Bank Charges Test Case Article discussion

natweststaffmember

Alastairroy wrote: »

I am looking for updates, does anyone know what has happened the next key date of Oct 09 has been reached and there has been no further information posted.

Thanks in advance
Al

No decision as to whether the decision will be this month because it might not be until next month or later.

dandelionlou

So if there is not going to be a decision on the 26th october, how long are we going to have to go on waiting? Will the banks find another way to drag out this process? I am beginning to feel very disheartened by this whole process, it's such an upward battle. Will we ever get our charges back? Sorry to be so despondent.

SAIBOT

My faith in this entire process has wilted significantly in recent weeks. I simply cannot envisage a time when this will come to an end, and even if it is finalized in the next 6, 12, 18, maybe 24 months, I simply no longer believe that the banks will have to repay all customers' charges irrespective of whether they are deemed to be completely unlawful. I just do not see it happening any more.

They will find some way around it and it will leave millions of people disappointed and angry that this long, drawn-out saga has been for nothing. That is my opinion at this time, despite being extremely optimistic about this whole thing since the summer of 2007 when it began.

There may be alot of people here who strongly disagree with what I say, but do you really see a positive end to all of this anytime soon? (by positive I mean complete refunds of all charges and by soon I mean in the next 1-2 years).

Because I no longer do.

natweststaffmember

dandelionlou wrote: »

So if there is not going to be a decision on the 26th october, how long are we going to have to go on waiting?
Keep your eye on the Supreme Court Website and then you will know when the decision is coming.
Will the banks find another way to drag out this process?
This is a legal process with huge volumes of evidence. Did you think that the evidence would be in picture book method for the Law Lords to consider?
I am beginning to feel very disheartened by this whole process, it's such an upward battle. Will we ever get our charges back?
Until the Supreme Court gives its verdict then there is no way of saying yes or no because the charges if assessable could be deemed unfair but that will take more litigation or more court cases.
Sorry to be so despondent.

Be positive. 4 judges so far have said the banks are wrong. We just need the final 5 to say so.

natweststaffmember

SAIBOT wrote: »

My faith in this entire process has wilted significantly in recent weeks. I simply cannot envisage a time when this will come to an end, and even if it is finalized in the next 6, 12, 18, maybe 24 months, I simply no longer believe that the banks will have to repay all customers' charges irrespective of whether they are deemed to be completely unlawful. I just do not see it happening any more.
If they are not deemed unfair then you get nothing so it won't happen if they are deemed fair. IF they are deemed unfair then they will be paying back the money.
They will find some way around it and it will leave millions of people disappointed and angry that this long, drawn-out saga has been for nothing. That is my opinion at this time, despite being extremely optimistic about this whole thing since the summer of 2007 when it began.
Until the fat lady sings then there is nothing to be negative about. Nervous(yes I am) but not negative on the outcome.
There may be alot of people here who strongly disagree with what I say, but do you really see a positive end to all of this anytime soon? (by positive I mean complete refunds of all charges and by soon I mean in the next 1-2 years).
The picture will become clearer when the Supreme Court gives it verdict. I think the timeframe of 1-2 years is probably within the ball park so I think that issue is probably correct
Because I no longer do.

Until the Supreme Court rules we have nothing to be negative about because at the moment it is OFT 4 The Banks 0. Now we are nearly at half time so we will see what the additional 5 judges say.

dandelionlou

Thanks for the encouragement.

andybean

Hi, just had a long chat with a telephone operative at the Halifax because i asked to have a breakdown of the last 6 years of charges on 3 accounts i have with them, willing to pay the £10 charge.
Only got round to doing this now due to my overdrafts finally getting sorted.
She told me not to bother as she could only log my interest as since the cases are on hold they are not doing any breakdowns.

She said they were waiting to hear by the end of the month (Oct) the outcome but they feel that only the last couple of years will be paid back and its up to people to claim those
I mentioned that i didnt think thats what general claiming advice was telling us to do but said thats what they were advising and action they were taking.
Who is right and what should i do now?

malcindebt

andybean wrote: »

Hi, just had a long chat with a telephone operative at the Halifax because i asked to have a breakdown of the last 6 years of charges on 3 accounts i have with them, willing to pay the £10 charge.
Only got round to doing this now due to my overdrafts finally getting sorted.
She told me not to bother as she could only log my interest as since the cases are on hold they are not doing any breakdowns.

She said they were waiting to hear by the end of the month (Oct) the outcome but they feel that only the last couple of years will be paid back and its up to people to claim those
I mentioned that i didnt think thats what general claiming advice was telling us to do but said thats what they were advising and action they were taking.
Who is right and what should i do now?

Legally they cannot refuse a correctly formatted request for this information under the Data Protection Act.

They can , when you make your formal claim for charges,advise you that due to the test case that they have logged your claim and will deal with it at such a time as the test case has been concluded.

This does not mean you cannot still start a claim in the courts,it will however be stayed at this point.

natweststaffmember

andybean wrote: »

Hi, just had a long chat with a telephone operative at the Halifax because i asked to have a breakdown of the last 6 years of charges on 3 accounts i have with them, willing to pay the £10 charge.
Only got round to doing this now due to my overdrafts finally getting sorted.
She told me not to bother as she could only log my interest as since the cases are on hold they are not doing any breakdowns.

She said they were waiting to hear by the end of the month (Oct) the outcome but they feel that only the last couple of years will be paid back and its up to people to claim those
I mentioned that i didnt think thats what general claiming advice was telling us to do but said thats what they were advising and action they were taking.
Who is right and what should i do now?

Totally agree with Malc with one additional proviso. Never talk to call centre people who know very little about the law. Write to them or hand in a request with the required fee to their branch and ask for the business card of the person accepting the request.
She is not right.

andybean

since then iv telephoned again and got a lot better person to deal with.
He said he could lodge a 'legal challenge complaint' with customer services.
He said that i would probably get a letter saying that its on hold but at least im in the line, and they are the department who often try and offer some kind of settlement.He also said he had not heard anything about the years being reduced any less than 6.:D
He did say the only real way was to get all the statements for 6 years back to know my charges, however he was able to tell me how many letters i had been sent over the duration of the accounts being open.Granted this dosnt give me the exact amount, as more then one charge could be on a letter, however it gives me a rough idea.
Further on than i was anyway.I will download the template and ask them that way.
Thanks for the help.