HSBC (merged)

ricstar19

I'm nearing the end of the whole process with HSBC and would like to share my experiences...

23/11/06
Telephoned HSBC to request copies of bank charges for the last 6 years.

30/12/06
Received bank statements and used the calculator on this site to give a summary of charges and interest.

Sent 1st letter recorded delivery to my local branch enclosing summary of bank charges and interest.

Total charges: £1,120.50
Total interest: £203.43
Total claim: £1,323.93

12/01/07
Received generic letter from HSBC Service Quality Team (SQT) in Leeds saying they will look into it and contact me when they have completed their investigations (no date given to when this would be).

19/01/07
Telephoned "call centre" to see if I could get anymore information on the claim, and was told that someone would call me back within 5 working days (no call was received back).

23/01/07
Telephoned the SQT freephone number in the "listening to your comments" leaflet that was sent with the generic reply on 12/01/07 and was told calculations had been done and that a letter was on it's way out to me.

31/01/07
Still no letter. Spoke to SQT again and they told me that no letter was going out and that I would have to wait around 8 weeks.

Decided to send second letter, also recorded delivery, giving them 7 days to respond threatening court proceedings.

13/02/07
The 7 days had been and gone, but I was short of cash to start with the court, so I thought I'd leave it until the end of the month to sort it out.

14/02/07
Received an offer letter dated 31st January 2007(!) to the tune of £997.25!

15/02/07
Acceptance form signed and returned, recorded delivery, to SQT. They say that the money will be credited with 7 working days.

So, in just under 2 months, and no court proceedings, it seems as if this little saga is coming to a close. My overall take on HSBC is that they are obviously inundated with requests for repayments. I also think they are using delaying tactics at any stage they can for two reasons. Firstly, the longer they retain these charges, the longer they can gain interest on it. Secondly, they must be frantically thinking of some way out of this, and if they do, the one's that are being delayed at the time may not get through.

Good luck to everyone!

Claimed: £1,120.50
Offer received: £997.25
Win percentage: 89%

blakeyc

Hi, just a quick question - I'm with First Direct (part of HSBC) and have sent off my first letter but once I'd done that, I began to think about the limits on the claims possible in different parts of the UK.

Does anyone know if I am right in thinking that although I live in Scotland, my claim is under English law as FD is based in England and I was living there when I joined them?

Cheers

Edinburghlass_2

You can claim under English law provided you would be prepared to travel to court in England should this be required, have a read of this website.

http://www.govanlc.com/jurisdiction.htm

kellyn1201

Hi everyone,

I am currently trying to claim back my partner's charges from HSBC. We have sent the first letter, and have had a reply telling us to send them a "full itemised breakdown of these charges to include date description and amount".

They had a list of all the charges with the first letter, but now they want it in a specific format, which they give an example of.

Am I right in thinking this is just an attempt at delaying things and I should just proceed with the LBA?

Any advice gratefully received!

bladerunner845

Hi, I have recieved this letter also. The difference is that i have instigated court action. Should i just hold out replying as it is only 9 days till there 28 days for a defence is up or should i reply with the sheet they already got from me as soon as poss in the hope of a full offer?

Rex_Mundi

kellyn1201 wrote:

They had a list of all the charges with the first letter, but now they want it in a specific format, which they give an example of.

Am I right in thinking this is just an attempt at delaying things and I should just proceed with the LBA?

Any advice gratefully received!

HERE is an example of how I list out the charges for the banks. If you send something like this, you shouldn't have any problems.

kellyn1201

Hi Rex,

Problem is HSBC don't actually detail what the charges are for on the statements, they're all listed as DR - Notified Fees/Charges. The list I sent was the date and amount of each charge, decided there was no point with the above description because they're all the same!

Have I done the wrong thing?

Edinburghlass_2

It could well be that you have included interest in your list and that is what they want to check.

bladerunner845

Hi, I dont think i made much sense so i'll try explaining a bit better. I followed the procedure up to the point where i hadn't recieved an offer within the designated time scale so i started court proceedings. I have 9 days till i can request judgement by default but thismorning i got a letter from DG solicitors asking for a complete breakdown including interst. I sent this (the breakdown)to the bank along with my original claim so that they knew if the didnt settle i would charge interest. So should i hold out sending it to the solicitors so that i can hopefully claim judgement by default or should i send it of ASAP in the hope that i get an offer? Any thoughts would help put my mind at ease. Thanks

kellyn1201

No I didn't include interest (if that was to me not bladerunner!) I sent them a list of dates and amounts of charges. On his statements they are all bundled together i.e.

DR Notified Fees/Charges £125

So how is he supposed to give them a description when he hasn't been given one by them in the first place?!