bank charges / letter from bank / update

midebt

so....about 3 mths ago i started proceedings to claim back charges of approx 700£ from halifax..........

after about a 6 week wait we had an offer of '' goodwill '' of 300 which we accepted

however today 6th aug we recieved a ltter from the bank saying we can let them have that back if we choose as ..........the courts are now taking on these charges etc etc..- it all in the papers as we know - and we may or may not get more at the the end of all the court cases.

and wait for the corts to decide about all the bank charges...........etc etc

( we r not taking them to court as yet as we have had some money back from them )

so........

do we let them have the money back ?? and await there trials ????

rayday2

What did the letter say that came with the news about the £300 if it didn't accept liablility and was just a goodwill surely that is nothing to do with teh courts.

Have to see what some more experts say.

Little_Pickle

I hope this isn't the case as I'm in the same position and waiting for my charges to be re-paid.

If you accepted 3 weeks ago, this was before reclaiming was put on hold. Therefore, it shouldn't affect you and also because of what was said in rayday's post.

Hmm, I hope someone can put some light on the subject....

Little_Pickle

sorry... read your post wrong!!!! I thought you said that because of the hold that is now in place, they weren't going to pay you at all!!!

hmmm... surely if accepted 300 for 700 of charges, then you would be repaid 400 if the courts award on the consumer's side???

midebt

well..

the letter states that the bank are within there right to make charges blah blah blah .........

so as a GOOD WILL GESTURE thy offered us 300 and we accepted.

all to do with the banking ombudsman.......HERES SOME PART OF THE LETTER......... and to be honest i dont think i will be giving them there money back........



We refer to your complaint about bank charges
We wrote to you making u a good will gesture in full and final settlement of you complaint
Since we last wrote to you the bank ( and several other banks ) became involved in legal proceedings with OFT about bank charges which we believe will resolve the legals issue on the fairness and legality of bank charges.

We have asked the FSA to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with complaints
However the goodwill payment the bank made to you still stands and you can accept or reject this offer
You should be aware the at if u accept the offer this will be in full and final settlement. This means that it is unlikely you will be awarded a further sum even if the test case indicated that you could be entitled to a potentially larger amount.
We do not know how long the court case will take

floss2

So, let me get this straight, they offered you a full & final settlement which you accepted? So they are now saying that if you accept this offer, you will not get any more? But you can give them their £300 back just in case? What happens if the case finds in the banks' favour - I guess you've lost all of it, inculding the £300 you've currently got.....

Personally, I wouldn't have accepted their goodwill offer. I told NatWest where to stick their "generous goodwill offer of £1500" and hung out for all my £3k back, which again was a "gesture of goodwill" and not an "acknowledgement of excessive charges"....but that was last October before the current situation. I would probably feel different if I was claiming now.

midebt

yep looks like ur right.thats why i think we will stick with what we got in the first place............

but thy got a cheek saying '' give it back to us cos we want it and u may not get it back '' ha ha ha as if !!!!!

ltm07

We are in the process of claiming £950 from the Abbey. They have sent us £50 as a'goodwill gesture' & have not accepted liability. The £50 was put into our account before we received the letter. We are still fighting our corner,so to speak. Surely they will have to refund any charges should the courts rule in favour of the consumer.

floss2

I think it will depend if you have accepted any payment as "full & final settlement"....i was advised not to put that phrase into my acceptance letter & just said "thankyou for my £3k, I accept, when do I get my cheque?, love & kisses Floss!" (well, words like that but slightly more proper!)

ltm07

Yes that's exactly what we've done lol!:D

ltm07

What i mean is we accepted the £50 as exactly what it was,a goodwill gesture. We are still fighting them for the £950 + interest that they owe us. It's currently being dealt with by the F.O.,although there could be a bit of a wait to see if we win our case or not.