Bank Charges Test Case Article discussion

emma280981

I am in an IVA so believe i could get my claim looked at under the hardship criteria, but would i have to pay whatever money they gave me straight to my IVA?

Someone please advise. Thanks Em :0)

poppy10_2

It has been revealed that at least 65,000 people have had their claims for the return of overdraft charges frozen in the court system.

The figures, obtained from the Ministry of Justice, have been made public by campaigners for the first time.

The legal claims were halted in July 2007 by a general stay on overdraft cases, imposed by county court judges.

The stay was part of a wider agreement to allow a High Court test case to decide if bank overdraft fees are fair.

Litigation
A year and a half since the 2007 agreement, the High Court litigation, agreed between eight banks and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), is still running.

Until the summer of 2007, the UK's main banks had been besieged by an unprecedented consumer revolt.


Hundreds of thousands of disgruntled customers were suing their banks in the county courts, usually successfully, for the return of the overdraft fees they regarded as excessive and unfair.

In most cases the banks gave in to these claims, preferring to refund £784m to an estimated 378,000 customers in 2007, rather than run the risk of adverse judgements in any courts.

But the stay, a policy that has been agreed by individual county court judges, meant that unresolved and new cases were put on hold until a final High Court ruling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7880745.stm

Thorny_Rose84

We sent off our template letter and statements in August last year claiming for a little under £2000 and got the typical 'we don't think our charges are unfair blah blah we're waiting on the OFT's decision'.

We haven't heard anything further but have since racked up nearly another £3000 in charges since - through no fault of our own (I had a car accident and we've suffered loss of earnings etc. and had to go overdrawn to get basics like food, gas and electric).

When I phoned HSBC about another matter I asked the woman if she knew anything about the bank charge reclaim and she said all that they're being told is that it's on hold until July this year.

We're getting married in August and the money would seriously help us out, so

1, is there anything we can do to get the reclaim hurried up and

2, can we claim the £3000 on top of the £2000 already claimed or do we have to set up a new claim?

Sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but this sort of thing really baffles me!

Thanks in advance for any help/advice offered.

roller1007

Hello i was wondering if you could help me, I have recently put a claim in regarding unfair bank charges under finciancail hardship, the Halifax bank have offered me some of my charges back but say they will only credit the money back to my bank account instead of sending me a cheque. I am unable to use this bank account anymore as the bank have suspended it due to me owing money on an unothorised overdraft, i am currently repaying £1 a month for the money i owe as agreed through the citizens advice and the halifax. Are the bank right to do this or is there some way that the bank can send me the cheque instead of putting it into the account which wont help my finacial hardship

natweststaffmember

roller1007 wrote: »

Hello i was wondering if you could help me, I have recently put a claim in regarding unfair bank charges under finciancail hardship, the Halifax bank have offered me some of my charges back but say they will only credit the money back to my bank account instead of sending me a cheque. I am unable to use this bank account anymore as the bank have suspended it due to me owing money on an unothorised overdraft, i am currently repaying £1 a month for the money i owe as agreed through the citizens advice and the halifax. Are the bank right to do this or is there some way that the bank can send me the cheque instead of putting it into the account which wont help my finacial hardship

Yes they are right to a degree but it might be worth sending them an additional letter explaining that the said money will be used to clear arrears on debt a, on debt b and on debt c which is the most pressing debts that you have and see what their response is.

tilly002

hi ya, firstly im loving the site martin, well done to you...
can anyone help me out ... i put a claim in for my bank charges just before they stopped and put it all on hold...i had the letter to say that they had got all my information, but that i was a bit to late...(only a couple of days)... anyways, since puting the claim in, i have moved house and the branch of my bank has changed...im still with Barclays but in a different town.......will this make any difference to any information that they will send me regarding my claim......gratefull for any info that people can give me..thanks lisa

natweststaffmember

tilly002 wrote: »

hi ya, firstly im loving the site martin, well done to you...
can anyone help me out ... i put a claim in for my bank charges just before they stopped and put it all on hold...i had the letter to say that they had got all my information, but that i was a bit to late...(only a couple of days)... anyways, since puting the claim in, i have moved house and the branch of my bank has changed...im still with Barclays but in a different town.......will this make any difference to any information that they will send me regarding my claim......gratefull for any info that people can give me..thanks lisa

Providing you have updated your details with Barclays then it should be fine. When you say you have moved branches, do you mean your account or simply that you use a different account.

sun01

Hi all,

I have filed a claim for a refund on my bank fees etc with the Co-op (about £850 inc interest.)

I filed under 'financial hardship' as I am self-employed on a low income, receive tax credits, and live in the high cost area of London. (I do not receive JSA, housing benefits or any other benefits though.)

They said to me that they have no obligation to refund me the money immediately on the grounds of financial hardship and that I would have to wait until the outcome of the waiver is decided this July.

They said the only obligation on the Co-op is to see if there is any way they can help me financially with regard to other aspects of my account.

Is this information correct?

Is this worth pursuing any further or should I give up and wait until July?

Could really do with the money now!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Numpty_Monkey

spam reported cheapnike

natweststaffmember

sun01 wrote: »

Hi all,

I have filed a claim for a refund on my bank fees etc with the Co-op (about £850 inc interest.)

I filed under 'financial hardship' as I am self-employed on a low income, receive tax credits, and live in the high cost area of London. (I do not receive JSA, housing benefits or any other benefits though.)

They said to me that they have no obligation to refund me the money immediately on the grounds of financial hardship and that I would have to wait until the outcome of the waiver is decided this July.

They said the only obligation on the Co-op is to see if there is any way they can help me financially with regard to other aspects of my account.

Is this information correct?

Is this worth pursuing any further or should I give up and wait until July?

Could really do with the money now!

Any advice greatly appreciated.

The answer is YES they are correct that they are under no obligation to refund charges under the FSA Waiver on bank charges, as are all banks/building societies under the waiver. However, some do refund if you are in extreme hardship, ie rent arrears/mortgage arrears, etc,etc,