First Direct - (merged)

a1i

Ok. I wrote to FD to get £730 back for charges. They sent me a form I needed to fill in to show it. So I did. I got a letter back today saying that, I do not qualify, even though they stated in the letter that I have £2,200 income and £2500 outcome in the last 6 months. So how does that not qualify? Well, as I have a gym membership, that means that I can live within my means if I didn't have it.:mad: Now, I don't own a car, so I have no petrol, and to me, gym membership is part of my social life, which I'm entitled to. So now I have to write in stating exactly why I should be in the hardship category. They said that my bank account hasn't been bad the last 6 months or so; well, I've been taking money out on credit cards to ensure that my bank account didn't go overdrawn. Had I knew that what my account has looked like was important in claiming back funds, I'd have not been so careful to keep it in control!

So now I've got a letter sorted and photocopies of credit cards to show how I've been keeping my bank account afloat! Wish me luck, I hope they can see my point of view and I'll get the money back. I know it's not enough for a while, but at least it'll help for a bit.

G'Meister

As I have Internet Banking, is there any point in me sending off a Data Protection Request asking specifically for a list of charges incurred? - I have reclaimed before with First Direct, perhaps 2 years ago (before the court case certainly) and I can't remember the exact date, so what I'd really like them to give me is a list detailing every reclaimable charge since I claimed back the first lot.
Is this something I have any chance of them giving me upon request, or will I just receive a ream of statements to go through myself as before?
I realize a specific request for this information would not be covered by the Data Protection Act; they're obliged only to send me my statements AFAIK.

tonymontana_2

I had an a/c with first direct around 8 years ago, I incurred a large amount of charges with them during that time. I closed the account many years ago and no longer have the details of my account number. Is it still possible to claim charges back after all this time?

natweststaffmember

tonymontana wrote: »

I had an a/c with first direct around 8 years ago, I incurred a large amount of charges with them during that time. I closed the account many years ago and no longer have the details of my account number. Is it still possible to claim charges back after all this time?

Yes you can reclaim the charges from that far away.

Completely OFF TOPIC: First Direct are at the moment not being helpful to me. I have asked them some basic questions on financial hardship to be able to help you guys but they are refusing point blank in spite of their parent company HSBC being more than agreeable to do so. The battle continues.

Birkonian

I have been with FD for about 10 years and one of the reasons I joined was for the agreed overdraft facility.
Problem is, if you exceed the limit, you get clobbered with hefty charges, and then every time you go overdrawn after they, they charge you £25. Last time I complained, they reduced it to £13 but since then they have changed the rules.
They were also completely unhelpful when I was unemployed, as I wrote and asked politely for a temporary reduction in credit card payments and they rang me saying they would withdraw my banking facilities if I coudn't pay the full amount each month.:(

Premier_2

Birkonian wrote: »

I have been with FD for about 10 years and one of the reasons I joined was for the agreed overdraft facility.
Problem is, if you exceed the limit, you get clobbered with hefty charges, and then every time you go overdrawn after they, they charge you £25. Last time I complained, they reduced it to £13 but since then they have changed the rules.
They were also completely unhelpful when I was unemployed, as I wrote and asked politely for a temporary reduction in credit card payments and they rang me saying they would withdraw my banking facilities if I coudn't pay the full amount each month.:(

When anyone agrees to lend you money, they are placing a great trust in you that you will repay that money.

When you borrow money, you also accept a level of implied responsibility

Unfortunately, by you taking more money than the lender agreed to in the first place, and you not repaying as per the agreement, you have broken that trust and showed a disregard to your own responsibilities.

Here you mention two forms of borrowing which needs to be addressed separately due to the very different terms that apply.

Credit cards.
You are only required to pay the minimum monthly amount (as per the terms), not repay the whole amount.
If you pay this on time every month, (and don't exceed the agreed lending limits) there will be no issues.
Your borrowing limit may be revised downwards if you show signs you are unable to correctly manage the existing credit limit.

