Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

Hopeful1

rob3002 wrote: »

If everyone managed their accounts properly in the first place you wouldn't get charged, I have never incurred a bank charge in my life! No wonder the banks are in trouble, everyone is taking advantage.

Well done, Rob. I am proud to say that i haven't incurred any charges for 2 years. However, my own experiences have taught me not to judge others without understanding the individual circumstances.

Good luck everyone with your reclaims

Hopeful1

I shall try to unpick some of this so bear with me!!

hazel09 wrote: »

I have been offered more than one account from the RBS when I was with them. These accounts include

1. overdraft interest charges
2. maintenance charges
3. referral fee/charges

I have been with the RBS since 1993. The bank initially offered me a basic account. This was later upgraded by a member of staff when she called me at home. I was made an appointment to see her in the branch. As I went to see her at the branch, she told me that I always have maintained my account and I always have kept my account in credit. She said she can offer me a cheque guarantee current account with a £100 debit card facility. The interest paying account had changed my finance completely. Every month I was paying RBS service charge for that! Was this info included in the account t and c's - was it explained to you at the time? I have the bank monthly statement to prove it which date back to 1997.

The RBS then offered me Royalties Gold account in 1998 which did not make much difference than the "interest paying account". I was still occurring the "service" charges every month on this account. The bank put me back onto the "interest paying account” on or around 2002 again. I did not understand these charges and am still baffled on this subject.
I also took a personal loan from RBS in jul-2002 which had occurred a compulsory charge of "insurance loan repayments" of £49.59 a month. I made two months repayments in months of jul02 and Aug02. This sounds like mis-sold PPI if they were compulsory charges. If you have the statement it may be worth a shot. If you haven't got the info they are not obligated to provide anything past 6 years ago.

I paid it all back to RBS on OCT-2002 after taking a cheaper Loan from the EGG. In this process I had been subject to early-repayment penalty which means I lost two months of payments to RSB.

Later on, I had to apply for a little more loan from EGG again to re-consolidate the debt and this time my repayments were hitting the roof. I was making£290.00 every month to EGG. It did have the so-called insurance which was sold to me as "must" have to have it!! Again PPI claim???
Can anyone help me to understand these charges or anyone has had similar experience! I wish to know if I stand any chance of re-imbursement of these unlawful charges!!

Thank you

Do you still hold accounts with these companies? If so, and you plan to reclaim, it may be worth opeing alternative accounts. I can't see the harm in placing a claim. You have nothing to lose if you are not dependent on their banking services now.

Best wishes

Hopeful1

bluestars wrote: »

Sorry if i get this wrong... im very confused. last April i sent my bank the letter to reclaim charges with no avail, in September i asked them to re look at my charges as by then i was in finincial difficulties. I was told at the time that nothing much could be done, but today the sent me a letter offering me £1304 as a Good Will Jesture. the trouble is i owe my bank charges for a loan and over draft i had, which i have arranged to pay back monthly, but on talking to Ulster Bank today i am now told that i will not be seeing any off this so called Good Will Jesture as it will come off the amount i owe. Can the bank do this?
Also if i do accept this, what happens when the courts make a ruling?
please some one help....... your Bluestars

If you are happy to accept their offer, you could try writing to them and asking them to refund you by way of a cheque as you need to divide the money between other creditors. I did this with an Abbey account. You could also ring FOS and ask for advice. I've found them very helpful in the past.

Hopeful1

sandraroffey wrote: »

i am finding that lloyds are total bar stewards!!!!! the banking side that is.

i have been helping a friend who is dying of cancer, get her charges back. lloyds credit card paid out brilliantly when i explained the situation. it had been going on for more than a year though.

BUT, the bank wont even look at it until the court case is done and dusted. poor girl could be no longer with us by then.

i have actually asked them if they are sitting back and waiting for the inevitable to happen, but the gits wont shift.

i have written to them loads and every time i write i get EXACTLY the same bog standard letter back. its like they havent even read it properly enough to comment on her dreadful situation.

I'm sorry your friend is so ill. Have you contacted FOS? I would complain to them, as in my view, the bank are being extrememly unreasonable in this particular circumstance. They are adding unnecessary stress to a very poorly person. If you go to the FOS website there is a form that can be filled in.

I hope your friend is able to enjoy the rest of her time.

Hopeful1

amartin123 wrote: »

please can you help me i am going to claim bank charges back on my current account ive done out my template letter but i also want to claim back my visa overcharges too can i do this on the same letter or a separate one? hope you can help

Do you mean visa as in a credit card? If so, i would make 2 seperate claims. The test case does not affect credit cards so there is no reason for the banks to delay paying out (although they will try ).

Hopeful1

Stu_LTT wrote: »

I can't help but notice that there seem to be very few success stories with Lloyds TSB... are Lloyds notoriously difficult? I am trying to claim back around £200 of bank charges, but all I get is the same letter over and over telling me I have to wait until the court case concludes before I can claim. That could be years it seems, and as a student about to go out into the world with massive debt I could really do with it back!

I can't really take it to court as I don't have the money, is there a way to get around this?

Thanks

Stu

I'm afraid that very few cases are likely to be settled in or out of court until the test case is settled, UNLESS you can justify a claim under the hardship rules.

KrisD

Hi there!

I just looked at an October bank statement and there is a default charge of £14 showing on my statement but I had money in the bank at this time. Does anyone know what this could be possibly for before I ring the bank and start ranting and raving?

I honestly cannot see what it is for as I cannot have missed a payment. My account did not go into minus figures.

Cheers!

Kris

jojeba

Last year I applied to HSBC for £105 in overdraft fees - I got the usual "nice try, but no" letter.... but now what do I do? I'm confused as to what I can do next?

stetime

Hi.
Received mail that I was to be charged £80 for a £2 unplanned overdraft on an account I use for paying a £15 p/m phone bill and nothing else (So I don't really check on it)

Turns out, my credit card (with TSB also) was a day late (I hadn't received a statement, could have just been erratic Christmas post or something) and they'd dipped into the bank account, which is apparently in the t&c. So when the phonebill came out, it was OD. I had no idea any of this was going on until I received a charges note - I'd have paid £2 immediately had I known, of course!

They've wavered charges from December, but insist on keeping the January ones. Being charged £80 for £2 is ridiculous, is there anything I can do? Account is no longer OD, credit card is cleared. Yet they won't budge.

moneymonkey35

rob3002 wrote: »

If everyone managed their accounts properly in the first place you wouldn't get charged, I have never incurred a bank charge in my life! No wonder the banks are in trouble, everyone is taking advantage.

Well thats great for you but you are missing the point.... Of course we should all take responsibility for the way we use our money. But the banks are being fundamentally unfair by charging consumers so much.

They are making money from me and thousands of other consumers who are in financial difficulty (and putting us further into debt in the process) and this is wrong. They are taking advantage of us....

Personally, I am prepared to admit that money management is not my biggest skill and that is probably at the root of my money problems. This along with changes in my personal circumstances has made money tight.However, this does not make it ok for my bank to charge me £38 for being over my overdraft limit (which I am clearly not able to pay!) and charging around the same again each time I am unable to pay a direct debit.

I would accept a charge of some sort but current bank charges are excessive and that is why I (and thousands of others) are fighting them.