MSE News: Santander to charge for 'free' business accounts

Malcolm_Foster_2

I wrote to my MP 9 days ago and passed all supporting documentation on to him but still no reply. I hope my fears of possible vested interests mentioned earlier do not come into the question in my case. My letter to their complaints manager is being sent off today saying this change IS NOT acceptable to me and any unauthorized charges they levy on my account will be legally challenged.

UPDATE 17.15pm
I have received a reply from my MP this afternoon about this issue (along with another re. the proposed fuel tax hike petition) in which he sympathises and agrees it is unethical but will go no further at this point as the complaint is already with the F.O.S./F.S.A. so nothing further can be done at present.
Well, he could have a word in Messrs Cameron's/Osborne's ears (or other cabinet members) as they are the ones promising to reign in the corrupt banks!

Soundbusiness

I wrote and complained as soon as I got the "We shall be charging you our award-winning £7.50" information. I got the standard sod-off letter, so the other day I arranged a new bank account with a nice man from HSBC. He says he's had LOTS of work recently - opening new accounts for refugees from Santander. Since I have maintained a positive balance for all the years I was there, Santander are losing my money and my business and getting a big fat "steer clear" from me.
In my letter I accused them of "corporate legerdemain" though I doubt there is anyone in their letter-answering department intelligent enough to understand what that means.
Glad to hear the complaint is already with the F.O.S./F.O.A.

brookhouse

Malcolm_Foster wrote: »

Well, he could have a word in Messrs Cameron's/Osborne's ears (or other cabinet members) as they are the ones promising to reign in the corrupt banks!

Nothing to stop you - or any of us - writing to Osborne of course.

Malcolm_Foster_2

MattyMatty wrote: »

I have just received the sod off letter from Santander and will now be following it up with the Ombudsman using the very valuable quotes from Abbey's original marketing materials, T's & C's, etc which you have all kindly provided in the posts above.:mad:

PS I love the idea of sending a load of cheques for £1 each...

Or better still for 1 penny, as magpiecottage mused, which I think you probably meant. They would probably find an excuse to refuse them. For myself (I haven't enough blank cheques anyway) I will wait until their `fee' is actually deducted and see, though unlikely, if it re-credited as I have demanded before I clear my various accounts. ISA's will have to mature first though.

magpiecottage

My current thinking is that you should write to Santander with a copy of the advertisement you responded to, telling them that, notwithstanding any terms and conditions, you have accepted this offer and it forms a contract in its own right, in accordance with Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company Limited and it is binding on them.

You do NOT give consent for them to charge a monthly fee and any such payment will therefore be unauthorised. You will therefore require any such fee to be reversed in accordance with FSA Rule BCOBS 5.1.11. You will make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service in respect of each and every occasion where they make such a debit and fail to reverse it.

You do need, if necessary, to follow through with your threat, but it is very inexpensive. The FSA website records that you can e-mail a complaint to customer.services@abbey.com - and of course you can set up a template to send each month!

Similarly, a template FOS form can be used if necessary. Unfortunately it must be sent in the post but second class will do.

Each complaint accepted for investigation by FOS will cost Santander £500 so it would, at best, be a very expensive way to earn £7.50.

However, FOS has historically forced businesses to honour guarantees and promises they have made - even if it was inadvertent. Only if it was not actually given by somebody who was authorised to represent that business, or there is insufficient evidence to prove it was ever made, has it not done.

So unless it comes under political pressure, I think it will find against Santander.

However writing to MPs is useful because that is likely to push any political pressure there might be in our favour.

chevrons2

Hi. Please excuse me if someone has already mentioned this, but Santander's proposed monthly fee is not just £7.50. According to my letter notifying me of the change, it's 'One simple fixed fee each month covering cash deposits within the monthly limit of £1000 on your account'. After that, it's an additional 50p per £100 deposited. I know that the figures are not the issue, but I just thought I'd point this out in case nobody else has already.
PS: I'm surprised that Martin Lewis hasn't done an article on this yet.
I suppose he's a busy man!

Blank_Reg

My MP has let me know that he has written to the FSA and to Mark Hoban MP (Financial Secretary to the Treasury).

So we are getting somewhere.

I will let you know the replies.

Malcolm_Foster_2

chevrons2 wrote: »

Hi. Please excuse me if someone has already mentioned this, but Santander's proposed monthly fee is not just £7.50. According to my letter notifying me of the change, it's 'One simple fixed fee each month covering cash deposits within the monthly limit of £1000 on your account'. After that, it's an additional 50p per £100 deposited. I know that the figures are not the issue, but I just thought I'd point this out in case nobody else has already.
PS: I'm surprised that Martin Lewis hasn't done an article on this yet.
I suppose he's a busy man!

Your comment has caused me to have another look at the first letter I received from their Mr Robin Foale and it says -
"Later this year, your Business Current Account will be transferred to to our award-winning £7.50 fixed monthly fee account which has been determined based upon the amount of cash you currently deposit each month" (to which my response is"Oh no you are not").

I now see this fixed cost offers free and unlimited cash withdrawals and standard transactions but only covers cash deposits within the monthly limit of £1000 .... and then what? It is not very clear to me. I see no mention of 50p per £100 in my letter. But, it is not the amount, it the principle to me.

As suggested elsewhere, I may well write to the P.M. and Lord Chancellor and, as I was thinking earlier today, perhaps do a bit of protesting outside my local branch (smack in the middle of our town square) complete with a suitably-worded placard highlighting what a promise means and inviting questions.

As regards this Martin Lewis site, I do wish this issue could have a much more prominent place (as a banner) on the main page to help lead some of the 230 000 people affected to this thread. I only came across it quite by accident (a month late) and many will not think to come to MSE anyway. We need as much publicity and strength of numbers from that number as possible for this dispute, which is not currently in the media as I see it.

If a large number of people start making multiple complaints (one every time a fee is extracted by Santander) to the F.O.S. at £500 cost to the bank for each one, if this is possible, they will soon sit up and take notice.

magpiecottage

Blank_Reg wrote: »

My MP has let me know that he has written to the FSA and to Mark Hoban MP (Financial Secretary to the Treasury).

So we are getting somewhere.

I will let you know the replies.

i'm afraid Mark Hoban's track record in the world of financial services is about as impressive as my track record at the Olympics.

Roccket990

FOS have just replied to my complaint to say they have written to Santander asking for info.....so the ball is rolling!

Will update as it all happens!