Bank Charges Test Case Article discussion

tiggrae

blodwyn wrote: »

Hi There!

I am currently on hold with my Nationwide claim (put on hold in court last year). Like a good Girl Guide I am ensuring that all my paperwork is ship shape ready for if and when I ever get to stand in the court room! (see below for the amount).

It has recently been pointed out to me by my parents that the original account opened with Nationwide was opened by them when I was about 4 (I am now 28). Over the years Nationwide has automatically upgraded my account, eventually to a Flex Account (their current account) when I turned 18. I have never asked for my account to be upgraded, and each time it was, I was never asked to sign any paperwork, so therefore have never signed an agreement agreeing to their terms and conditions (i.e. charges).

I am going to write to them asking for 'copies' (although there are none) of the agreements I signed for the account.

Is there anybody else out there who is in the same situation with Nationwide or any other bank? Any advice on where I could go from here would be greatly received!!

write and tell Nationwide you never signed for the flex account and you want any account fees to be repaid to you - tell them you are putting them to a strict burden of proof as to you having requested it - if no joy take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman

tiggrae

Mattie wrote: »

Last year i went though all the process trying to claim my bank charges from HSBC. i had about £6000 in interest and excess overdraft fee's etc.

It got passed to court and then got thown out as i was told the the banks no longer pay out. Has the law changed and is it worth trying to put the claim in again?

Thanks Mattie

was it struck out or stayed ?

blodwyn

tiggrae wrote: »

write and tell Nationwide you never signed for the flex account and you want any account fees to be repaid to you - tell them you are putting them to a strict burden of proof as to you having requested it - if no joy take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman

Thankyou for your advice. I'll be sending the letter to Nationwide tomorrow. Will let you know how it goes!!!

PaulF

last year I requested details of charges applied to my Natwest Mastercard account and received an offer, which I did not accept, with the intention of appealing through the Ombudsman for the full charges. To my shame, I didn't get round to this; can I repeat the procedure (by paying another £10) or do you only get one opportunity?

bargaindoctor

QUICK UPDATE

Hey guys

I'm having a major issue with the RBOS which has been an ongoing battle for the last 3 months. I'm hoping I can get some definite advice and suggestions on how to proceed as this is causing havoc for me & my family!

I have had a bank account with Royal Bank since September 2000. I however also bank with Halifax which is my main bank. I stopped using Royal Bank after finishing university in 2003. However I was a fool and did not close off the account. I just forgot about it. I had a few pounds in the account, and so I just thought I'd leave it as an 'emergency backup account'.

It's now been a few years since I last 'touched' the account per se. Back at the end of March 2008, I started receiving phone calls from them, one almost every 5 hours! I was away for a couple of days and when I got the messages upon returning it said that I now owe their collections department over £300 in charges!

Upon further investigation, apparently the account became overdrawn by £37. And because they then took away my overdraft, they said they were legal to start charging me, and it was justified. I don't know the further details of the charges but as far as I'm aware it is just accumulating interest. The woman on the phone was very rude, told me that unless I pay my credit score would be maxed, etc etc... they would make it very hard for me to borrow money.

I didn't pay. She said they will continue charging me etc. and get a collector to collect the money, or repossess property blah blah blah. After seeking advice from this forum and having this all happen in April right in the middle of the verdict, I asked for some advice and a very helpful MSE member said to post on this board. He said not to pay them. Instead, to write to them immediately, recorded delivery and say I dispute the charges. Remind them that where a debt is in dispute it is illegal to register a default or to charge interest.

I called them back 5 days later to tell them I will not be paying and will be sending in a letter. In that time, the charges rose to £313 from £268.07 (21/4)! They obviously questioned why I haven't checked my bank statements. I pointed out that I have not received my statements, and understand that my bank address was never updated. She said that it was my responsbility to make sure this was the case. I told her it was the bank's responsibility to ensure they had the right address and to contact me instead of letting charges build over 2 years. So as far as I can tell, I have been getting charged about £28 a month + 5-6% interest. charges for may apparently have ALREADY been added to the account.

So I posted this out on April 28 recorded special delivery to thier customers relations manager. The address i was given was:

Customers Relations Manager
Royal Bank of Scotland
Freepost PO Box 1727
Edinburgh EH12 9JN

I sent this along with a cheque for £10.

It is now the end of June, so over 2 months. And I have not heard anything back. But they did stop calling....

...until 2 days ago.

I got a text message from them saying they want me to urgently contact their pay department. I have not called yet. I assume they never levied this! I have been trying to hunt down the recorded delivery which I sent them, because clearly they should have responded within 14 days. But my head must be in the clouds becuase I can't find this now!

I'm not sure how to proceed- and would love some guidance:

-Should I call them? What should I say? I assume if they never stopped, charges would be in the £1000s by now!
-Should I write another letter off and send it recorded delivery?
-Anything else I can do?
-If I don't pay this off, would my credit rating be damaged for life?

Thank you guys... and I wish everyone else success with this!

meaderbar

hi sent a letter to my bank (the template from this site )have not heard from them at all this was more than 2 mounths ago please could some one advise me on what i can do know thank (anyone!!!)

debrag

filing papers against Nationwide today is it worth it?

reuby

I have just had a letter from nationwide informing me that they are not to take part in the july 7 to 9 hearing as the judge had decided the wording of terms & conditions they have previously used is very similar to that of the current versions which the judge has decided do not amount to penalties ....

does this mean nationwide more or less already won? does this mean nationwide customers wont get anything back ? any1 else got this letter?

any one know the answers as im confused????

PLEASE HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND IF THIS IS THE CASE???????

REUBY......

debrag

well I filled by claim against Nationwide on Friday & on Saturday I got the OFTvNationwide letter updating me on the High Court case etc etc basicaly my claim is on hold

Former_MSE_Wendy

Just quickly on Nationwide, more in our news article soon, but Nationwide not attending today's test case management hearing does not mean it has 'won' the whole test case. The dicusssion this week is mostly about penalties, which it has been decided Nationwide do not have in their contracts, but the main point of the test case is about unfair contract terms, which has yet to be decided.

Hope this helps to explain slightly.

W