Household Bank/Beneficial Finance - HFC Bank Limited

Scottrobson

Got an offer though this morning from HFC/Household bank i was claiming £315 charges and £102 in interest so £417 in total, first letter recieved they said i wasn't entitled to any money, when threatend to take to court i recieve a goodwill gesture of £157.50, half the £315 of charges, i was going to send a letter to them saying i would accept £315 and will drop the interest charges if they settled. But now casue of this on the news tonight i dont know whether to just run and take me money.

This is the letter HFC sent back to me this morning.



As my colleague Jodi Lewis has previously advised, default charges are fees payable if customers do not make the required minimum payment by the payment date, if they exceed their credit limit, or if their payment is not made on time oe is returned unpaid. The amount of these charges, and the circumstances, in which they are applied, is set out clearly in HFC Bank’s credit agreements. We believe that our charges to customers are fair and reasonable.

In April last yeat, the OFT published the findings from its enquiry into default charges payable in respect of credit card accounts. HFC Bank has carefully considered the OFT’s publication and does not accept the principle that its findings apply to your type of account. However, the OFT’s investigation has led to a change in market practices and as a gesture of goodwill and in recognition that you’re a valued customer of the bank I would like to offer you a goodwill payment of £157.50

The payment is being offered on the basis that you are agreeing that you will not make any further claims or take any legal action in respect of this matter. This gesture of goodwill is without prejudice to out right to impose and recover default charges in the future.

If you are in agrrement with the propsed resolution, please sign and return the enclosed copy of tyhis letter. In addition, please provide your bank details in the paragraph below, in order that your account.

Cheers all the best to everyone

Scotty

welshdaffodil

I sent off the standard letter to the above asking for statement. They are now saying that their charges are fair and reasonable. They said that they have "carefully considered the OFT's publication but does not accept the principle that its findings apply to your type of account. Accordingly I regret that we are not prepared to make any refund of the default chages payable or provide any compensation". It is a credit card account. They have included a list of Admin Fee charges @ £15 a time but nothing else. Wat do I do now?

Les101_2

Thank you for your reply, I am going to send off the before action letter and see what happens. Good luck with your claims.

dward32

6 weeks ago I sent the initial claim letters to all my banks and credit card companies to date only Beneficial have replied.... I am somewhat confused as to what to do now with there reply... can anyone help?

I will quote some of the covering letter they sent ....

"DUE TO THE ACCOUNT BEING DORMANT FOR A SUBSTANTIAL PERIOD OF TIME, IT HAS BEEN PURGED FROM OUR SYSTEM"

"PLEASE FIND ELCLOSED THE TRANACTION HISTORY REPORTS FOR THE FOLLOWING PERIODS - SEPT 2001 TO NOV 2001, JAN 2002 TO NOV 2003 , JAN 2006 TO SEPT 2006."

"AS YOUR ACCOUNT IS INACTIVE, PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO LOCATE IS ENCLOSED"

"WE ARE HAPPY TO WAIVE ANY FEES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THIS INFORMATION, AS SUCH YOU WILL FIND ENCLOSED YOUR PAYMENT MADE IN RESPECT OF THIS SERVICE"

So... they have basically sent me copies of all my statement... no total for charges etc??

Have they complied with the letter or should they be able to get me the full information and because they realise this have not charged me the £10 fee i enclosed initially?

Appreciate any help..

Thanks

Dean

Kurt_Hamster

Technically they are supposed to keep records for 6 years, but if they have indeed given you all information that they hold then they have complied.

On the other hand I don't know why there are gaps in their records. There shouldn't be.

Personally I'd write back querying the gaps, reminding them that they have an obligation to supply everything they hold on you. If they are holding back info then that is a big no no.

If they don't come up with a believable excuse then I'd get a complaint off to the IC.

wullbags

hi was just after a wee bit of advice, sent my first letter away to beneficial bank requesting a refund of my charges, got a letter back about 2 weeks later to say they were sorry to hear I didnot agree with the charges however the charges were fair and no refund would be offered, can I now report them to the financial ombudsman or do I sent a second letter. I live in Scotland. Many thanks for any advice

timnjack

wullbags wrote: »

hi was just after a wee bit of advice, sent my first letter away to beneficial bank requesting a refund of my charges, got a letter back about 2 weeks later to say they were sorry to hear I didnot agree with the charges however the charges were fair and no refund would be offered, can I now report them to the financial ombudsman or do I sent a second letter. I live in Scotland. Many thanks for any advice

Hi there, you would be best sending off the next letter to Beneficial and see what they say as the FOS will not take on your claim until you have been dealing with the bank for at least 8 weeks.

wullbags

It has been around eight weeks now, its seems to be taking forever to reclaim from any bank, claiming back from mbna, royal bank of scotland, thanks very much for the advice.

Kurt_Hamster

The FO is a good way of getting around the Scottish £750 limit. Don't listen to the bank, make your complaint. It will only cost you an envelope and stamp!

wullbags

I think I will go through the financial ombudsman, calculated my charges and it came to around £1400. Seems ages since we requested the bank statements and sent away the inital letter however its partly my fault as well because I moved house in between sending letters and havent stuck to the time scale. Hopefully I will hear from the other two banks that Im claiming from soon.