Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

surfhoney

Hi Everyone,

I need a little help with claiming charges back.....

My situation is, as my signature states, i owe alot on credit cards and loans-BUT i am due to go on maternity leave come 30th june and am now getting quite worried and stressed about paying them back, sorting out my credit history etc etc.

Its really worrying me now, but i have 2 claims with banks outstanding! I have read that if you are having financial difficulties you can speed up the claim process, but i was wondering if there were any template latters for this or how to go about it?!!

I am also going to put in another claim with natwest if i am successful with the 2 that are outstanding. I desperately need to get this money so i can get on top of things andcant think of any other way at the moment!!

Can any one help? any suggestions? thanks you for listening!
C.xx

maxdp

sarahc5388 wrote: »

I have an agreed overdraft of £1750, protection is £14 a month - does anyone else have this and have they tried to claim it back? any help greatly appreciated

Yes have the same on my business overdraft. Kicked up stink and cancelled it as did not even know we were paying for it. Am just about to start proceedings to get it back. Will let you know how I got on:D

3106catherine

Hi,

We had a successful claim back in January 07 when we claimed back around £3500 from HSBC. We have continued to be charged since then which I haven't argued with until this month when they are planning to take £250 split between 2 accounts. We have just got ourelves financially traight this month and then taking £250 which we really dont have right now wil screw us over. So i telephoned them and they said I could either have a review in the branch or a loan to consolidate our debts with them. Now considering all I was acyually asking for was them to half the charge this month so we could either still eat or pay our bills, I find it quite irresponsible that their answer to this is taking out more debt.

So now on principle I am going to put in a second claim. I know that everything is on hold now anyway so will simply be a case of sending them a letter and then waiting, but how will putting in a second claim affect us? We weren't asked to sign anything in terms of making no further claims last year, and surely they have set a precedent with us by refunding once before?

Just after some reassurance I guess that we are doing the right thing!!

techspec

3106catherine wrote: »

Hi,

We had a successful claim back in January 07 when we claimed back around £3500 from HSBC. We have continued to be charged since then which I haven't argued with until this month when they are planning to take £250 split between 2 accounts. We have just got ourelves financially traight this month and then taking £250 which we really dont have right now wil screw us over. So i telephoned them and they said I could either have a review in the branch or a loan to consolidate our debts with them. Now considering all I was acyually asking for was them to half the charge this month so we could either still eat or pay our bills, I find it quite irresponsible that their answer to this is taking out more debt.

So now on principle I am going to put in a second claim. I know that everything is on hold now anyway so will simply be a case of sending them a letter and then waiting, but how will putting in a second claim affect us? We weren't asked to sign anything in terms of making no further claims last year, and surely they have set a precedent with us by refunding once before?

Just after some reassurance I guess that we are doing the right thing!!

You can claim again, no matter what you signed, as these are new charges. But the bank would expect you to use the £3500 you have already had, to stay out of the red in future.

Your new claim will be put on hold, but it is likey that the bank may look for an excuse to throw you out. Try and have another account opened, just in case.

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3106catherine

So are you saying because we had the £3500 they could argue that they wont pay the new charges back cos we should have used that money for keeping our account in the black rather tna paying off other debts?

I'm not worried if they close the account to be honest after the attitude of their staff seems to be that helping people in financial difficulty = taking out a personal loan with them.

Do I need to use a different letter or anything being a second claim or just go through the same process as we did first time round?

Thanks

techspec

3106catherine wrote: »

So are you saying because we had the £3500 they could argue that they wont pay the new charges back cos we should have used that money for keeping our account in the black rather tna paying off other debts?

I'm not worried if they close the account to be honest after the attitude of their staff seems to be that helping people in financial difficulty = taking out a personal loan with them.

Do I need to use a different letter or anything being a second claim or just go through the same process as we did first time round?

Thanks

No, what you do with your money is your business. But i, and many others used it to pay off debt as a fresh start, to try and avoid this happening again. My friend, who i helped claim, booked a £3000 holiday, and is now overdrawn again daily. He has been thrown out by 5 of the creditors he claimed against, where as i have had my credit limits vastly increased.

All i am saying, is they do not look favourably on you if you are going to keep claiming, and may throw you out.

But you still have a right to claim, and the procedures the same. If you do get thrown out, you can claim compensation of around £200 from the FOS.

3106catherine

orry something else i wanted to clarify, is it just the charges you claim or can you claim for retunred DD fees? I only ask as last time we only had charges but this time there will be DD charges.

3106catherine

'But the procedures the same, and if you do get thrown out, you can claim compensation of around £200 from the FOS.'

What is this?

We did use the £3500 to clear debts, just not debts with HSBC! Our situation also changed last year in that I am now at home with our daughter so obviously there was quite a change of circumstance there.

3106catherine

Right well round 2 with HSBC equals a claim for £1968

Confirmed while going through bank stantments they refunded £3595 in January 07, which wasn't the full amount claimed.

castlebest

I use the CAG templates but the process is the same, yes just start a new claim against HSBC, and yes you can claim for returned DD fees too, they are also penalty charges.

Under the banking code they are not allowed just close an account because they are fed up with you this is seen as retribution and you can get compensation for their actions however they may argue that it is a breakdown of relations between you. its worth the complaint to the FOS though .

It wont be as easy as it was in January 07, they will tell you everything is on hold until the test case is settled but its your money and you want it back :cool:

pete