Overdraft.
This is not intended for long term borrowing. It is designed more for those 'end of the month' or sudden unexpected bills scenarios where money is tight and a little helping hand at those particular times may ease your financial management problems.
The ideal situation (as far as a bank in concerned) is that you clear your overdraft when you get paid, but then end up borrowing again against it until you are paid again.
Overdrafts can be called in at any time, and often are where there is clearly an issue over the customer's personal financial management.


I am sure you probably misunderstood what the bank said about withdrawing any facilities you currently have.
They will not normally withdraw you personal banking facilities, especially if this is the account that is regularly credited with the majority or all of your personal income.

Overdraft facilities are a privilege, and may be withdrawn at any time (but usually only in cases of customers are unable to demonstrate their ability to manage them)
Credit card facilities may be withdrawn, but this is unlikely except in the most severe financial management cases. Usually the credit limit is reduced to a level that hopefully the customer can manage. The credit card business acts independently from provision of bank accounts. If they withdraw a credit card, they earn no money.
Remember, credit card companies earn their income not only by the interest they charge customers for longer term borrowing, but also from the supplier who pays the credit card company money for every transaction they accept. (For many credit card holders, it is only the transaction charge paid by the supplier that the credit card company gets as the customer/cc holder never pays any charges or interest since they repay in full every month)

In summary, a personal bank account is seen as almost a necessity in todays world, and banks are put under pressure to make these available to almost everyone (except in some extreme cases)
Overdrafts and credit cards are not deemed essential. You have no assumed right, or continuing right, to them.

GreenSaints

Hi all,

I just checked my FD account and noticed stupid eBay took money out of this account (even though I have PayPal selling fees set up) which took me to -£18.29 on the 28th September.

Because I transfered money on the 29th (I have text messages to tell me what goes in and out) because that's when the text came through, they are now stinging me with £25 informal overdraft fee!

I swapped my account to Santander because I kept getting charged by First Direct and I've had enough. In the last 6 months I'm owed over £150, but when I wrote to them and asked for it back (using Martin's template) surprisingly they said no.

Should I try write again? Do you think I should ask for the hardship forms?

Thanks in advance

J_i_m

Wow... Reading through this thread has surprised me. I've been with First Direct since 2003 (or 2004) and I have never had a problem with my overdraft facility with them. When I first joined i could be overdrawn upto £500 with no charge, even now I can be up to £250 overdrawn without charge, then they charge you the interest on the amount you're overdrawn by. Perhapps people are being hit by large charges when they've exceeded the limits of their overdraft, or maybe you don't have an arranged overdraft)

Apart from being miss sold PPI on a loan by them I've always found them an excellent bank, by far the best I've ever been with.

Georga0001

Hi there…
Ages ago, 10+ years, I lodged a bank charges claim with an agency but have never heard back from them after the initial contact.
I had a joint account with FD & to begin with everything was great but as soon as our money got a bit tight they charged the hell out of us, to the point where it was putting us in serious debt with them… their answer when I phoned to discuss how I could get out of the downward spiral was to close our account & force us to have a loan at over the odds interest rates to pay them back! It caused chaos for me as our mortgage was paid via them & this was our only joint account.
Anyway to cut a long story short, can I request transaction documentation from that far back?

I look forward to hearing from anyone that thinks they can help.

Nasqueron

Georga0001 wrote: »

Hi there…
Ages ago, 10+ years, I lodged a bank charges claim with an agency but have never heard back from them after the initial contact.
I had a joint account with FD & to begin with everything was great but as soon as our money got a bit tight they charged the hell out of us, to the point where it was putting us in serious debt with them… their answer when I phoned to discuss how I could get out of the downward spiral was to close our account & force us to have a loan at over the odds interest rates to pay them back! It caused chaos for me as our mortgage was paid via them & this was our only joint account.
Anyway to cut a long story short, can I request transaction documentation from that far back?

I look forward to hearing from anyone that thinks they can help.

Unfortunately the banks won the "unfair charges" case in the court so historical charge cases will not be entertained by the bank or the Ombudsman, current hardship cases should be looked at however