Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges Discussion Area

Jester

I've been working away for most of this week, but returned home last night to find a letter from MCOL awaiting my attention.

It seems that First Direct (HSBC) have stated their intention to defend the claim I have made against them for the full refund of all my charges. They have even supplied me the name of the solicitors that have been charged with handling my case. So now the game continues onto another level.

I am not unduly worried by this latest development as I have read in countless posts how First Direct (HSBC) often employ this tactic as a means of attempting to scare us into withdrawing the claim.

Interestingly, there was no questionnaire enclosed. However, I am informed that that FD now have '28 days from the date of service of the claim form to file a defence'.

I assume this means the 28 days runs from the time the claim was first submitted to FD (or does it mean 28 days from the time they acknowledged the claim) ?

Whatever, the game is now afoot. From what I have seen, they (First Direct) usually cave in and make an offer before the deadline passes. If anyone has had to go this far with First Direct, then I'd be interested to know and get confirmation of the outcome.

Jester

I need a bit of advice from anyone who has claimed money back from Smile/Co-Operative Bank.

After almost 4 weeks of waiting, I have finally received a couple of pages back from Smile listing all of the charges I have incurred on my account over the past few years. I was expecting to receive a shedload of statements but am very happy that they have done it this way as it makes it easier for me to find the charges. They have also returned my cheque stating that this information is provided free-of-charge (which is a refreshing change).

However, I am confused by the format they have used.

The list is broken down into 5 columns (Commission, Credit Interest, Debit Interest, Fees, Tax on Credit Interest).

I am assuming I can only claim on the amounts shown in the Commission and Fees column, but would like confirmation of this from anyone who has successfully claimed against Smile.

Without calculating the interest on top, it seems that the figures I am talking about here are already £3124.

Before I continue onto the next stage, I need to have confirmation of which figures in which column I can make a claim against. I can then go onwards to use Martin's interest calculator to find out what the interest is on top of this.

Thanks in advance for any advice/information received.

sheffiled_girl

jester

Im glad you have advised how difficult first direct can be! at least i know what to expect now!!!! how long have you been trying to reclaim??

I wanted the money for my hols in september lol

sheffiled_girl

ps thanks hilarycopson!!

night3uk

mosaic wrote: »

Hi, read through any of the links in my signature for guides. The video of martin is very nice and clear. Not sure about the Scotland county court issue, but I have glanced across other people talking about their b.of Scotland claim, hence no idea which thread forum it is off hand!

As for waiting four weeks. Martin mse, emphasises to stick to your time scale (also in the links in signature below). Also some people seem to be phoning up as well which might help if worried, but keep to time scale and send letters recorded delivery too etc.

There is a certain 'Edinburghlass' I've come across on this forum who may be able to help you I suspect! Her name is amongst the links in my signature and has helped a lot of people, so I'd expect she'd be able to help you!

Hope this helps. (EDIT: FOR EDINBURGHLASS CLICK HERE). Also, in her signature it gives a link to Scotland boards, there go to 'claiming bank charges in scotland' thread.

And PIGGYPOO go to 'Bank Address' List' in my signature below..

Thanks very much I will give Edinburghlass a try thanks again for your help

Jester

sheffiled_girl wrote: »

jester

Im glad you have advised how difficult first direct can be! at least i know what to expect now!!!! how long have you been trying to reclaim??

I wanted the money for my hols in september lol

Sheffiled - I started this whole process on 13th March. The first letter was answered with the standard 'we feel the charges are fair .. blah, blah'. I sent in my second letter threatening to take them to court immediately I received the first reply. They never even bothered to reply to that one. So I started MCOL proceedings at the beginning of April. They had originally had until 1st May to do something. However, they then acknowledged and now of course stated they intend to defend, so the timescales have stretched.

However, I will point out that I believe the amount that is being claimed has a bearing on their answer. Many who have claimed under £1000 have never had to go as far as MCOL. However, I am claiming £8134 back (including interest) so my case is probably slightly different to many others on here.

Hope this helps you.

sweepster

Hi everyone
I am at the moment making a claim with Abbey. I looked at my mcol claim and they are defending it. I recieved a letter off them yesterday telling me they will take it to court and are defending it. I am getting a bit worried now but will continue on. Is this a tactic they use to try and get you to pull out of the claim and i wondered if anyone had actually gone to court regarding any claim with the banks.
thanks sweepyxx

sheffiled_girl

yes it does thanks jester, as i mentioned earlier its a shame as they are second to none for customer care, i work in the service sector and there really are some shocking customer care advisors out there but first direct are ace!
Just a shame they like to charge the pants off people!
good luck with claiming!:A

Paul_Evans_2

discarnet wrote: »

Hi All
I sent letter 1 from the templates to the halifax requesting 6 years statments on 03/03/07 on the 18/03/07 they cashed the cheque, goody i thought things are moving alone quicker tha expected, However 23/04/07 still no statments phoned the bank who denied having recieve the letter(this was recorded mail and signed for by the bank), I pointed out they had signed for the letter and they still denied getting it I then played my trump card
me:
"but you cashed the cheque and the letter was in the same envolope"

bank clerk :
" oh erm let me check.........erm well, yes the cheque was cashed ..... erm.....no request has been placed on the account for this information, i'll place a request now"

me:
"can i expect the statments next week then?"

bank clerk:
" no it will take another 40 days from today"
after reading her the riot act i advised her i would not wait another 40 days and told her i would be sending another letter to the bank demanding this info in 7 days and a copy of the letters to the information commisioner.
has anyone else had this problem with halifax or any other bank

Hi I didnt get any trouble with this part as I used the telephone banking line to make my request. I paid them £5 for every statement from may 2003 to July 2006. They said it would take 5-10 days to receive them (came after 5)

I'm now at the next stage I received a letter saying it will take 28 days for them to investigate. I sent them letter 5 saying that I was not satisfied with there answer and that if they didnt sort it within the next 14 days i would start a court claim against them. FINGERS CROSSED

Jester

sweepster wrote: »

Hi everyone
I am at the moment making a claim with Abbey. I looked at my mcol claim and they are defending it. I recieved a letter off them yesterday telling me they will take it to court and are defending it. I am getting a bit worried now but will continue on. Is this a tactic they use to try and get you to pull out of the claim and i wondered if anyone had actually gone to court regarding any claim with the banks.
thanks sweepyxx

Sweepy - To the best of my knowledge, NOT ONE SINGLE BANK has ever actually gone to court to defend a claim to date (though that's not to say that one won't take the plunge sometime). There are numerous posts on the success forum that show most banks cave in a day or two before the deadline. In my opinion, it's just a tactic they use to try to intimidate you into withdrawing your claim. There are lots of posts about Abbey on the success thread. It seems that Abbey are one of the more obstinate ones, yet everyone seems to beat them when push comes to shove. Just sit tight. I've also got a 'defence' statement from my lot (First Direct). I just say 'bring it on'. I'm sitting tight and waiting for them to make me an offer (which I am confident they will).