Barclays Bank (merged)

Edmo

Hi jojo. I used to work for Barclays and absolutely hate this reserve fee thing they introduced (in fact I hate most things about Barclays but am not about to bore you!). Barclays give you an overdraft which, as long as you stay in your limit, you are only charged interest for. however, they also give you a reserve limit which means you can overdrw up to your overdraft and and then dip into your reserve. But, the minute you enter your reserve you are hit with a fee, if you are not out of the resrve in 5 days you get another fee. Say for example you have £500 overdaft and a £250 reserve effectively you can withdraw up to £750, but it's only the first £500 that is 'authorised'. If you go above £750 overdrawn they will automatically return any direct debits, cheques etc and charge you again.

It is legal unfortunately, and they wrote to all customers about 12 months ago. Barclays think it's a really good thing but I just think it's so confusing and leads people to believe they have a bigger limit than they actully do. Ideally stay within your agreed limit - even if you go a pound into your reserve they will charge you the £22. If you're not able to do this then go and speak to them about a way forward, or just open a new bank account and leave. They're a horrible company.

jojo1973

Thanks Edmo, I am constantly in my reserve which is £500 so when I get paid which is less than £500 then I'm STILL in it incurring charges every single week. I get a letter every thursday from them to inform me of this. As I'm no longer working I havent a cat in hells chance of ever getting out of the reserve.

I asked about an increased overdraft so then at least I can get out of the reserve and start paying that off but they said as I've been overdrawn for x amount of months (because I am in my reserve constantly) then they cannot do that so I'm kinda stuck.

RustyRockets

Hi guys!

I'm at my wits end with Barclays at the moment. I requested a list of my bank charges on the 7th September and i'm still waiting.

After the first month of waiting, I complained and another month later, they told me that due to 'human error' I didn't receive my list of charges. However they would send them as soon as possible. A week later all I received was a current statement of my account and when I complained again, they said "We thought that's what you wanted."

I've just spoken to someone over the phone now, and they've told me that they don't do 'lists of bank charges', and that the way to reclaim is to ring them up and simply put in a complaint that you want to receive your bank charges back.

This can't be right surely? I thought all banks provided a list of bank charges. I was under the impression that the correct way of reclaiming bank charges was firstly by finding out how much you've been charged over the past 6 years?

squink

Yes you're quite right.
I wonder if Barclays aren't getting more arrogant and unprofessional as time goes by - I asked for my statements about 2 years ago, they took a few weeks but got the lot with no charge. However at the mo have an ongoing complaint which has been handled unbelievably unprofessionally, including having my bank statements blocked for several months so I couldn't see what interest they were charging - never got an explanation so am taking to the ombudsman.
Wonder who specifically you dealt with?
Suggest you phone the financial ombudsman (info online) to clarify your entitlement, which you can then quote; go online and identify the high-level complaints dept. within Barclays, and write with the details (copy and send recorded), including giving a deadline for their reply of 14 days (and follow the procedure for taking to the ombudsman if you continue to get messed about).
Hope that works for you.

squink

katiefly wrote: »

Hi, can anyone who has requested a list of charges from Barclays before tell me what kind of statement did Barclay send to you?

Just got a letter from them today, they didnt send me any statement, but just a piece of paper with some entries on it, they used the jargon of Guaranteed fee, paid referral and return tran fee etc etc

I am really confused what they mean...

see my post to Rusty Rockets if you're still having problems - I can't believe how their arrogance is increasing in line with the bad press they and all the other banks are getting. I got copies of six years of statements as I requested, so no reason why you shouldn't.
"Paid referral fee" means their charge for exceeding your overdraft, not sure about the others but they should tell you in branch or on phone (and check the bank leaflet on charges) - may be charges on items they paid for you when you didn't have enough in, or when they bounced items?
Have you opened another bank (parachute) account, as they can turn nasty when you're claiming against them - some other banks are (or were) doing good deals, espec. Alliance and Leicester with £100 to open an account, and a year's free overdraft (though that can get you again after the year....) - worth looking around.

squink

blondie1981 wrote: »

Hi
We are just starting a claim against barclays, I have requested details of all charges since 2001

can we claim for charges made since 2006? If not why not?

Does anyone know how long and how likely it will be for payment to be made?

Thanks

You claim for up to six years ie 2003 to now. No timescale or guarantee of getting any money back (though they do have to respond to letters within certain deadlines - get the bank leaflet on complaints procedure) - I suspect now the latest ruling hasn't gone in our favour they'll be putting 2 fingers up even more (some people have had the lot repaid, I had about half) - you can always take it to the ombudsman once you've gone through the bank's complaints procedure. You can also phone the ombudsman direct (no. online) - they can be quite helpful.

squink

hsale wrote: »

ADVICE needed - - - - My husband has had a bank account with Barclays for 15 years and has bank charges every month on his statement for going over his overdraft. Can he claim bank charges for this or not?? What charges can you claim from the bank??

Go to Martin's section on explaining reclaiming, and go through carefully - saves a lot of hassle if you know what to do and how to do it properly.

Bumear

Hi,
I have had my bank charges claim with Barclays on hold in the county court since about 2007 (Exact date not know as all paper work is at home) I have heard nothing from either the bank nor the court as to what is happening with my claim. I was just wondering what the time limit is for this if any?
I have recently been put on a debt management plan due to being in financial hardship and I am considering going down the ombudsman route to try and reclaim. My bank already have a copy of my budget as they are included on the DMP. Can I just write to them saying I am taking it to the ombudsman right away as they already know I am in hardship or should I write them telling them why I am in hardship? A bit confused with that one! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Premier_2

Bumear wrote: »

Hi,
I have had my bank charges claim with Barclays on hold in the county court since about 2007 (Exact date not know as all paper work is at home) I have heard nothing from either the bank nor the court as to what is happening with my claim. I was just wondering what the time limit is for this if any?
I have recently been put on a debt management plan due to being in financial hardship and I am considering going down the ombudsman route to try and reclaim. My bank already have a copy of my budget as they are included on the DMP. Can I just write to them saying I am taking it to the ombudsman right away as they already know I am in hardship or should I write them telling them why I am in hardship? A bit confused with that one! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Where have you been for the last 18 months?

Read this thread, read the forum, read the MSE articles ... your claim is dead; the banks lost, the OFT gave up...

No one here has reported any success in court attempting to reclaim bank charges since the Supreme Court ruling in November 2009.

Btw, well done on digging up this 2 year old thread ... you've obviously been doing some digging of your own. Amazing you managed to miss the events of November 2009... :cool:

Bumear

Premier wrote: »

Where have you been for the last 18 months?

Read this thread, read the forum, read the MSE articles ... your claim is dead; the banks lost, the OFT gave up...

No one here has reported any success in court attempting to reclaim bank charges since the Supreme Court ruling in November 2009.

Btw, well done on digging up this 2 year old thread ... you've obviously been doing some digging of your own. Amazing you managed to miss the events of November 2009... :cool:

Many thanks for taking time out to reply in such a sarcastic way. I have read threads, a number of which have reported success after the Supreme Court ruling. My question was I have not heard anything from the bank or the court saying my case was being thrown out or anything and just wondered if I would here anything from them.

BTW, read your post, the Banks actually won.