Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

Edinburghlass_2

bezzy1 wrote: »

hi wondered if anyone could help..... i reclaimed 400 and odd pounds off the hsbc .... then i moved to alliance and leicester and incurred charges ....im now with barclays and keeping my acount in order so far......just wondred if you can still claim for charges with a bank account that is no longer open and one that you have no account numbers or statments for......even tho i only closed it 2 years ago max... its not like i can ask tem to help me trace my account for me so i can reclaim charges off them....or is it??????????

Send the SAR request, first letter, with £10 and give any relevant addresses, your name and date of birth and they should be able to find your account.

Edinburghlass_2

ItsMaMoney wrote: »

Hello,

I'm hoping someone can advise me on what steps i should now be taking when reclaiming my bank charges.

Before the turn of the year around september ish i informed my bank using the template provided on this site. I recieved a letter from the bank saying it had noted my demand for a return of my bank charges, but said that it will be taking no action until the test case which is currently runnin.

Can anyone give me advise as to what i should be doing next. My charges were well over 1500 and mostly from when i was a student and on low wages. So i believe i should get these back!

You need to send the second letter saying that you will take them to court and that way get your claim into the system.

Edinburghlass_2

facingthefuture wrote: »

Sorry this is a bit confusing. Is there any point in reclaiming bank charges now and is there any point in chasing credit card charges?

You must at least start your bank charges claim although it is likely the bank will tell you that they won't be handling any claims at the moment but as credit cards aren't included in the test case there is certainly a point to chasing them

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/credit-card-charges

NorfolkBroad

Finally got together my list of charges and want to work out the interest due but I can't seem to get the calculator link to work= the link just goes back to the main reclaim page. Does anyone know what's up with it or if there's a similar calculator online somewhere that I can use ?

Also when I write the second stage letter claiming the charges and interest back should I add something about the charges causing me severe financial hardship or just stick with the template letter for the claim and include another asking them to consider my claim due to financial hardship. We've now gone 2 months in arrears on our mortgage as the charges keep taking a great chunk of our benefits and we haven't been able to pay the full amount for the last 4 months - we've just been sent a repossession summons for 6 weeks time Going to have to borrow from the in-laws to try and stop it but as we're owed over £5000 in charges and the arrears are £2300 if we could get them back it would clear the arrears.

Can anyone advise me please I'm getting desperate !

agnes_2

I think that in your circumstances it would certainly do no harm if you were to add to or enclose a separate letter regarding your financial hardship. You never know ithere may be someone who might take notice of that. I do hope you can sort it out, just shows how easy it is for charges upon charges to escalate out of control.
As for the calculator, I did mine back in January 2007, it worked then, it is the one on Martins' step by step guide is it? I don't know about now. By the way my claim has been 'stayed since August 14th, I even applied for and attended an oral hearing to uplift the stay on 19 November, but that was refused. But I should say I suspect that my financial position was not dire enough, because I have read recently of people getting settlements on the financial hardship grounds. Good luck, keep your chin up.

NorfolkBroad

Thanks for the reply Agnes. I found an Excel spreadsheet online for calculating the interest so I've filled it all out and my charges amount to £4315.00 and the interested calculated is £845.22 making a grand total of £5160.22 which is well over double the mortgage arrears :eek:

The only problem I had is that when Abbey supplied the figures they didn't give an exact date that they were charged just a monthly breakdown.
They normally take our charges on or about the 21st of the month (which is the anniversary date of opening the account) so for all but 2007/08 I've had to use that date to calculate the interest. Do you think they might dispute that ?

Am just going to type up an additional letter explaining our financial circumstances and asking them to consider the claim ASAP. Fingers crossed.

If I get any joy I'll start reclaiming for my account with Nationwide and the joint account with Halifax

Edinburghlass_2

I would try the Interest Calculator again as it was/is working tonight and the interest you have calculated doesn't sound very much too me on a claim of that size unless the charges don't go back very far.

agnes_2

Hi norfolkbroad, I don't know about the spreadsheet method, does it work it out for you , as the Interest Calculator on Martins' does it for you, it's excellent.

dorian.gray

Hi there, are people still being awarded refunds even though the test case is still in progress? From what I've read on this site, I understand that if a second, forceful letter is sent demanding payment and threatening court action, it is likely the bank will settle. Is this still the case even when a waiver is in action?

All I'm asking really is, are people still getting their money back at the moment, or will the test case have to end first?

NorfolkBroad

Agnes wrote: »

Hi norfolkbroad, I don't know about the spreadsheet method, does it work it out for you , as the Interest Calculator on Martins' does it for you, it's excellent.

Yes you enter the type of charge, the amount, date of the charge and it works out the number of days interest is due for then the last column calculates compound interest at 8% on each row and totals it up.

Most of our charges have occurred in the last 3 years there were only a couple in the first 3. I'll check the figures with Martin's calculator though if it's working now.

I know this isn't about bank charges as such but can you reclaim penalty fees charged by a mortgage company ? Like for not having a direct debit in place, bouncing a direct debit or being in arrears ?