Reclaiming Bank Charges On Old Account

funkyphantom

Hi there,
I'd like to give you a little back ground to my story. I will try to keep it as short as possible.
I have recently just 'come out' of a very deep, and dark depression and I know it sounds strange but I now realise that the depression was all about money, or lack of! It seems very strange to me as I can't really remember too much about the last 10 years of my life! seeing as my children are now 11, and 9 I hope you can understand what a great loss of my life this has been. I actually have tears in my eyes as I write this. Its thanks to my wonderful wife and family that I am still here today to tell this story. However I said I would keep this short, and thats what I am going to do! :P
I have had a Natwest account for at least 15 years, this since closed in 2009 as I owed them £3850 in my overdraft. They suggested I bought a loan from them but i really couldn't afford. Thinking back, they kept upping, and upping my overdraft limits so i fell further and further into debt. Then, they just pulled all my over draft facilities which meant me owing that amount.
Back when claiming bank charges was all the rage a couple of years ago, my wife talked me into trying to claim our charges back, so we sent them a 'subject access request' and added up all the charges and they amounted to nearly £3000. However I was too late as the high court ruling came into effect and my claim got refused.
Luckily with the persuasion of my wife we made the right choice, and didn't take the loan out, instead we took a long hard look at our debts and went onto a debt management plan with the CCCS (Stepchange) we were in debt by £11000 and I can gladly say we are coping and my debt should be paid off in 2015!
My question is, would it still be worth trying to claim my bank charges back seen as I am in financial hardship?
Thanks
FP

[Deleted User]

funkyphantom wrote: »

My question is, would it still be worth trying to claim my bank charges back seen as I am in financial hardship?

Unfortunately, there is no possibility of claiming a refund of Bank Charges on an account which has been closed since 2009. Banks typically only consider refunds because of current hardship on active accounts and even then only charges from the last six months are even considered. Historical charges have not been refundable since the court case. What made you think you'd be able to complain again now even though you've already been refused?

dunstonh

Thinking back, they kept upping, and upping my overdraft limits so i fell further and further into debt. Then, they just pulled all my over draft facilities which meant me owing that amount.

Upping the facility would have been done in co-operation with you and is often used to prevent unauthorised charges going on. However, any increases in the amount owed come about through your spending. Hard I know but we can look at these things without the emotional attachment that you have.

My question is, would it still be worth trying to claim my bank charges back seen as I am in financial hardship?

An account closed 4 years ago is not part of your current financial hardship. Also, if you are part of a debt management plan then you are on a structured exit plan that would likely involve some write off of the debt. So, in effect, your debt is being managed and you are no longer in hardship.

funkyphantom

dunstonh wrote: »

Upping the facility would have been done in co-operation with you and is often used to prevent unauthorised charges going on. However, any increases in the amount owed come about through your spending. Hard I know but we can look at these things without the emotional attachment that you have.

Thanks very much for your reply its much appreciated, I didn't ask for my overdraft to be increased. I didn't sign anything to increase the overdraft. My current financial hardship has been caused by me having to pay the fees back that they unlawfully charged me. Looking back I was in a cycle of trying to pay new fees which plunged me further into my overdraft.

jacques_chirac

funkyphantom wrote: »

Thanks very much for your reply its much appreciated, I didn't ask for my overdraft to be increased. I didn't sign anything to increase the overdraft. My current financial hardship has been caused by me having to pay the fees back that they unlawfully charged me. Looking back I was in a cycle of trying to pay new fees which plunged me further into my overdraft.

The charges were not unlawful.

Glad that things are back on track for you.

[Deleted User]

funkyphantom wrote: »

I didn't ask for my overdraft to be increased.

But you continued to take advantage of the increase by overspending accordingly-that is not the fault of the bank.

funkyphantom wrote: »

I didn't sign anything to increase the overdraft.

Nevertheless you still continued to spend...

funkyphantom wrote: »

My current financial hardship has been caused by me having to pay the fees back that they unlawfully charged me.

I'm afraid your logic is utterly flawed. There was nothing "unlawful" about the charges which you incurred by over-spending.

No point crying over spilt milk, since no refund will ever be forthcoming.

As Dunstonh said above, you cannot claim to now be in financial hardship since you are on a Debt Management Plan.

funkyphantom

OK thanks for your help.

funkyphantom

Sorry, just another quick question if I may? Me being on a debt management plan with Stepchange doesn't mean that I am in financial hardship?
Thanks

[Deleted User]

funkyphantom wrote: »

Me being on a debt management plan with Stepchange doesn't mean that I am in financial hardship?

Correct. You are currently being helped to recovery.

It matters little since you will never get a refund of these historical charges whatever your financial situation.

jamesd

funkyphantom wrote: »

Me being on a debt management plan with Stepchange doesn't mean that I am in financial hardship?

Right. A DMP should have its payment level arranged so that you are not in financial hardship. Money will be and is supposed to be tight, but not to the point where you can't pay necessary bills and living costs.

If you do find that you're having difficulties with the DMP payments, discuss that with Stepchange because it's expected that adjustments to a DMP will be needed from time to time as circumstances change. Don't just struggle when costs go up, get it adjusted so you can continue with it at an affordable if tough level.

funkyphantom

1. You're in financial hardship

Under both standard banking regulations and the Lending Code (an agreement that all major banks have signed up to) banks must treat you fairly and be considerate if you are in financial difficulty.

We've used these criteria, as well as guidance from the Ombudsman, to try to give some ideas as to what would count as hardship.

You're likely to have to meet several of these criteria to be successful, not just one, and you'll need to give the bank full details about how you've been affected.

Can't pay for necessities. You're struggling to meet basic necessities, including your mortgage, council tax, food and utility bills.
Can't pay debts. You're struggling to make loan and credit card repayments.
Income eaten by charges. Your income's being eaten up by repaying charges (for example, you're being asked to pay £50 of charges from a £100 weekly benefit income).

Note: this doesn't specifically cover the deduction of bank charges from your benefits under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 - this is an urban myth.
Payments regularly returned. Your payments regularly get returned unpaid as you don't have enough money in your account.
Substantial drop in income. For example, you've lost your job, started a lower paid job, needed to take parental or carers' leave, your partner has died, you've separated from your partner, you've started full time education or you/your partner has been in, or gone to, prison.
Disability or illness. You've needed to increase spending on something due to a disability or serious illness.
Going bankrupt or into debt management. You're going bankrupt, getting an IVA or debt relief order or are in a debt management plan.
Continually living off credit. You're living off credit and regularly need to increase your credit limit.
Regular credit card cash withdrawals. You are using regular cash withdrawals from credit cards to make ends meet
Frequently over your overdraft limit. You frequently go over your overdraft limit. In earlier incarnations of hardship rules this was explained as having more than £500 of charges a year – so that seems a good benchmark.
Bank charges have hurt your situation. The charges have contributed to making your financial hardship situation materially worse.

I'm sorry, i don't mean to be pedantic but this was taken from this site under the 'definition of financial hardship'