Ulster Bank charges (merged)

ilap

Hi,
I have exhausted all avenues with the Ulster Bank who persistently tell me their charges are fair, transparent and are as per their terms and conditions. I therfore have to take them to court. Many of the charges are small, around 12 pounds, but total is £614. They call the charges Irregular account charges for going overdrawn. There are also fees as when I went overdrawn they cahrged me for all banking services in that quarter. Surely this makes the irregular account charges penalties which are illegal? I also have some return direct debit charges of £38 each.
I am worried though as if I lose I cant afford to pay the banks costs.

Also, I am in England but my bank is in Northern Ireland. I cant use the Northern Ireland Court service online as I am not in Northern Ireland. I cant seem to use the Moneyclaim Online as my bank is not in England or Wales. So much for a United Kingdom!
How do I proceed now? All the bank tells me is that if I am not happy with their decision (obviously I am not) I can contact the financial ombudsman (who can not impose anything on the bank)
Help please!

Thanks
Ian

Leebcoward

Where is your branch?

ilap

Omagh in Northern Ireland.
I lived there for a few years, but I moved back home to Kent 2 years ago.
I owe them 5k, so I really could do with getting my charges back to reduce the amount I owe them.
I am dealing directly with the head office in Belfast though.

Leebcoward

It might be worth checking they dont have an office in England. My bank is based in Scotland but I dealt with my branch and an department in Leeds. I'm not sure about claiming in NI. Sure someone will be able to help. Good Luck

ilap

They dont have a branch on England unfortunately. They used to be a subsidary bank of the Natwest, but when that got sold, the buyer didnt buy the Ulster bank portion. Ulster Bank now seems to be part of the RBS

Leebcoward

read through this thread and see if it helps.. Good Luck
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=296908&highlight=ulster+thread

ilap

Thanks.
I have emailed customer services for Money Claim Online. If people in Northern Ireland can use the Northern Ireland courts service online against banks in England, they why cant I use the English on line service against a bank in Northern Ireland.

Taffyfella

marathon03 wrote: »

Thanks for the info, Ive checked through this website but am unable to find a template for a rejction letter, do you have any suggestions as I ve receied two partial offers and want to give bith Cap Onem and RBOS another 7 days

Hi marathon03,

Below is a link directing you to the Consumer Action Group website offering a variety of rejection letters based on the circumstance. If you haven't already, you will need to register with them in order to use the template letters.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/25716-rejecting-offers.html

Good luck

Taff

gary_pacha

Hi Guys,

I have followed all the steps outlined by Martin, and the ULSTER BANK in Northern Ireland will not resolve my complaint, this was back in november 06, the total claim is over 6k. i was hoping to leave it it for a few months till there was more publicity regarding bank charges in Northern Ireland, then sent in the final letter again, hoping they will resolve. Another reason for waiting was due to the small claims court in NI, maximum claim 2k.
i was hoping someone maybe able to advice me on the best possible route to take, the account in question, is in my wife name and mine, could we stake to seperate claims and go to the small claims, or the full claim, which would result in the hight court, i think.

Many thanks, i greatly appreciate your time and comments.

Regards

Scroogie_Boy

Hi all,

I'm new to this site and recently heard about bank charges being unlawful. I added up all the bank charges Ulster bank levied me with last year and I calculate it comes to about £321.33 without interest added. Went through a bit of a financial bad patch and the charges snowballed - £30 a pop! I'm pretty sure I can reclaim this charge.

I'm not so sure about the following, but I guess the same must apply as a £30 charge is still unlawful. I stopped using my Ulster Bank account in January and opened one up with RBS in Scotland where I now live and got charged with Ulster Bank from JAnuary to present day totalling £430! I should've closed the Ulster Bank account in January, but personal circumstances meant I couldn't get round to it and the telephone is hard as I have a hearing loss. Can I still reclaim the bank charges for this based on the fact the £30 charge is illegal and it doesn't cost them £400 odd to keep an account open either. This was for a current account and an ISA account, so £30 for each every time.

I recently requested Ulster Bank close both current and ISA accounts, but they say they cannot close the two accounts until I pay the overdraft basically. Is this legal as it would basically keep me in debt? I don't have savings to pay it off and then reclaim either, so I hope they'll write this one off and refund me the £321.33 I mentioned earlier.

I should also mention Ulster Bank say they're preparing to sned the debt to a debt recovery agency to collect the debt of £400odd if I don't respond or make an effort to clear it.

Anyone have any advice? Thanks!