Has your bank closed your account?

richkohring118

Doesnt look like the Halifax minded refunding me £69

Aliance and Leicester, have told Monecliam theyll be defending the case (for £82) , same day i get a cheque for the full amount £82 and a letter saying theyll be in touch to discuss the future of my account as i dont adhere to theyre T&C, should i close it before im forced to?

Mel77_2

nickmack wrote:

This is an extract of what the Ombudsman said:

"He should not be prevented from bringing a legitimate complaint by the threat of having his account closed; nor do I consider it fair or reasonable of Alliance & Leicester to respond to his complaint about charges by closing the account. Alliance & Leicester appears to me to have used the closure of the account as a retaliatory or punitive measure."

However, the account remained closed, so banks WILL still close accounts although at the moment you can as a last step make a complaint to the Ombudsman and you may get compensation for the banks behaviour.

The simple answer to why the banks will continue to close accounts, regardless of what the FOS say is that the banks have (and this has never been challenged as of yet, whatever your viewpoint on the charges) done nothing illegal, they set the T&C and you abide by them, if not you have broken the agreement simple.

All the banks have to do is to make sure the complaint is treated within the complaints guidelines, carefully word why they are closing your account and thats it, do you really think it the law is on your side if you are threating to sue them because you have breached the terms and conditions, in other countries you could be sued for attempting to defraud the bank by knowingly going over your limit.

Also on this point, what will happen if they charge you again, are you going to continue to sue them everytime you want your charges back, do you really think they want customers like that, I'm sure they'd rather have customers that run their accounts properly who don't try to sue them.....

Well that's my 2p worth, although I do believe the charges are too high you really can't blame them for taking a tough stance on this!

Leaf

Thank you for your comments, Mel.

I understand and appreciate where you are coming from. However, I would like to make a few comments myself.

Since automation of accounts and the lack of personal contact, the interests of banking do not seem to lie in favour of customers but in profits. While I appreciate that banking is a business, a business survives by attracting, not alienating, customers. So, in effect, banks appear to be focusing on profits and not the customers that, long term, bring in profits. Investment, in reality. Look at the backlash that is happening now. Short term high income for banks, long term payout for unfair charges, poor customer relations and a lack of confidence to stay and invest in any one particular bank has led to this current trend.
Mismanagement of finances needs addressing. But placing people in a position where debt spirals is as irresponsible as those who mismanage. I am not condoning a 'nanny stae' but I am slating large independent multi million pound institutions who reap the benefits from exploiting vulnerable people to amas billion pound businesses.

Leaf

Chloe

Hi,

I'm seriously considering reclaiming my bank charges but need to be re-assured about one thing first.

My current account is with the Bank of Scotland but I also arranged my mortgage through them, with the Halifax (one and the same bank?). If I reclaim charges from the Bank of Scotland is there any risk of them closing my Halifax mortgage account? Although I manage to pay my mortgage payments every month without too much of a problem, I know that I am no longer earning enough to qualify for the mortgage amount I have borrowed. So, if they close my mortgage account I wouldn't be able to raise sufficient funds anywhere else. Can anyone advise, please?

thanks

Chloe x

Chargechallenger

:eek: I had 2 claims going through,Barclays and One account(RBOS).Barclays is taking it all the way so far but RBOS paid when they received the court order,but there is a catch.They say that if I am not prepared to pay the same charges in future, they will withdraw all my banking facilities and give me 8 weeks to reply.Surely this must be wrong?They seem to me to be saying even though the charges are un-lawful they don't care and are going to charge them any how.

Twinkly

Chargechallenger wrote:

They say that if I am not prepared to pay the same charges in future, they will withdraw all my banking facilities and give me 8 weeks to reply.

I presume you/they mean closing your account ? There have been cases of banks having to pay £200 compensation to customers for doing just this. A quick google will give you some info on that and you may wish to mention that in your reply

best_gillybear

I want to claim back around £3500 of charges paid over the last 6 years between 2 personal current accounts - 1 of which we closed last year. What stops me is that I have my personal account, 2 loan accounts, a business account and a savings account with them. Can they insist all are closed? Although not impossible to sort it would be a real pain to redo all my business accounts.

Twinkly

Some banks close and some dont, if you have a look through the successes thread there are stories there that might guide you better they give some names of banks who have. I think its probably going to be a case of how much money they will lose if they do. If they make enough on genuine charges on your business account your custom may be worth keeping.

You'd need to consider if closing your business account is worth the £3,500 you may gain instead though, personally for that amount of money I'd take the pain like man (cos I am a woman haha). Good luck

PreciousJade

Hi, I'm new here. I have a personal Barclay accont ( have charged 3 over draft this couple of months, the reason being started as a single mother and only work part time it's not easy and also have to pay £220 Barclay's loan every month. I also have a business account which I don't use it very often.

The question is if I'm going to claim my OD, if they close my personal account, would they close my businesss account too ??

I have open another account with A&L online account for personal account back up.

Twinkly

see above post They might and you will have to decide if you are willing to take risk for the refund you may be entitled to.
Good luck.