Bank Statements?? Charges, Missing Transactions.

skbytes

Hi Guys,

I was wondering if you could help me. I have two topics which need answers. The first relates to banks statement charges and the other about missing bank transactions.

My first question.
I closed an account with Smile Bank in 2007 and have recently needed to get 2 months worth of bank statements for 2007 from Smile. I was told that each bank statement will cost me £10 and every 25 transaction relates to one statement. In all for the two months worth of bank statements will cost me £70.
My Questions : Is the legal? Do they have a right to charge this much?

My second Question.
I have an Alliance and Leicester Private Account which I opened up in 2007 after closing my Smile Bank Account. In 2007 I made CHAPS transferes of money from my Cater Allan bank business account to my Alliance and Leicester Private Account, i recently also asked for bank statements for 2007 as I needed to show proof that these transactions had been made for insurance purposes. Alliance and Leicester have told me that no transactions have been made on my account in 2007, I have proof from Cater Allan Bank (bank statements, fax transfer and even a headed letter from bank) that these transaction where made.
My Question : What can I do in this situation, its seems they have lost important bank transaction information which I need? Where do I stand and can I claim compensation?

many thanks Shaun

jambosans

skbytes wrote: »

Is the legal? Do they have a right to charge this much?

If you make a subject access request the maximum they can charge you is £10.

skbytes wrote: »

What can I do in this situation, its seems they have lost important bank transaction information which I need?

Make a formal complaint. The formal complaints procedure can normally be found via your bank's website - although I'm having trouble locating A&L Private Bank. My understanding is, with A&L now part of Santander, that all private banking is provided by Cater Allen.

skbytes wrote: »

Where do I stand and can I claim compensation?

Compensation for what exactly? Perhaps a few pounds to cover time and inconvenience but otherwise I can't see how the "loss" of this information has caused you to be out of pocket? If there has been a loss of your data, you can report the matter to the Information Commissioners Office.

jonesMUFCforever

No you can't claim compensation - you have suffered no loss.
A bank can charge what it likes for statements but you can SAR them for a cost of only £10 but the information you require may not be in statement format and can take up to 40 days.
What happened to your copy of statements issued?
If the Alliance and Leicester account was passbook based then no statements can be issued - the book was/is that.

skbytes

Hi Guys,

Actually there will be a loss, a financial loss to me of around £8000. I purchased an off plan property in 2007 in Leeds (Luimere Building), at the time I paid £8000 deposit to secure the plot, luckily at the time I took out insurance cover me for non-completion of the build. The company building the property went into liquidation. Therefore I claimed on my insurance for non-completion for the insurance to pay my £8000 deposit, they need bank statements showing that these transactions took place between me and liquidated comapnay.

As you can see if they’ve lost transaction data then I’ve lost my money… who’s at fault??

Thanks Shaun

jambosans

skbytes wrote: »

As you can see if they’ve lost transaction data then I’ve lost my money… who’s at fault??

It's very unlikely they have "lost" the transaction data, as I've said previously I would make a formal complaint, and get them to look properly. Also, you said A&L have lost transaction information of receipts from your Cater Allen business account. Unless it was your business that went into liquidation, what relevance are these transactions to the insurance company?

In terms of £8000 in compensation, go fish. This will almost definitely have to go through the courts, A&L (or the FOS) are unlikely to settle a complaint with this amount of renumeration. A&L may very well cite a partial responsibility on your part for maintaining financial records.

skbytes

Hi Jambosans,

thanks for the advice and feedback its much appreciated.

"A&L may very well cite a partial responsibility on your part for maintaining financial records.".... while I do keep all financial records relating to my business which is very healthy (not going into liquidation), tell me how many people print out there online statements and keep them for three years.

Isn't it a duty for the bank to hold these records after all they are a business and I'm a customer of that business. I don't think they have a strong case if I have to take it to the court. After all loosing bank transactions when your a bank isn't clever whether its from yesterdays transactions or transaction that happened 1,2,3 years ago. It also highlights that there could be many customers out there who have lost transactions, the only difference is, that my lost bank transactions are important to my insurance claim.

thanks Shaun

skbytes

Sorry my last message might be confusing so I have to add the bank transaction which have been lost are from my alliance & leicester persoanl account and not from my business account I hold with Cater Allan.

Thanks Shaun

jambosans

skbytes wrote: »

.... while I do keep all financial records relating to my business which is very healthy (not going into liquidation), tell me how many people print out there online statements and keep them for three years.

If you have paper-free documents, that's fair enough for general transactions. Although I would have thought transactional information concerning an on-going property development would be something you would keep on record.

skbytes wrote: »

Isn't it a duty for the bank to hold these records after all they are a business and I'm a customer of that business.

Absolutely, I believe it's a requirement under the Data Protection Act.

Now that you've clarified the transactions were from your A&L personal account, I would make a formal complaint to Santander (ergo A&L). Details on the below link:-
http://www.santander.co.uk/csgs/Satellite?appID=abbey.internet.Abbeycom&canal=CABBEYCOM&cid=1210607166846&empr=Abbeycom&leng=en_GB&pagename=Abbeycom%2FPage%2FWC_ACOM_TemplateA2

Letters sent recorded delivery are best. You may well find the information has been temporarily lost during the migration of A&L customers to Santander's computer systems. There have been numerous reports of issues on this board, so it wouldn't concern me. Alarming, but hopefully a technical glitch and they haven't actually lost the information.

skbytes

Hi jambosans and jonesMUFCforever,

I just wanted to take the time and thank you guys for spending the time in helping me on this and giving me direction on what to do next. Its great for forums like this and guys like you, who are more clued up than others like myself on such issues that I have. Thanks also for giving me information on how to proceed forward. I wish you guys could teach A&L customer services a few things as all you get is a shrug of the shoulders from these people.

I owe both you a pint or two you'be been great.

At the moment I'm just gaining evidence from my Cater Allan Bank thats these transaction DID infact take place between both banks...Cater Allan customers services have been fantastic in this matter. All this may take time, while Zurich Insurance are not giving me much time. If I loose my claim, I hope I can at least seek compensation from A&L. Looking on this forum I'm not alone when it comes to complaining about the non-customer service you get from this Santander (A&L) bank.

Many Thanks and have a fantastic weekend. :T
Shaun