Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

fbredenkamp

Hi,

I have sent Barclaycard a letter regarding miss-selling of PPI using the templates found on this wonderful site.

The thing is Barclaycard took over Morgan Stanley cards, which mine was originally with.

They have replied to me with a Payment Protection Insurance Complaint Customer Questionnaire.. (yeah, that is the full name)

They have all sorts of silly questions really. Policy Number, Date of Policy Telephone Numbers, etc

Then the reason for my complaint. I already stated the reason in my first letter. To tell you the truth. I had NO idea that I had PPI and when I saw it on my statement I assumed that it was part and parcel of the card. It was only later after reading about it that I realised it was optional.

What do I answer to these questions?

How did you purchase the PPI?
Where you informed of the 30 day cancellation?
Can you recall what info you were told during the sale of the ppi?

The one that throws me the most is : Are there any other pertinent facts why you should not have taken out the cover? (What is this suppose to mean?)

Then there are questions about disability, existing medical condition.

I have never claimed and to be honest, like I said, I can not even recall that I ever agreed to this as when I saw the extortionate amount that I have been paying over the last 4 years, in the region of £1200, I felt a bit cheated really.

Now it's like I am being interrogated. How do I answer these questions without sounding like an idiot? I genuinely can't recall agreeing to ANY of this let alone the date it was taken out. I saw on my statements that it started in the first month if me opening the account and I can recall applying for the card via a "brochure" type junk mail thingy they sent addressed to me.

Can anyone give me pointers how to approach this, has received this questionnaire? It would be much appreciated. As I think this is another psychological ploy by the bank to put you off completing the claim.

Thanks for your time in advance.

incoming_3

A few years ago I toted up a few hundred pounds of bank fees. I managed to reclaim them, but as a condition I foolishly signed a letter stating that I would not claim again for any more bank fees I might accrue at a later date.

I was not working for a number of months last year and found myself accruing more bank fees. I tried to reclaim these but the bank remained me of my letter I signed a few years ago. I signed this letter as I thought there was no way around it. I know it’s a long shot but might there be a way around this?

natweststaffmember

incoming wrote: »

A few years ago I toted up a few hundred pounds of bank fees. I managed to reclaim them, but as a condition I foolishly signed a letter stating that I would not claim again for any more bank fees I might accrue at a later date.

I was not working for a number of months last year and found myself accruing more bank fees. I tried to reclaim these but the bank remained me of my letter I signed a few years ago. I signed this letter as I thought there was no way around it. I know it’s a long shot but might there be a way around this?

You cannot sign away your future rights to claim back charges.

lil_beany

Hi im new and would like some advise re: my boyfriend's bank charges.

To cut a long story short, he's rubbish with money! He moved counties to live with me over 3 years ago and was jobless for a while. He managed to get on top of his account for a while after he got a job but eventually he got a new job where he was paid in cash each week. Needless to say this money would go into his pocket and straight out again in days despite my attempts at convincing him this was not the way forward. He had direct debits etc building up and back charges being added constantly.

He attempted to speak to the bank to come to an arrangement but they were unhelpful so he gave up, buried his head in the sand for months and months until it got to a stage where he didnt even open bank letters anymore as he knew what they were going to say. When we moved house he didnt tell the bank our new address and therefore the letters didnt come anymore and i presume he just pushed it to the back of his mind.

Having changed jobs again (after 2 months of unemployment after losing his job) he is now due to be paid by bacs. Having forced him to go set up a new bank account so his wages didnt get eaten up by outstanding charges, he found out that his HSBC account has been closed by the bank and all outstanding moneies forwarded to debt collectors.

He must have racked up thousands of pounds of bank charges of the past couple of years. Is there any way he can put in a claim for back charges now that his account has been closed? Will the just wash his hands of him now its out of hteir hands? I dont know if they would even send him a copy of the charges now he doesnt bank there.

I tried to tell him that something like this would happen if he didnt deal with it straight away but it would seem men just assume women are nagging all the time and switch off! Now things are 50times worse.

appreciate any advise anyone has.

natweststaffmember

Yes he can reclaim all charges back even if the account is closed.

