HBOS Credit card charges offer

killdozer

Just recieved a letter back from HBOS offerring me £156. I had originally asked for £699 dating back from 2001. HBOS have said that they did not agree with my total default fees because they reduced their fees to £12 from the 1st of august 2006. Therefore thier offer is equal to the difference between the amount i was originallly charged and the £12.

Should i stick it out for a fairer amount nearer to the full total of charges which go from 2001 up to 2009??

smunchkin

I would stick it out and write to them again asking for the full amount claimed.

Lloyds TSB did this with me so I wrote to them again basicly asking for the rest or I was prepared to take them to court and they paid up, so I say give it a try.

Hope that helps

Premier_2

Not that many realised then, but a report in April 2006 by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was crucial in supporting reclaimers’ cases. Having investigated credit card charges the OFT said, in plain language, that it would not launch a specific investigation on any card companies with charges lower than £12.
While the OFT ruling had no technical power, across the board, most card companies reduced their charges to this £12 level. This was of course a positive step but actually this figure, in my view, is still too high as the real administration costs are usually little more than a couple of pounds.
Yet it certainly has made it a lot easier to reclaim back the difference between what you were charged and the £12 figure. So for each £35 charge, you should get at least £23 of it back; though many may be able to get the whole £35.

...

How much should I ask for?

This is where it gets a bit trickier but don’t worry, it’s simply about how hard you’re going to push. Remember the OFT has pretty much indicated any charges higher than £12 are challangeable.

• Charges from before June 2006. Credit card charges from before this date will usually have cost between £30 and £35. With these, you can ask for either the full amount of each charge to be refunded or the difference between the actual charge and the OFT recommended fee of £12; for example, a charge of £35 minus £12 would give a refund of £23.
• Charges after June 2006. For any charges on or after June 2006, you were probably hit for £12 each time. As this is already set to the OFT recommended amount, you simply need to ask for the full £12 amount to be refunded.

...

There is a chance it’ll offer some of the money you want. If you have asked for the full refund this may be the difference between the fee and the £12 OFT recommendation. Whatever it offers, you need to decide whether it’s worth continuing or just taking the cash.

...

Should you accept a partial offer at this stage?
This is always a very tough decision. Whilst there’s a temptation to say ‘fight the good fight and take ‘em on’, what’s actually more important is protecting your pocket.
Let’s say you’ve £500 of charges and are offered £350; the first thing is try not to think “I’m £150 short” but instead that you’ve got £350 you thought was gone forever. The ultimate decision is yours. It’s a combination of whether you want the hassle of continuing versus the ‘certainty of the cash’.
...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/credit-card-charges

killdozer

They also say: "However our offer of £156 is without admssion of liability, to resolve your complaint. To accept our offer, in full and final settlement, simply fill in the enclosed form and send it back to us. Pleae note if the re is an outstanding blalnce on the account, any payment made will be credited to the account. No other method of payment will be issued. If credit ballance remains on the account, i will arrange a cheque to be issued under the seperate cover".
Cheeky ******s!!!

dmg24

killdozer wrote: »

They also say:"However our offer of £156 is without admssion of liability, to resolve your complaint. To accept our offer, in full and final settlement, simply fill in the enclosed form and send it back to us. Pleae note if the re is an outstanding blalnce",(there is) "on the account, any payment made will be credited to the account. No other method of payment will be issued. If credit ballance remains on the account, i will arrange a cheque to be issued under the seperate cover".
Cheeky ******s!!!

You owe them money - why would they give you cash when you are in debt to them? I don't think it is them that have a cheek!

killdozer

They overcharged me in the first place.

Premier_2

dmg24 wrote: »

You owe them money - why would they give you cash when you are in debt to them? I don't think it is them that have a cheek!

True.

Also the company won't admit liability. It would be stupid of them to do so and would leave them wide open to possible further litigation.

natweststaffmember

killdozer wrote: »

They also say: "However our offer of £156 is without admssion of liability, to resolve your complaint. To accept our offer, in full and final settlement, simply fill in the enclosed form and send it back to us. Pleae note if the re is an outstanding blalnce on the account, any payment made will be credited to the account. No other method of payment will be issued. If credit ballance remains on the account, i will arrange a cheque to be issued under the seperate cover".
Cheeky ******s!!!

You ask for the full amount of the charges by letter. Give them one last chance before you sue them for it. They should pay it into the account where the charges have come from which will reduce the overall amount on the card. However, it's either 100% or nothing.

killdozer

natweststaffmember wrote: »

You ask for the full amount of the charges by letter. Give them one last chance before you sue them for it. They should pay it into the account where the charges have come from which will reduce the overall amount on the card. However, it's either 100% or nothing.

Yes, i'd be quite happy for them to take it off what i owe them on the credit card, but as long as they give me the full charges or something near the amount i asked for.
Thanks for the help everyone!

davidgmmafan

I'd mention FOS/court, since the cost of the FOS may well outweigh the amount claimed. Its just a way of filtering out determined people and minimizing the refunds they make.