have succesfully asked for a cheque.

3) Off the accounts I listed above, can I claim back charges on all of them? Or are some excempt i.e. credit cards. I never got charged on CC's so never looked into it but I'm 99.9% certain you can!

4) How complicated is the procedure and how long does it normally take? I sent my first letter on April 5th. I'm near the end now. Waiting for a date to take them to court (they will pay up before it gets that far). It can be confusing rather than complicated. This site has all step by step instructions, FAQ's, template letters, basically everything you need to know.

5) If I try to claim back charges whilst I am on a DMP, will my creditors get 'arsey' and start demanding more money than what we already agreed as a bullying tactic? It's a real possibility. Some banks are even closing accounts.

Hope this helps!

sgx.saint

I appreciate the relplies.

What if the debt is with a debt recovery company? Can I still claim?

If I can, surely there is nothing the bank can do against me now as the debt has been sold elsewhere? So all they could do would be to issue a cheque?

sgx.saint

Oh, and do you think it is best to tackle all your creditors at once, in my case 7 of them, or try one at a time.

I had a finance agreement on a laptop? I assume I can claim on that too?

Sorry, thousands of questions now swarming around my head!

PeachPickle

sgx.saint wrote:

5) If I try to claim back charges whilst I am on a DMP, will my creditors get 'arsey' and start demanding more money than what we already agreed as a bullying tactic?

And your 5th question is exactly why I haven't taken any steps towards reclaiming yet against any of my debts. For one example, I'm paying nationwide back monthly for a defaulted overdraft. The overdraft was £400 but my current 'balance' is over £800 and was £1200 at one point. So, heck of a lot of charges there! But I decided ages ago to pay it as agreed then claim to avoid causing trouble now when I'm doing pretty well (if I do say so myself ). I don't use the account anymore obviously, but I don't want to fail (however unlikely that seems to be, I'm not discounting the possibility) and then have them say "right, money NOW"

On the plus side, I've cleared my debt to Capital One now, so they better watch out

spud30

PeachPickle wrote:

And your 5th question is exactly why I haven't taken any steps towards reclaiming yet against any of my debts. For one example, I'm paying nationwide back monthly for a defaulted overdraft. The overdraft was £400 but my current 'balance' is over £800 and was £1200 at one point. So, heck of a lot of charges there! But I decided ages ago to pay it as agreed then claim to avoid causing trouble now when I'm doing pretty well (if I do say so myself ). I don't use the account anymore obviously, but I don't want to fail (however unlikely that seems to be, I'm not discounting the possibility) and then have them say "right, money NOW"

That's exactly why I haven't proceeded with reclaiming my bank charges. My account was also with Nationwide, but I have an overdraft and credit card with them that I am repaying via a DMP with CCCS.

sgx.saint

Hmmm. So its kinda best not to seek getting your charges back until you have cleared the debt?

Problem with that is, I will be clearing my debt for years lol ... an no doubt over time will loose the ability to claim?

sgx.saint

Hey, as I have had no reply yet .. just wanted to bump this post so that I can make some progress on this issue.

I asked in another thread also ... if a debt has been sold to a Debt Recovery company, can I and is it wise to then claim back all my bank charges from the original provider i.e. MBNA.

So if MBNA sold my debt to a DCA, now would be the best time to reclaim charges from them? As I am no longer in a DMP with them, I am now in a DPM with the DCA.

sgx.saint

***bump***

Floss

You can claim back from CC co's, I did it with Capital One.

sgx.saint

*** bumpy ***

Still looking for an answer to me question regarding claiming and the debt being passed onto a DCA.

Cheers