First Direct - (merged)

keeperbear

devious wrote: »

have you ever wondered if those extra charges for not paying your bill by direct debit (DD) are legal. but we pay them any way or switch to DD.
I have.

does it seem reasonable in the eyes of the law to be charged for paying your bills on time.

I pay all my bill by DD and expect a discount for going so. BT give me this discount and so do many other companies. It is cheaper for them as they don't have to process cheques etc, and I benefit from a discount. There is simply no extra charge for non-DD payers.

Twinkly

give-it-a-go wrote: »

I am not sure legally but this is only my opinion.

I think this is more a discount for paying by direct debit as its probably simpler for the companies to process rather than being a charge/penalty for not paying by direct debit.

So again in my opinion these wont be able to be reclaimed.

Hope this helps maybe someone with a bit more legal knowledge can add to this.

If you have bank charges due to direct debits coming of early I would phone the company involved and complain.

Give-it-a-go

This seems to be the general consensus on this question, it has been debated before. It irritates the hell out of me that I pay with credit card on the automated line and pay for the call to do so but I would much rather do this and pay a bit extra than sort the headache of bank charges when a direct debit is screwed up. It consistently is. Direct debit is great when it works but it is down to the company managing them to do the job right in the first place and you cannot rely on that unfortunately.

Vegasdiva1

New to MSE chat forum so please bear with me......

Sucessfully reclaimed about £500 of bank charges from First Direct with just one letter. Thank you MSE.

Now trying to reclaim "late payment" charges fro Sainsburys Bank Visa Credit card. Sent same letter as I used for FD and Sainsburys have replied stating that charges pre Aog 06 at £25 and after at £12 were in line with their terms and conditions and as I agreed to these when I took out the Credit Card, they are unable to offer any refunds. What should I do now?

Twinkly

Vegasdiva1 wrote: »

New to MSE chat forum so please bear with me......

Sucessfully reclaimed about £500 of bank charges from First Direct with just one letter. Thank you MSE.

Now trying to reclaim "late payment" charges fro Sainsburys Bank Visa Credit card. Sent same letter as I used for FD and Sainsburys have replied stating that charges pre Aog 06 at £25 and after at £12 were in line with their terms and conditions and as I agreed to these when I took out the Credit Card, they are unable to offer any refunds. What should I do now?

Carry on claiming and follow the templates (amended accordingly) and guidelines in the main article. Just because it is in their terms and conditions doesnt make it legal. Just because you accepted at the time only means you didnt know they were unlawful at the time. I wouldnt even bother replying, its a standard brush-off letter, and would continue with the claiming schedule.

Good luck

printedinuk

Thank you to those members who commented on this:

"...Having reviewed the schedule of charges you provided, I note you have included recall fees. We do not look to review these fees, therefore your claim has been adjusted accordingly..."

As far as I understand from the guidance from Martin himself and also kind contributors to this forum, this seems to be another ploy to get you to ask for less! I almost fell into this trap as I was drafting (or filling in) the "threaten court" letter with the revised amount and just thought I'd double check.

I was actually quite impressed with First Direct's response until now when I'm afraid to say they have completely fallen from my estimations by seemingly relying on ignorance to reduce claims... but then, should that surprise me from a bank??

My pre-court action letter will hopefully be in the post this afternoon!!

Thank you again! :T

Vegasdiva1

Thanks. Good point. I'll let you know if I have a positive response

gladigirl

I have sent my LBA to First direct and kept all the recall fees on there despite their initial response that they would not review them(they totalled over half my claim).
Grand total with interest £4400. Have not heard anything yet only 7 days to wait before I file the MCOL!!
Let's see.:p

howardmcheng

Did anyone here get a reply letter from First Direct after asking for the charges back saying that they will conduct a full investigation and that they'll respond within the next 10 working days?

I didn't see anyone get one of these letters before.

Thanks a lot guys.

lmeehan67

howardmcheng wrote: »

Did anyone here get a reply letter from First Direct after asking for the charges back saying that they will conduct a full investigation and that they'll respond within the next 10 working days?

I didn't see anyone get one of these letters before.

Thanks a lot guys.

yes, think most people got this...this is there standard letter.

tra23dog

Hi,

First Direct have offered me a settlement figure for reclaiming bank charges - £230 short of what they owe me. They say they will only pay out if I sign to say they are sending the cheque striaght to Accuma - We have an Iva but First direct are NOT involved in any way with the IVA - they just 'know about it'. Surely it is MY money and it should be payable to me and should be sent to me, as it is my property. What right have they got to send the cheque to Accuma when they are NOT involved!!! They say 'UNDER THE TERMS OF OUR IVA AGGREEMENT' but they do not know what those terms are. I am so annoyed!! Are they trying it on? Please dont merge this thread, as I wrote on here this morning and got not replies.I am really desperate!! Many thanks in advance.

Tra23dog