Need help with claiming Bank charges in Northern Ireland

poppy_f1

Nush wrote: »

Can anyone tell me if the court case is over (the one the banks are all waiting on before dealing with new claims) as I have not processed mine yet. Thought it was a waste of time if the banks weren't dealing with them anymore.

Thanks in advance
Nush

its still ongoing at the moment

KrisD

ImSomePup wrote: »

.. is this still in force?.. To be let off dealing with reclaim cases banks had to agree to the FSA waiver. Virtually all banks signed the waiver, though some small providers didn’t such as First Trust Bank and Chelsea BS, meaning you can continue your claim from http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges

It’s just that a recent reply to (MSE's letter No.2) the Bank claimed they were waiting for the outcome of the OFT; I quote First Trust Bank’s reply verbatim.

“we refer to your complaint.. etc. Although we believe the charges are fair, transparent and lawful, since we last wrote to you the banks have became involved in legal proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading on unauthorised overdraft bank charges which we believe will resolve the legal issues about the fairness and legality of your unauthorised overdraft bank charges. It would be our normal approach to resolve your complaint through our internal complaints process as quickly as possible, However, until the determination of the legal issues in the above proceedings, we have asked the Financial Services Authority to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with bank charges complaints, and the FSA has agreed to this request subject to conditions that protect your rights. Given this court case we have also asked both the Financial Ombudsman Service and the courts not to proceed with any other case they are hearing until the test case is resolved. FOS has indicated that as a general proposition it will indeed not proceed with cases which rely on the legal issues being considered in the test case. Similarly, you should be aware that if you choose to issue a claim in the County Courts, we will immediately apply to the Court for an order to stay your action until resolution of the bank's proceedings with the OFT. We are sorry that we have not been able to respond in full to your complaint now, but we [together with the FSA and the OFT] think that it is necessary to resolve the key legal issues before we decide how we should respond to your complaint. But we can assure you that once the legal proceedings are completed we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. If at that stage you do not agree with our conclusions you will of course be able to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service or to the courts.
Obviously what will happen next will depend on the courts. We do not know how long he case will take - we have promised to proceed as quickly as possible but inevitably given the importance of the issues being considered this may take many months to finally resolve. We can assure you we have registered and stored your complaint. Please retain your bank records, as this will make it easier to you to support your complaint on resolution of the test case. We will keep you updated appropriately about the proceedings with the OFT. You can also check the latest position on our website www.firsttrustbank.co.uk

Can they legitimately hold off even if they didn’t sign up to the FSA waiver?

Hello there! I too have received the letter above from First Trust. Does anyone know if they have signed the waiver or if this makes a difference?

Also, has anyone had any joy reclaiming from CitCards?

barnishroader

If claiming from First Trust, is the letter addressed to a local branch or head office and if so what is the address of Head Office?

barnishroader

KrisD wrote: »

Hello there! I too have received the letter above from First Trust. Does anyone know if they have signed the waiver or if this makes a difference?

My sister received this letter as well.
Anyone advise whether to continue with the claim or not?

BigAl94

Good news from the Banks' perspective http://uk.reuters.com/article/personalFinanceNews/idUKNOA22244920080523

Edinburghlass_2

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=930249

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges

blimp

hi nellie, im on sickness benefits , i give a letter to my branch of ulster bank as advised and they have went o4 time allowed to reply, what do i do? i 4got 2 mention i have just went £250 overdrawn this week owing to breavement in family and im afraid they might use this against me!!

blimp

hi again, i really need help with this, im now £300 o4drawn,and still no word from bank,by the time my benefits,( can anyone advise me if i can fastrack repayments because im dependant on state benefits please?) are paid in there will be nothing left!

Mar.cresham

Anyone had any luck in N/Ireland lately then?

procyon_2

Hi,

I'd had an a\c with Northern Bank for some years without incident. Then, due to financial difficulties in 2002, I became overdrawn and was charged by the bank. I went into my local branch and explained the situation, also explained that it may be ongoing for several months and asked if it were possible to arrange an overdraft. Although appearing sympathetic to my plight I was informed that an overdraft was not available on the type of account I had (an ordinary current account). Within 3 weeks I ended up £312.40 in the red. On this particular day I was in the branch making a payment when the teller asked me why I didn't get an overdraft? I explained what I had been told and he replied that I was entitled to an automatic overdraft of £400. By the time this was set up my balance was £377.40, so my overdraft had been basically wiped out and I was back at square-one. I complained to the manager, explaining the advice I had been orginally given regarding an overdraft. He refused to accept this had been the case.

I have already requested and received my past bank statements. I have also written requesting repayment of my bank charges.

In Martin's Money Tips email of 28/01/09 it was stated that "You can get back up to 7.5 years (six years before the test case started)." Is this the case in Northern Ireland also?

I have stopped using my Northern Bank a\c but still have a balance of -£491.31 with interest still being charged on it.
.
Is it possible to argue that this position was caused by having been given the wrong (verbal) advice? Had I been given the overdraft on first request, the bank charges (apart from the first one or two) would never have been issued.

The bank charges I am reclaiming are £2087.49 + £938.46 in interest dating back to 07/01/2002.

Many thanks for any help\advice anyone can give ;-)

procyon