The RBoS bank charge snowball from hell

Kurt_Hamster

My RBoS tales of woe.

Full of indignation at the £2150 I'd been charged over the last 6 years I read everything I could on the current wave of reclaims.

I sent off my tenner for my six years of statements (actually I already had most of them but for some reason 2 years worth were missing, I blame the dog, he likes chewing paper).

The RBS were quite quick and they arrived within the week, so I thought this may be a good omen, yeah right, read on...

I whizzed through the statements with my highlighter heating up with the ferocity of my strokes, my jotpad rapidly filling up with my notes.

I got my Word and Excel templates sorted and posted them off via first class recorded mail on the 22nd March. I'd given them the traditional "you have 14 days", but then I wondered, hmmm is that 14 working days or 14 calendar days? Just to be on the safe side I gave them 14 working days. My oh my, now I wish I hadn't! :doh:

They received the letter on March 23rd. Foolishly I waited until April 13th to file a claim at my local county court offices.

I say foolishly, because whilst I gave the RBS the benefit of the doubt (and time) their response was to start the snowball from hell in bank charges. I eventually received a "we are considering your claim on April 14th, but what made me decide to no longer give them any breathing space is that since the receipt of my letter on March 23rd they have hit me for a further £590 in bank charges.

To put this into perspective, I'm disabled and on long term incapacity benefit. There is no way in hell I can pay these charges and pay my bills. But thanks to the RBS that decision is moot... the avaricious ******ds are now bouncing every single one of my direct debits, they are taking every single penny of my income (and more) in penalty charges and adding more and more every day. Today's charges were an additional £114.

To enable me to pay for the claim (as InCap is my only benefit I have to pay the full charges) I went in to my local RBS branch to empty my savings account to get the £100 I needed (I found out later I actually needed £120!!), and whilst I was there I thought I'd have a go at some face-to-face bank a*s kicking. At the time the additional charges (over and above what I was claiming) were £464. I demanded that they refund me (obviously I maintained a slightly higher than normal speech volume so as to make it easier for the long queue to hear better) all the monies they had "unlawfully" taken from me.

Ultimately I got nowhere with the teller other than for her to say "we'll have to refer it to branch level for this amount"... and here was I thinking I was already at a branch office.

A week later I get a letter from the branch manager offering me a conditional refund of £88 as a "sign of goodwill", the condition being that I don't request any further refunds. :wall:

So it looks like I'm going to have to start a second court claim. My reply to their offer went out yesterday and I've given them 14 calendar days this time, ie refund by 8th May or else!

But as of today the total is £590, and I'm having to borrow from friends and family just to buy food, which as it happens is breakfast cereal and soup, which is a bit problematic as I'm an insulin dependant diabetic just recovering from a broken leg (a result of a disagreement with a burglar as to the ownership of my iPod). On top of that, an hour ago my one and only crown just fell out and I swallowed it. It really isn't my year

jojo1973

I can fully sympathise with you! I used to fly to the nearest ATM on payday before they took their ridiculous charges (HSBC) so me and my daughter could eat that month!
Hope you get it sorted

Twinkly

Kurt_Hamster wrote: »

My RBoS tales of woe.

Full of indignation at the £2150 I'd been charged over the last 6 years I read everything I could on the current wave of reclaims.

I sent off my tenner for my six years of statements (actually I already had most of them but for some reason 2 years worth were missing, I blame the dog, he likes chewing paper).

The RBS were quite quick and they arrived within the week, so I thought this may be a good omen, yeah right, read on...

I whizzed through the statements with my highlighter heating up with the ferocity of my strokes, my jotpad rapidly filling up with my notes.

I got my Word and Excel templates sorted and posted them off via first class recorded mail on the 22nd March. I'd given them the traditional "you have 14 days", but then I wondered, hmmm is that 14 working days or 14 calendar days? Just to be on the safe side I gave them 14 working days. My oh my, now I wish I hadn't! :doh:

They received the letter on March 23rd. Foolishly I waited until April 13th to file a claim at my local county court offices.

I say foolishly, because whilst I gave the RBS the benefit of the doubt (and time) their response was to start the snowball from hell in bank charges. I eventually received a "we are considering your claim on April 14th, but what made me decide to no longer give them any breathing space is that since the receipt of my letter on March 23rd they have hit me for a further £590 in bank charges.

To put this into perspective, I'm disabled and on long term incapacity benefit. There is no way in hell I can pay these charges and pay my bills. But thanks to the RBS that decision is moot... the avaricious ******ds are now bouncing every single one of my direct debits, they are taking every single penny of my income (and more) in penalty charges and adding more and more every day. Today's charges were an additional £114.

