Bank Charges

jon1965

Hi all
I know that in 2009 the court ruled that bank charges were fair but I believe left the door open for the OFT to take further action.
Did anything happen after that?
I am curious because one of my debts has loads of O/D fees etc

Little_Mo_70

jon1965 wrote: »

Hi all
I know that in 2009 the court ruled that bank charges were fair but I believe left the door open for the OFT to take further action.
Did anything happen after that?
I am curious because one of my debts has loads of O/D fees etc

Judge ruled bank charges fair but that banks 'could' consider claims from customers suffering financial hardship. However the banks are under no obligation to refund unless there have been errors or unfair treatment on their part.

Only severe financial hardship will be considered for complaints to banks about charges now. Check out the Financial Ombudsman Criteria guide below.
Can't pay for necessities. You're struggling to meet basic necessities, eg, mortgage, council tax, food, utility bills
Can't pay debts. You're struggling to make loan and credit card repayments
Income eaten by charges. Your income's being eaten up by repaying charges (eg, you're being asked to pay £50 of charges from a £100 weekly benefit income)

Note: this doesn't specifically cover the deduction of bank charges from your benefits under the Social Security Administration Act 1992, this is an urban myth
Payments regularly returned. Your payments regularly get returned unpaid as you don't have enough money in your account
Substantial drop in income. For example, you've lost your job, started a lower paid job, needed to take parental or carers' leave, your partner has died, you've separated from your partner, you've started full time education or you/your partner has been in or gone to prison
Disability or illness. You've needed to increase spending on something due to a disability or serious illness
Going bankrupt or into debt management. You're going bankrupt, getting an IVA or Debt Relief Order or are in a debt management plan
Continually living off credit. You're living off credit and regularly need to increase your credit limit
Regular credit card cash withdrawals. You are using regular cash withdrawals from credit cards to make ends meet
Frequently over overdraft limit. You frequently go over your overdraft limit. In earlier incarnations of hardship rules this was explained as having more than £500 of charges a year – so that seems a good benchmark
Bank charges have hurt your situation. The charges have contributed to making your financial hardship situation materially worse

Premier_2

jon1965 wrote: »

Hi all
I know that in 2009 the court ruled that bank charges were fair but I believe left the door open for the OFT to take further action.
Did anything happen after that?
I am curious because one of my debts has loads of O/D fees etc

The OFT decided not to pursue the matter any further as they didn't think there would be any chance of success.

Edit: BTW the court did not rule the charges fair - it ruled the fees could not be assessed for fairness based on them allegedly being excessive for the services charged.

Essentially that means you agreed to pay the price stipulated for the services provided when you agreed to the banks terms and conditions.

Edit 2 : I would recommend you to post your SoA on the DFW board where you will get help addressing your financial predicament

Little_Mo_70

Premier wrote: »

Edit: BTW the court did not rule the charges fair - it ruled the fees could not be assessed for fairness based on them allegedly being excessive for the services charged.

I stand corrected Me Lud:D

arunadasi

Hello, hope you can help.

I am struggling to keep on top of my NatWest account. I really use it only to pay off my credit card but it seems as soon as I have a healthy balance, it all just disappears down a black hold of charges.

Here is my entire statement from the last few months, with all identifyinging names and numbers xxxed out. Is there any way I can claim these charges back, as some of them seem ridiculous? They charge me £7 which takes me into overdraft, then £48 for unarranged O/D fee, then a further £120 for unarranged o/d fee for 8th March, whereby there was no actual transaction on 8th March.....

I am certainly struggling to keep on top as my husband is in a care home.

Ooops, sorry, that didn't work. OK. I won't bother posting the details, but there are more bank charges than actual tranasctions going on. I manage to pay in something in order to credit my credit card, and next thing I know, I'm in overdraft again due to three or four charges. This can't be right!

Premier_2

arunadasi wrote: »

Hello, hope you can help.

I am struggling to keep on top of my NatWest account. I really use it only to pay off my credit card but it seems as soon as I have a healthy balance, it all just disappears down a black hold of charges.

Here is my entire statement from the last few months, with all identifyinging names and numbers xxxed out. Is there any way I can claim these charges back, as some of them seem ridiculous? They charge me £7 which takes me into overdraft, then £48 for unarranged O/D fee, then a further £120 for unarranged o/d fee for 8th March, whereby there was no actual transaction on 8th March.....

I am certainly struggling to keep on top as my husband is in a care home.

Ooops, sorry, that didn't work. OK. I won't bother posting the details, but there are more bank charges than actual tranasctions going on. I manage to pay in something in order to credit my credit card, and next thing I know, I'm in overdraft again due to three or four charges. This can't be right!

So you are spending money you don't have trying to pay back credit card debts? :eek:

Stop!!!

Speak with the bank and explain your situation. They are not obligated to refund any bank charges, but if you carry on pating in the sums you have been then I expect the bank will be happy.
Do this until you clear any debt with the bank and then close the account.

Next speak to your credit card company and negotiate a payment plan to pay off the debts you have accumulated with them. Do not use the credit card, just pay off what you owe... and make sure it is your money you use, not money you borrow from elsewhere!
When you have fully cleared the balance, close that account too.

As you say, you are stuggling to handle the accounts, so that is why it would be best to close them (once you have settled any outstanding balances on them)