Have the banks got 8 weeks to reply?!!!

Stephen_Leak

babycakes666 wrote: »

Hello,

I have sent my letter asking for the mone yo be repayed of over £1,000. They sent me a letter saying they are looking into this and will get back to me. I have rang them today as in the letter it states they have 14 days to get this sorted.
Theysaid they have wrote to me and that was in the 14 days, this has brought them time now and they have 8 weeks to reply to me with an offer from the date they sent the letter. Can anyone tell me if this is right or are they trying to put me off. I was kind of hoping to have received a offer by now, but it just looks like i will have to wait another 6 weeks now.

Any advice will be appreciated, Many thanks

Leanne

Your first claim letter should give them 14 days to reply. If you have not received an acceptable reply by your deadline, send them the second “Letter Before Action” letter. At this point, you have to decide between referring your claim to the Financial Ombudsman or starting court proceedings.

If you don't think that you could successfully handle a court claim, or can't afford the court fees and aren't eligible for fee relief, then the Financial Ombudsman is an alternative. It is free of charge and handles everything for you. However, they cannot force the bank to pay up, set the level of the settlement or award interest like a court. Despite this, their success rate is good. Being financial experts, they can also threaten to ask the bank some very awkward questions. If the Financial Ombudsman is unsuccessful, you can still take the bank to court.

If you threaten to refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman, give them until 8 weeks from the date of your first letter to reply. However, if the reply either suggests that you now refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman or says a definite no, then you can refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman straight away. If you have not received any reply for the 8 weeks, then you can refer your claim to the Financial Ombudsman.

If you threaten to start court proceedings, give them 14 days to reply. If you have not received an acceptable reply by this deadline, then start court proceedings on Money Claim Online.

Please read the Reclaim Bank Charges Help thread for information and the Reclaimed Bank Charges Success Stories and Reclaimed Bank Charges Success Stories II threads for inspiration.

BEAUCHAMP_3

During my claim Natwest sent me a similar letter, i admit i waited the time they said they would have to investigate and I got my claim back in full along with all the additional charges I had incurred since the start of the claim.

As a post mentioned above that RBS are doing a similar thing although they are part of the same company.

Its entirely up to you, who is the bank you are trying to reclaim from out of interest?

momisa

Hi dawniegirl

It took about 8 weeks for smile to sort out everything. I can't say I'm surprised as soooo many people are reclaiming!! Anyway, I wrote one letter to smile and waited - other things were going on at the time so I didn't persue it. My total claim was put back into my account within days of me persuiing them.

What back are you claiming from?

If I were you, I'd wait for 8 weeks and then chase em.

HTH

Pumpkins_2

I first wrote the letter to the Natwest Bank on 17 April, had no replied then wrote the 2 letter on 1 May then i received the letter from Natwest on the 8 May saying they are currently investigating my claim and will respond to me as soon as possible from customer relations department. since then I have not heard from them.

So i wrote to them the 3rd letter saying that you are currently investigating my claim and that you will respond to me asap. I have not heard from you since and would like to know the current position with regard to my claim and asked them when they will be refunding the monies owed in accordance with claim. that what send on 7 June. I still have no replied from Natwest.

I had worked out that i paid them for the charges nearly £2000 as there was lots of referral charge for previous month when i have already paid the charge! I didn't realised at the time that i was paying them double!! no wondered why I couldn't handle it all and crash down to depressed etc...

Please advise me what to do and how do i appeal them? I am unemployed and Deaf and worry how much the court will cost? would need interpeter if i go to the court. I am not clear on how to apply the court to take the Bank to the court?
Michelle

BEAUCHAMP_3

It might be an idea to get someone to call them on your behalf, the letter they send out basically means that you will have to wait up to 56 days while they look into your claim, you can stick to the timescale you set but this happened with me whilst dealing with NATWEST.

I would advise you call them just to confirm they are dealing with your claim and they have received your letters, you'll probably find they will give you a specific date in which they have to reply.

I understand this is going against the timescale but if your that worried about going to court and its costs, it may be worthwhile to wait.

They ignored my 2nd letter but at the end of the 56 day deadline I got a full settlement from them.

GarethR

Pumpkins wrote: »

I first wrote the letter to the Natwest Bank on 17 April, had no replied then wrote the 2 letter on 1 May then i received the letter from Natwest on the 8 May saying they are currently investigating my claim and will respond to me as soon as possible from customer relations department. since then I have not heard from them.

So i wrote to them the 3rd letter saying that you are currently investigating my claim and that you will respond to me asap. I have not heard from you since and would like to know the current position with regard to my claim and asked them when they will be refunding the monies owed in accordance with claim. that what send on 7 June. I still have no replied from Natwest.

I had worked out that i paid them for the charges nearly £2000 as there was lots of referral charge for previous month when i have already paid the charge! I didn't realised at the time that i was paying them double!! no wondered why I couldn't handle it all and crash down to depressed etc...

Please advise me what to do and how do i appeal them? I am unemployed and Deaf and worry how much the court will cost? would need interpeter if i go to the court. I am not clear on how to apply the court to take the Bank to the court?
Michelle

Hi Michelle, was your first letter just requesting statements or had you worked this out & sent the charges to them? If you have sent the charges then its likely they will take about 8 weeks to reply after your 8th May letter. It may be worth while getting a partner/family or friend to ring up on your behalf, whilst it isnt always advisable I would suggest someone pretends to be you, this way they wont be difficult & say we have to speak with the person who's account it is & giving them delaying opportunities. The number to contact them is 0845 3030 456.

The Money Claim is straight forward & I would have thought for that amoun it is likely to cost £120 approximately, did you send them a letter threatening court action? If so how long ago, if its more than the 14 days I would begin the MCOL, the website is https://www.moneyclaim.gov.uk/csmco2/index.jsp

Hope the above is of use & Im sure people will add additional info so keep checking your post.

G :beer:

bfc_1882

hi!

we just sent the one letter to natwest and to be honest didnt get round to following it up, we also had the standard "we are investigating letter" and about 5 weeks later out of the blue we got a bick envelope with loads of helpful leaflets on running our account and an offer of the full settlement!!!

to say we were shocked is an understatement!!!

i would give them a ring to make sure your claim hasnt evaporated into thin air but a banking friend of mine says they are absolutely overwelmed with claims and have only a few senior staff dealing with them (1..2..3..ahhhhhh) - although i detest going at the banks slow pace it might be worth saving yourself any extra stress and giving it more time - you wont be losing your right to take them to court if they still faff about!!

good luck!!

adam123_2

sent second letter of saying want charges back in 14 days if not will start cout action but put on letter will accept lower figure if they back to me in the 14 days but still not heard anything and it is now 10 days any advice

LozBingley

adam123 wrote: »

sent second letter of saying want charges back in 14 days if not will start cout action but put on letter will accept lower figure if they back to me in the 14 days but still not heard anything and it is now 10 days any advice

Have you had an offer yet? Barclays 1st offer comes in at about 50% of your claim. If you refuse and give them 2 more weeks they will offer around 75% back. BUT if you want more you will have to start a court claim and this can take about 2-6 months to complete but they will pay out prior to court hearing

markoliver

hi does any one know if they really do have 8 weeks from my original claim date, my letter was sent 4th june, i have given 2 wks as martins template states, and i phoned them today for them to tell me they have 8 weeeks? which they say will be 20 july... is this normal? has any one experienced this? the bank in name is halifax.

many thanks
mark:mad: