Reclaiming bank charges

Martyn243

I have long running dispute with Nationwide regarding bank charges on my account which total to almost 5 thousand pounds over a six year period. I have followed the letter templates on the MSE website but Nationwide have basically told me they will be refunding none of these charges apart from £30 good will payment. They criticised my non essential spending in the letters and say I don't stand a chance if I take this to the financial ombudsman.

Is it worth me pursuing this?

dunstonh

Since the banks won the court case, they cannot be forced to refund charges by the FOS unless it is incorrect application of charges. Even with financial hardship, the FOS cannot force a bank to refund. All it can do is make sure the bank has considered the complaint fairly. There are multiple options a bank can use with hardship cases and refund is just one of those. Others are to suspend future charges/interest for a period and provide you with debt support.

Financial hardship refunds have to be CURRENT hardship. Not historic. You have to be in real hardship and not consumer spending overspend. They check your spending habits and if you have large mobile phone bills, sky tv, dining out/takeaways, shopping at NEXT, buying sandwiches at M&S etc then you are clearly not in hardship and they can reject your request.

In your case, they appear to believe that you are overspending on consumer items. Do you disagree with that?

Martyn243

No I don't disagree with that but as this is such a large amount of money I have paid out in charges. I feel I should be entitled to at least a percentage of it back?

w00519772

Martyn243 wrote: »

No I don't disagree with that but as this is such a large amount of money I have paid out in charges. I feel I should be entitled to at least a percentage of it back?

On what grounds? If you provide more information then people may be more helpful.

I would like the £90 I paid for a speeding ticket and the £120 I paid for a parking fine recently back. However, I do not think that will happen.

I broke the rules so I pay the price. Did the bank break the terms and conditions when they "took such a large amount of money"?

dunstonh

Martyn243 wrote: »

No I don't disagree with that but as this is such a large amount of money I have paid out in charges. I feel I should be entitled to at least a percentage of it back?

If you agree with their reasoning then there is nothing you are entitled to.

Your employer may feel they pay you too much. They cant get you to pay an amount of it back. Mobile phones cost stupid amounts of money but people buy them. They dont then ask for money back.

Your bank has a published tariff and if the charges are in line with that tariff then that is what you pay. The fact you have paid a large amount is irrelevant. The FOS, if you referred it to them, would only check to see if the bank has treated you fairly in its assessment of hardship.

Here is a FOS complaint outcome for someone who also felt they were too high
http://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=32767
or another:
http://www.ombudsman-decisions.org.uk/viewPDF.aspx?FileID=12694

You can see the train of thought that applies from these.

w00519772

Martyn243 wrote: »

I feel I should be entitled to at least a percentage of it back?

On what grounds?

Martyn243

Ok thanks for the advice dunstonh. I won't waste anymore time pursuing this.