Bank Charges - again!

gyzmo

Just got a letter from my bank, who are charging me:

£20 for going 11 pence overdrawn
£20 for going overdrawn by £3.11 (not refunded)
£30 for paying a direct debit of £17.80 whilst I was £3.11 overdrawn).

Called their call centre somwhere outside the UK to register a complaint, got cut off 15 minutes later, and when I phoned back, surprise , no details had been recorded, so there we have a breach of FSA regs as well!:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: (I,m a tad angry!)

Letter sent off asking for refund within next 14 days else court proceedings will be initiated.

Lets see what happens!

magyar

Ah, but don't you just love being in the right!

All the best.

gyzmo

Yep! Letter being sent tomorrow (got one of my law lecturers to check it first), so will hopefully have cancellation or at least reduction of charges in 2 weeks!

Astaroth

Even if it is reduced it will still have cost you £36 as there would be 3x £12 (as per the credit card recommended max fine)

gyzmo

Astaroth wrote:

Even if it is reduced it will still have cost you £36 as there would be 3x £12 (as per the credit card recommended max fine)

Not if i win at court! Either it will b decided it is illegal, in which case the whole amount is refunded, or that it is not.

Well, the 14 days came and went and , surprise suprise, not a squeak out of them. I have given them the benefit of the doubt, and sent a final demand with a 7 day deadline which expires tomorrow. If nothing heard by tomorrow then it's off to the local county court to pick up a claim form.

Rex_Mundi

For your reference, here's an idea of what to put for the brief details of claim, and particulars of claim on the form N1 when you issue a claim..............

Brief details of claim..................

Return of charges and interest on charges taken by defendant from claimants bank account which are contrary to common law.

Particulars of claim (edit parts in bold to suit)..................

1. The Claimant has an account ("the Account number") with the Defendant which was opened on or around (Date)
2. During the period in which the Account has been operating the Defendant debited numerous charges to the Account in respect of purported breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant and also charged interest on the charges once applied. The Claimant understands that the Defendant contends that the charges were debited in accordance with the terms of the contract between itself and the Claimant.
3. A list of the charges applied is attached to these particulars of claim.
4. The Claimant contends that:
a) The charges debited to the Account are punitive in nature; are not a genuine pre-estimate of cost incurred by the Defendant; exceed any alleged actual loss to the Defendant in respect of any breaches of contract on the part of the Claimant; and are not intended to represent or related to any alleged actual loss, but instead unduly enrich the Defendant which exercises the contractual term in respect of such charges with a view to profit.
b) The contractual provision that permits the Defendant to levy such charges is unenforceable by virtue of the Unfair Contract Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations (1999), the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and the common law.
5. Accordingly the Claimant claims:
a) the return of the amounts debited in respect of charges in the sum of (Amount claimed) and any interest charged thereon;
b) Court costs;
c) Interest pursuant to section 69 County Courts Act as set out on the attached list of charges or at such rate and for such periods as the court deems just.
I believe that the contents of these particulars of claim are true
Signed:
Date:

The £12 figure mentioned is nothing to do with bank accounts. This is the amount the OFT mentioned regarding credit card charges. The OFT also mentioned that this figure may still not be a lawful amount, and this can only be decided by the courts. The banks are still not letting any of these cases get to court (by settling early), so we don't know yet what the courts will make of this figure.

gyzmo

Just to update - I snet the bank the particulars of claim, and received back a standard wordered initial response to a complaint letter! Can't wait to show that to the magistrate!