Amatrix

Bank: Halif*x
Amount: £5000+ (inc. Interest).
Started Claiming: June 09

I started claim proceedings against Halif*x in June under financial hardship criteria for charges incurred when I was made redundant a few years ago (which I am still paying for effectively as my finances never recovered fully), and they fobbed me off with a rejection pending outcome of the test case, along with a referral to their Money Management Team "to help see what they can do to ease my current situation". I dread to think how patronising this might be. I don't need to be told how to budget. They didn't send me a request for a statement of my finances, nor are they progressing my claim or making a gesture offer despite the fact that I have hundreds of pounds more going out than I have coming in due to personal circumstances and am only being kept afloat by money from friends.

Can anyone advise, do I have to talk to the "management" people first before I go to the ombudsman or send a second reclaim letter to them or should I just go ahead with the second letter and then proceed to the ombudsman? Has anyone been through this with the Halif*x recently?

I am thinking of including a statement of income and expenditure and copy chaser letters from other financial bodies which maybe I should have done first time round even though they haven't asked for it in case it prevents them stalling again?

natweststaffmember

Amatrix wrote: »

Bank: Halif*x
Amount: £5000+ (inc. Interest).
Started Claiming: June 09

I started claim proceedings against Halif*x in June under financial hardship criteria for charges incurred when I was made redundant a few years ago (which I am still paying for effectively as my finances never recovered fully), and they fobbed me off with a rejection pending outcome of the test case, along with a referral to their Money Management Team "to help see what they can do to ease my current situation". I dread to think how patronising this might be. I don't need to be told how to budget. They didn't send me a request for a statement of my finances, nor are they progressing my claim or making a gesture offer despite the fact that I have hundreds of pounds more going out than I have coming in due to personal circumstances and am only being kept afloat by money from friends.

Can anyone advise, do I have to talk to the "management" people first before I go to the ombudsman or send a second reclaim letter to them or should I just go ahead with the second letter and then proceed to the ombudsman? Has anyone been through this with the Halif*x recently?

I am thinking of including a statement of income and expenditure and copy chaser letters from other financial bodies which maybe I should have done first time round even though they haven't asked for it in case it prevents them stalling again?

You are being helped by friends which means that it isn't showing as financial hardship. If you have priority debt arrears(mortgage/rent, council tax, utilities) and are not repaying the arrears then you may have a case. However the redundancy was a few years ago which means that although you may be struggling as a result they would see it as being sufficient time to budget for that lifestyle change ie loss of job. Do you have any credit card charges to reclaim?

mandym501

I was in the process of reclaiming bank charges of 6,000 from Lloyds TSB - This was a joint account with my ex-husband at the time.he took over the account when we split and we remained ammicable. We pursued the claim together - I wrote letters he received the replies as the bank said because I was no longer the account holder they could not respond to me.

My ex-husband recently died. His accounts are now closed. How does this affect the claim - had it been settled in the courts before this he would have been paid. Does this money if repaid go to his estate for our children? or will it never be paid out?

Thank you in advance

mandy

Matrixds

Bank: HSBC
Amount 1: £2076 without interest Aug 06 - Received £1870 Oct 06
Amount 2: £3231.25 inc interest May 09 - Hold letter received

I am waiting on the court case/ House of Lords judgement etc for second amount.

Question is should or could i have tried to claim the interest i didn't ask for before (didn't know you could at the time) with my latest claim?

Also i have only just noticed that they sneakily charged me over £250 in 3 amounts 2-3 days after crediting the £1870 into my account in Oct 06 - can i resend my latest claim with this added if i have already started it rolling?

natweststaffmember

mandym501 wrote: »

I was in the process of reclaiming bank charges of 6,000 from Lloyds TSB - This was a joint account with my ex-husband at the time.he took over the account when we split and we remained ammicable. We pursued the claim together - I wrote letters he received the replies as the bank said because I was no longer the account holder they could not respond to me.

My ex-husband recently died. His accounts are now closed. How does this affect the claim - had it been settled in the courts before this he would have been paid. Does this money if repaid go to his estate for our children? or will it never be paid out?

Thank you in advance

mandy

The executore/next of kin of the estate is the eligible party and I think a letter to the bank to this effect may be worth doing.