Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges Discussion Area

paris17

Hi Im with Barclays and have 1 current account with them. I sent the first letter and received an offer of £405 within a week (charges £540 + interest £640) I rang them and said I would accept £500 they said no and the time limit they give me (7days) ran out. so I thought I would go for the full amount and sent the 2nd letter off. I have heard nothing from them so its now time for me to do the form online for the court claim, Do I put the same amounts in as I sent to the bank? I have 2 savings accounts with them and an ISA account with them Can they close all of my accounts? and Last but not least I am going on holiday on Friday for a week:j so would it be ok to leave it until I come back or is there a time limit?

Thank you, sorry if Im in the wrong place to ask this!

Julieoolie

k1mmie wrote: »

What if the bank does not charge a fee - but does not tell you or return your list of charges? Do you wait 40 days then go to letter 2?

Also is the 40 days - working days or not??????

Wait the 40 days - NOT working days - and then go ahead and remind them of their obligation under the Data Protection Act. I'm about to ring Abbey as their 40 days are up on Friday and I'm still waiting on information from 2001, 02 & 03.

rag-girl

Twinkly wrote: »

I've seen quite a few posts of people waiting up til midnight to hit the button so that does seem to be the way to play it yes. Good luck

:T
Thanks Twinkly,
i was gonna wait up, but fell asleep,but i was up at 5am for work, & it had to be done then, all went swimmingly:j
will wait till i get the money in the bank before i post my success story.
Thanks to everyone who has helped me.

Les:cool:

paul1e

Tads wrote: »

Hi, all, I was wondering if anyone can help - as I clearly do not trust my bank! I sent the initial letter requesting my list of charges to the Halifax bank, I sent this 15th April, however they did not cash the cheque until the 18th April. I called them yesterday as in my mind it has gone past the 40 days in which they can reply. However they said due to demand etc they class the 40 days as the day in which they cash the cheque and that the 40 day period which is stated in my letter is 40 working days not calendar days - can anyone let me know if this correct and apologies if someone has already asked this question.

Tads the 40 days starts from when they recieve the letter and it is 40 calender days and is quoted as this on the ICO website...

stefnjust

I am wondering if I can claim bank charges for an account that I have shut due to the bad service I have recieved from this bank. I still have my mortgage through them and also my loan but the bank account is finished as of March 2005.

Twinkly

paris17 wrote: »

Hi Im with Barclays and have 1 current account with them. I sent the first letter and received an offer of £405 within a week (charges £540 + interest £640) I rang them and said I would accept £500 they said no and the time limit they give me (7days) ran out. so I thought I would go for the full amount and sent the 2nd letter off. I have heard nothing from them so its now time for me to do the form online for the court claim, Do I put the same amounts in as I sent to the bank? I have 2 savings accounts with them and an ISA account with them Can they close all of my accounts? and Last but not least I am going on holiday on Friday for a week:j so would it be ok to leave it until I come back or is there a time limit?

Thank you, sorry if Im in the wrong place to ask this!

This is the place to ask questions, at least I hope it is cos this is where I answer most of the questions anyway. I'll be kicked out for harrassing people if it isnt

Alrighty,
a) You should recalculate the interest on the charges at the point of filing a claim at court and include any recent charges. You should also take care not to claim over 6 years unless you intend to use the Statute Of Limitations Act to back up your claim for doing so. There have been cases where it has slipped unnoticed through the court by the banks but some defences jump all over a single stray charge past 6 years so its best to be on the ball.

b) If they close any of your accounts you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman and people have received compensation for this being done in retaliation for reclaiming charges. Two such cases here:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/faq/answers/bank-charges_a8.html

c) If you send the LBA (letter before action) you are giving them 14 days to come up with an offer of settlement. You can always wait until you come back from your holiday to send the letter or send it the day before you go, there is no time limit on you personally.

Good luck

Twinkly

LS123 wrote: »

Has anyone had the same experience?

My court papers were served to the Woolwich on the 11th April which meant that their 14 days were up yesterday. Logged onto MCOL this morning and requested the "Judgement by default" as they hadn't acknowledged the claim. Just double checked the status now to find that the Woolwich have acknowledged this today - is this correct that they can acknowledge after the 14 day deadline and after I have requested judgement? Very frustrated........

Apparently it is. This is the second time on the forum I've come across this happening. You could ring the court to ask why they are allowed to do this or you may find more info on it in the MCOL thread here:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=353590

Twinkly

Marada wrote: »

Hi all, new to site, I live abroad but still have account with LTSB with overdraft (upto Limit). I would like to start claiming excess charges, but could they request that I pay overdraft off, which I am unable to do. Although have parachute account I would be unable to get overdraft facility from them as I said we live abroad and have no UK address or income there. Any help would be appreciated.
Marada

They would probably take the refund of charges against the overdraft immediately under the Right Of Set Off. See here for more information on this and when it does and doesnt apply:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/40/40_setoff.htm

The information in the link applied to taking money from one account to pay another but the same principle remains. If you owe them money they will try to take it from the refund of charges. You can challenge this. They can ony do this is they have officially recalled the overdraft beforehand and if they did it while you are reclaiming you can complain to the Financial Ombudsman regarding them abusing this Right Of Set Off to obtain monies from you unfairly.

Unfortunately there are cases where they simply close the account without telling you. They can close the account and demand the repayment of the overdraft but again this is subject to complaint to the Financial Ombudsman as it would be in retaliation for reclaiming charges.

Basically, yes you can reclaim the charges but it may not be smooth sailing. There are certain things the bank can do but there are ways you can fight it. Good luck whatever you decide to do

k1mmie

I apologise to those that may feel I come across as a dimwit - I can assure you I am not. However, thank you for the replies, I sent my original letters to all banks on 7th April. The banks that have acknowledged a fee have replied and the payment was sent out 18th April. Does the 40 days therefore start from the 18th? The banks that have not come back to me with a demand for a fee - if the 40 days runs out and I have not heard from them at all - can I still count this and move onto stage 2?

Thanks.

Julieoolie wrote: »

Wait the 40 days - NOT working days - and then go ahead and remind them of their obligation under the Data Protection Act. I'm about to ring Abbey as their 40 days are up on Friday and I'm still waiting on information from 2001, 02 & 03.

paris17

Thanks for replying, I have sent the LBA (2nd Letter) and the 14 days were up on 25th April - Should I fill in the court form now to proceed with the claim before I go away?