To enable me to pay for the claim (as InCap is my only benefit I have to pay the full charges) I went in to my local RBS branch to empty my savings account to get the £100 I needed (I found out later I actually needed £120!!), and whilst I was there I thought I'd have a go at some face-to-face bank a*s kicking. At the time the additional charges (over and above what I was claiming) were £464. I demanded that they refund me (obviously I maintained a slightly higher than normal speech volume so as to make it easier for the long queue to hear better) all the monies they had "unlawfully" taken from me.

Ultimately I got nowhere with the teller other than for her to say "we'll have to refer it to branch level for this amount"... and here was I thinking I was already at a branch office.

A week later I get a letter from the branch manager offering me a conditional refund of £88 as a "sign of goodwill", the condition being that I don't request any further refunds. :wall:

So it looks like I'm going to have to start a second court claim. My reply to their offer went out yesterday and I've given them 14 calendar days this time, ie refund by 8th May or else!

But as of today the total is £590, and I'm having to borrow from friends and family just to buy food, which as it happens is breakfast cereal and soup, which is a bit problematic as I'm an insulin dependant diabetic just recovering from a broken leg (a result of a disagreement with a burglar as to the ownership of my iPod). On top of that, an hour ago my one and only crown just fell out and I swallowed it. It really isn't my year

I'd advise to get on to the DSS and have your benefit stopped from going into this account. The bank should not be taking your benefits for charges and the fastest way to stop this is to stop the income going in. Explain that the bank is taking all your income and the DSS should be able to pay you by girocheque at least until you can sort out another basic account to receive the money. It irritates me intensely that my IB must be paid into a bank and do not operate DD on the account. I refuse to be a sitting duck for others incompetence.

Did you check if you are exempt from, or can apply for remission of, court fees ? If not take a look here:
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/fees/county.htm

I am sorry you have had such a crappy year so far but stick at it and I'd strongly advise to take this all the way to court stage and get back every penny & interest & costs. They took the food from your mouth literally there and I would want every damn penny back. Best of luck

Kurt_Hamster

Thanks for the support folks.

I've just opened a new Select account with Lloyds/TSB (I thought I better get in quick before the credit reference agencies catch up on the details.

I just received their new account package so they've accepted me as a new customer (phew!), I'll use their form for transferring everything over to make it easy for myself. I just hope it's done quickly.

Once I get my income and direct debits back on track I can let the RBS charge as much as they like, they, of course, can go whistle for it. I'll content myself with getting to know the County Court clerk better

As regards paying no court costs, well unfortunately I have a small supperannuation pension which seems to edged me a little over the limit for where I can claim free anything. Though if the RBS push for a defence and I have to pay the allocation costs then I'll have a stab at claiming for remission.

Stephen_Leak

It sounds like you're beginning to fight back! It will be one battle (or even skirmish!) at a time, but never forget that the banks cannot win. As Sun Tsu says in "The Art of War", the good general doesn't enter into a fight until victory is certain.

Kurt_Hamster

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

It sounds like you're beginning to fight back! It will be one battle (or even skirmish!) at a time, but never forget that the banks cannot win. As Sun Tsu says in "The Art of War", the good general doesn't enter into a fight until victory is certain.

Within my social circle I am renowned for my stubborness, mind you the Asperger's may, for once, help me with direction. Seeing things in "black and white" sure helps when on a mission.

Not to mention the fury at the unfairness of it all (don't get me started on how illogical the bank are being). I've always fought back when people try to bully me. The size of the bully makes no difference.

misscharlie

You should stop all dd'd and standing orders to stop any more fees going through your account.

If you tell the bank its benifit money they should by LAW, stop and refund the monies to you.

Kurt_Hamster

misscharlie wrote: »

You should stop all dd'd and standing orders to stop any more fees going through your account.

I'm already in the process of getting all my DDs transferred over to my new Lloyds TSB account.

If you tell the bank its benifit money they should by LAW, stop and refund the monies to you.

I spoke to the Benefits people this morning and they say they can't do anything per se, but they accepted my new details over the phone. Unfortunately it was too late to stop this weeks payment but next weeks will go to my new account. They were very helpful I have to say.

Kurt_Hamster

Well so much for getting a judgement by default :rolleyes:

I'm now a member of the "Cobbett Club".

These Cobbetts Solicitors must be making a mint off this, all the benks seem to be using them.