Reclaim Unfair Bank Charges article discussion Part II

natweststaffmember

tigerlilly966 wrote: »

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 ?

No they can't, they have to supply the details.

Babsybaby_2

Hi, Can any1 tell me pls, can u still apply 4 unfair bank charges even wen u left a bank? Thanks in advance Babs.

AndyJJ172

natweststaffmember wrote: »

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.

Thanks for replying. I guess what I was trying to get at was whether banks would have the resources to look through everyone's claims to decide how they accrued these fees in the first place, then basing how much they would pay back on that. For example, there's a difference between going £5 over your overdraft limit for 1 day and £200 for 2 weeks.

If the outcome of the OFT case is the enforcement of new fairness rules, are the banks likely to apply these rules to the fees we've received over the years or more likely to refund the whole claim?

I know what I'm looking for is speculation, but it doesn't hurt to get some opinions.

BigBudgie

AndyJJ172 wrote: »

Thanks for replying. I guess what I was trying to get at was whether banks would have the resources to look through everyone's claims to decide how they accrued these fees in the first place, then basing how much they would pay back on that. For example, there's a difference between going £5 over your overdraft limit for 1 day and £200 for 2 weeks.

If the outcome of the OFT case is the enforcement of new fairness rules, are the banks likely to apply these rules to the fees we've received over the years or more likely to refund the whole claim?

I know what I'm looking for is speculation, but it doesn't hurt to get some opinions.

Under UTCCR1999 unfair terms are UNENFORCABLE.
The supposed argument that the banks would only have to refund the difference between their actual charge and what the court decides is a fair charge is irrelevent. The Banks would have to refund historic charges in their ENTIRETY for as far back as the court decide is applicable and not necessarily limited to 6 years as people have been led to believe.


Paragraph G of the Litigation agreement between the OFT and the banks is quite clear.
"The Parties intend that, depending on the outcome of the investigation and the Court's determination of the preliminary issues, the substantive issues of fairness and penalty will be determined subsequently in these proceedings.The parties also envisage that other issues flowing from those issues (such as customer restitution and limitation ) would come to be determined concurrently with the said substantive issues.

chrisharri

Hello I was wondering if there has been any news on the bank charges case that is currently going through the supreme court? I know that it's expected to make it's decision in October but any idea what date?

AndyJJ172

Thanks for that info Budgie. A great help, and good news.

chrisharri wrote: »

Hello I was wondering if there has been any news on the bank charges case that is currently going through the supreme court? I know that it's expected to make it's decision in October but any idea what date?

The House of Lords returns from its Summer recess on 12 Oct. Beyond that, I don't know.

monkeychops181

Hi everyone, I am quite new to this site but would like to know if it's worth submitting my claim for charges now or if I should wait until the court case?
I was made redundant and have recently found another job but things are a bit tight, should I claim now?
Thanks everyone
Amy

natweststaffmember

monkeychops181 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I am quite new to this site but would like to know if it's worth submitting my claim for charges now or if I should wait until the court case?
I was made redundant and have recently found another job but things are a bit tight, should I claim now?
Thanks everyone
Amy

Now is the answer. This Supreme Court is not deciding on whether the terms are unfair only whether they can be assessed for fairness under UTCCR 1999. The next decision is the 50% mark in the case but if the OFT wins the potential consequences are huge.

xxisabellexx

Hi all
I am in the process of helping a friend and my parents reclaim thier bank charges (get in the queue at least).

I sent off the first letters asking for repayment of 6 years worth of charges at the beginning of the year and since looking into it further I have decided to go for the charges since July 2001. I have drafted a letter to send and wondered if anyone could give me some feedback, especially the part about the test case being on hold as I'm not sure my wording is correct. Here goes:

Dear Sir or Madam,

Account number: xxxxxxxxxxxx
Your Reference: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I have previously written to you requesting that you repay all the default charges that have been applied to my account during the past six years. I have since discovered that I am entitled to reclaim from the date the bank charges test case started; the date reclaiming was put on hold: 27th July 2001.
.
I am therefore writing to request repayment of the additional charges incurred between this date and the date I first wrote to you in April 2009. I do not believe these charges reflect the true cost to HSBCof going into unauthorised overdraft.

The additional charges total £339, plus as I believe I have been unlawfully deprived of the money I have calculated £182.49interest at the statutory rate, the amount the court will award.

I therefore ask that you repay me the full amount, including these additional charges of £3028.56. I have attached a full schedule of the charges and interest with this document.

I look forward for a full response to this letter within 14 days.

Yours faithfully,


What do you guys think? Im looking toward natweststaffmember if you are about to check my wording about the test case as you seem like quite an expert!

TIA
Isabelle x

mdes

ALLIANCE AND LEICESTER!!!!!!!!!!!

can anybody help???
i have applied to the a&l through hardship to get my charges back, but they keep putting me off.
firstly we sent in the letters and proof of hardship(rent arrears) but they said the letter our landlord wrote was not signed. we got it done again and sent it recorded delivery on 25/09/09 , but the a&l say they havnt recieved it, prob because of the postal strike.
however i checked this and the post office tracker says it was delivered the next day!!
i phoned, yet again, on friday(02/10/09) and was told they still havnt got it and that if i want i should go to the fos.
i have requested several transcripts of conversations from them but they will not send them to me because i have caught them lying in these phone calls
what should i do now because i have very little written correspondence from the a&l to go on but all is on the several phone calls
please advise
thanks