Have you/will you reclaim past bank charges?

Bish_bash_bosh_2

I recently, on behalf of my son reclaimed just under £500 of bank charges. I followed all the instructions and templates from the CAG. It was quite scary but we had nothing to lose.I first requested past bank statements for him and was horrified to see all he was overdrawn by was £1.80 which had escalated, with charges to £440. They ignored all my letters so I had to start a court action. That, on-line also wasn't as bad as I had thought. The bank acknowledged the claim and after a week or so sent a cheque for the full amount including court fees. They didn't include interest so I told them when I had received another cheque for the 8% interest I would terminate the claim. I had no finger nails left and was desperate for a nights sleep when the interest cheque arrived.Victory!
I am just a mum, but the thought of the bank charging my son all that money for being overdrawn £1.80 incensed me to take them on.
To anyone considering doing it, I say go ahead. If I can do it i'm sure you can. Keep in touch with the CAG forum as they will all be great support.
Good luck

manorfarmdave

cheetah wrote:

I am all for saving money but find this whole subject mildly annoying.

In the end it will mean that people like me (who manage there money and accounts) so do not get charged will end up paying for all the others.

If you get charged it is because you have done something to make the bank charge you - you should pay that charge and not me!

So you would agree that if you showed your wallet to a mugger you would deserve to be mugged? The charges banks levy against their customers are illegal and unenforceable in law and its your attitude that make banks think they can get away with the misery it inflicts on its customers. No one thinks they should pay nothing - charges should be for actual costs and not for profiteering.

helLcat

cheetah wrote:

I am all for saving money but find this whole subject mildly annoying.

In the end it will mean that people like me (who manage there money and accounts) so do not get charged will end up paying for all the others.

If you get charged it is because you have done something to make the bank charge you - you should pay that charge and not me!

Well cheetah - I admire your financial acumen and organisational skills - for lots of other people, the unfair and excessive charges levied by banks etc have caused real stress and misery.

My bank charged my £125 in one month for five seperate transactions that took me over my overdraft limit - the transactions totalled £37.43! I realise I should have been more careful but it was a genuine oversight. My bank has now paid back these and other charges (£255).

If these charges were both legal and fair then the banks would not be paying people back, would they???:undecided

PZH

cheetah wrote:

I am all for saving money but find this whole subject mildly annoying.

In the end it will mean that people like me (who manage there money and accounts) so do not get charged will end up paying for all the others.

If you get charged it is because you have done something to make the bank charge you - you should pay that charge and not me!

I agree, but only to a small extent - if people do go overdrawn through neglecting their account, then there should be a "fair" charge - and only one, not several for the same month/incident. Bank charges at the moment are illegal and certainly not fair - hence the banks having to pay them back.

Banks need to give the customer chance to explain what happened - it may be the banks error, it may be fraud, it may be incorrect transactions, etc.

I take good care of my banking habits and ensure that funds exist to clear any payments due. Having said that - it is very easy for me to log on and check. There are a lot of people out there without that facility or ability - even worse for the older community with winter fast approaching.

In my opinion, banks are still regarded as the "enemy" - have you tried talking to a bank ? Some are very reasonable and understanding. If they know of situations, either in advance or as soon as possible after, they usually deal with them as best they can. Why are people so afraid to approach them ?

True, some banks are rubbish at customer support and these banks should be boycotted for the ones that support their customers fairly.

Just my tuppence worth...

jillie1974

i'm going to try. must have loads from natwest and first direct.

Richard9709

Listened to Martin Lewis on Radio 2 a couple of months back, applied to two credit card companies for refunds the same day totalling around £300, and have now recieved £120 from one and £83 from the other (which included interest). Thanks Martin !

skldenton

This is a typical rotton building society trick.

I got a nation wide cheque which I put into a nationwide account that I had. I then put a nationwide cheque into Lloyds to move some of the money from nationwide to lloyds. In both cases they told me that cheques would clear in 3 days, this is exactly what happened. However for some reason nationwide rejected the cheque from lloyds, even and what they said is their own cheque in their own bank had not cleared !! Even better they charged me £30.

In short both cheques cleared the same day (as per the statement), but one hand was not talking to the other and for some strange reason they did not realise the account was in credit, but they still charged me.

The implications of this was I did not know the transaction failed and went on a spending spree with my lloyds card, which created havoc with my accounts. Luckily I have been with lloyds for 20 years and they listened and helped me whist the cheque was represented. Guess what - lloyds did me a favour with no charges.

So thanks to Martin I have just sent a snot a template to nationwide reclaiming their illegal charges, and will let you know what happens.

*****THANKS FOR THE SNOT-A-TEMPLATE MARTIN*******

Former_MSE_Natasha

Poll Started 21 November 2006:

Have you/will you reclaim past bank charges? The consumer revolution to ask for all bank and credit penalty charges back is growing. Which of these options is closest to your reclaim situation?

A. Never had a charge - 24.6% (686 Votes)
F. Had charges and am considering it - 17.4% (484 Votes)
C. I’ve always just called up and had them refunded - 14.5% (406 Votes)
G. Had charges and am in the process of reclaiming - 13.2% (369 Votes)
B. Only been charged once, it’s not worth it - 9.6% (267 Votes)
E. Had charges but am too scared to try - 7.0% (194 Votes)
D. Had charges but I can’t be bothered to try - 3.6% (101 Votes)
I. The bank(s) settled pre-Court, I reclaimed over £500 - 3.4% (95 Votes)
H. The bank(s) settled pre-Court, I reclaimed under £500 - 3.4% (95 Votes)
L. Tried to reclaim but got refused and didn’t want to go to court - 1.6% (44 Votes)
K. Successfully reclaimed over £500 through the courts - 1.0% (29 Votes)
J. Successfully reclaimed under £500 through the courts - 0.4% (11 Votes)
M.Tried to reclaim, went to court and lost - 0.3% (8 Votes)

Total Votes: 2789

Thanks to everyone who took part

haucaz

I. The bank(s) settled, I successfully reclaimed over £500

Just got $600 (sorry-my computer won't do pound symbols!) reclaimed in a settlement. The full amount owed was $850 but I happily settled for 600 -just in time for christmas. Hurrah! Thanks Martin!!!

oneskintdad

Hi..i am currently on stage 2 of reclaiming against lloyds t.s.b..has anyone recently claimed against them...many thanks