Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

natweststaffmember

AndyJJ172 wrote: »

Hi all, apologies if this has already been covered elsewhere.

I have a claim on hold with HSBC, for unfair bank charges, largely referring to unauthorised overdraft fees. I have been reading how some banks (RBS, Halifax) are now reducing their fees in advance of the House of Lords verdict expected in October. I see that they have greatly reduced the fees for bounced cheques and direct debits (unpaid item fees) but not by as much for unauthorised overdraft fees (guaranteed card payment fee) or the monthly "maintenance" fee for an unauthorised overdraft, which are the charges I most commonly encounter.

My question is: Should the House of Lords find that the charges are unfair, will I be able to claim for the full amount of charges or will I have to wait until there's a ruling on what IS a fair charge? Will HSBC have the resources to look through my records and determine how I've incurred these fees in the first place and base their decision on that?

Andy

The basic answer is NO on whether you can claim the full amount on the HoL case but if you haven't claimed then get your claim in now since it will be logged when the final OFT test case issues are resolved. The HoL decision is on whether the OFT can assess charges for fairness under UTCCR 1999. It is the half way stage but the next stage should be faster I would expect. All Banks should be able to view charges going back years.

natweststaffmember

kimmidee wrote: »

can anyone tell me how you go about finding the account number of an old bank account that you want to try to reclaim charges on?

Depends on the bank, I know how to on NatWest but not on others. However, when you send the first letter asking for the details then you need to include as much information as possible, such as branch the account was opened, addresses you had at the time the account was opened, etc, etc, as well as name and date of birth(nearly missed that out ).

hullight

kimmidee wrote: »

can anyone tell me how you go about finding the account number of an old bank account that you want to try to reclaim charges on?

http://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/

DOLPHIN_2

Some helpful advice please. I have exceeded my overdraft limit and prior to that change my Halifax Bank Account to an Ultimate Reward Account. I had thought in doing this I would be better off, benefits, slightly higher overdraft as the details on the website state no interest charged on overdrafts up to £300, I assumed that as I had changed accounts the amount would go up from £250 but this was not the case. I went away for a few days and returned to find a letter from the Halifax Bank stating I had exceeded my overdraft limit and that 2 direct debits had not been paid and they were charging me £35.00 for each one. Since then I have received 2 more letters each stating that they had not paid a direct debit and another charge of £35.00 for each one. This brings the total of charges to £140.00 plus they say they will also charge interest on the amount I exceeded the overdraft by which fortunately isn't much. Since then an amount of money for a purchase I made which was what brought me over the limit has been refunded as I returned though I doubt if that will make a difference. I admit I was wrong to exceed the limit and would have accepted a single charge of £35.00 but I think £140.00 is extortionate and an amount I can ill afford to be down by. Any comments on how to proceed would be much appreciated

nancmat

Hello all, just a few questions we are going to look at claiming against charges on my husbands Abbey account which was closed last year because he took out an IVA, are we still able to request statements/charges for the account even though it is closed? Any help much appreciated.

natweststaffmember

DOLPHIN wrote: »

Some helpful advice please. I have exceeded my overdraft limit and prior to that change my Halifax Bank Account to an Ultimate Reward Account. I had thought in doing this I would be better off, benefits, slightly higher overdraft as the details on the website state no interest charged on overdrafts up to £300, I assumed that as I had changed accounts the amount would go up from £250 but this was not the case. I went away for a few days and returned to find a letter from the Halifax Bank stating I had exceeded my overdraft limit and that 2 direct debits had not been paid and they were charging me £35.00 for each one. Since then I have received 2 more letters each stating that they had not paid a direct debit and another charge of £35.00 for each one. This brings the total of charges to £140.00 plus they say they will also charge interest on the amount I exceeded the overdraft by which fortunately isn't much. Since then an amount of money for a purchase I made which was what brought me over the limit has been refunded as I returned though I doubt if that will make a difference. I admit I was wrong to exceed the limit and would have accepted a single charge of £35.00 but I think £140.00 is extortionate and an amount I can ill afford to be down by. Any comments on how to proceed would be much appreciated

If it is the first occasion then ask the question about refunding as it is a first charge. Otherwise you will need to reclaim the charges back.

natweststaffmember

nancmat wrote: »

Hello all, just a few questions we are going to look at claiming against charges on my husbands Abbey account which was closed last year because he took out an IVA, are we still able to request statements/charges for the account even though it is closed? Any help much appreciated.

yes absolutely you can.

tigerlilly966

I have download the letter on this web site & followed the advice here, I have an account with Abbey and sent them the letter stating I wanted a list of all bank charges for the last 10 years along with a cheque for £10.

Abbey has refused to comply stating they are waiting for the court case to conclude, I can see their point, but I still want to know how much they have taken from me in the last 7 years in bank charges.

Can they do this ?

shamrock7

I need some help please. In July 2007 after receiving 6 years worth of charges statements I was successful in reclaiming 319 from LTSB as a goodwill gesture which was the correct amount from 2001-2007. I recently wrote requesting a SAR and Im astounded to learn that from 1999 I am actually due a further 1799.83! Can I reclaim this as I have the statements and feel robbed at only getting from 2001 paid back. I didnt have the information at that time and I am keen to follow this up as it is a lot of money. I was very young and stupid!!!

natweststaffmember

shamrock7 wrote: »

I need some help please. In July 2007 after receiving 6 years worth of charges statements I was successful in reclaiming 319 from LTSB as a goodwill gesture which was the correct amount from 2001-2007. I recently wrote requesting a SAR and Im astounded to learn that from 1999 I am actually due a further 1799.83! Can I reclaim this as I have the statements and feel robbed at only getting from 2001 paid back. I didnt have the information at that time and I am keen to follow this up as it is a lot of money. I was very young and stupid!!!

You can put in a claim for that but the bank does not have to look into any charges claim going beyond July 2001 for financial hardship.