Credit Card Reclaiming Discussion

Premier_2

podperson wrote: »

keithw38 wrote: »

how come the calculator for credit card claims only goes back to 1999

Most credit card companies only started adding charges in around 2000 so it would be very unusual if you had any earlier then this date.

Referring to old terms and conditions (of admittedly just a couple of credit cards), showed that there were terms in place well before 2000 to allow charges to be inposed in the case of late payments .

The amounts charged were not common and oftens not specifically itemised.

One company's terms in 1990 said 2.5% of all outstanding sums 30 days overdue and 4% of all amounts at least 60 days overdue.
(minimum charge of £1.00 would apply)

Another (Co-Op) from 1998 simply states they could add all charges they incurred as a result of late payment (which is what the law essentially permits today). The existing issue would have still existed in that does the charge applied to the consumer accurately reflect the actual cost to the company


Edit: just found another credit card's terms & conditions (MBNA) from September 1998 - that had £15 over limit and late payment charges included.

Liquizen

Hi Everyone.

A quick question , if I could possibly pick your brains.
In the past I have successfully recovered bank charges before it became trickier, and recently have recovered credit card charges from Mint, and am in the process of the same with EGG.

I also have a credit card with halifax, and having recieved a list of the charges added to my card from them, I see that the charges date back to 2006, but are ALL £12 charges only. Nothing more.

Is it possible to claim back these £12 charges, even though the oft have said they are reasonable and wont look into anyone charging that amount.
It still totals £500 odd quid without interest, so would be good if I had grounds to go ahead..

Many thanks for your help..

Premier_2

Liquizen wrote: »

Hi Everyone.

A quick question , if I could possibly pick your brains.
In the past I have successfully recovered bank charges before it became trickier, and recently have recovered credit card charges from Mint, and am in the process of the same with EGG.

I also have a credit card with halifax, and having recieved a list of the charges added to my card from them, I see that the charges date back to 2006, but are ALL £12 charges only. Nothing more.

Is it possible to claim back these £12 charges, even though the oft have said they are reasonable and wont look into anyone charging that amount.
It still totals £500 odd quid without interest, so would be good if I had grounds to go ahead..

Many thanks for your help..

See my response to a similar question recently posed in this thread.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=36806434&postcount=2490

podperson

You can still claim them back, they will quote the OFT report at you so try and get ahead of them and quote it to them first

Whilst I am already aware that after the OFT recommendations, xxbank reduced their charges to £12, I would remind you that in the same OFT recommendations, the following is also mentioned;
“We are not suggesting that default fees should be set at £12, and a court will certainly not consider that a default fee is fair just because it is below the threshold”. “We consider that a contract term is likely to be unfair if it requires consumers to pay more as a result of a default than the court would order them to pay if they were sued for breach of contract. This means that a default charge should not exceed a reasonable pre-estimate of the administrative costs that the consumer ought to have realised would be likely to be incurred by his or her card issuer in dealing with defaults”.


I quoted that in my response to offers for the difference between the £12 and the higher charges but if it you put it in at first might save you a second letter!

joncow75

Had a letter from Capital One today telling me that they thank me for my letter dated the 25/08 regarding default sums but I am to refer to their letter dated the 18th August as a final response. I've never had any letter dated the 18/08 from them, and infact had sent a letter on the 02/09 clearly stating I had no response at all just 2 letters dated 02/08 and 31/08 both stating we are looking into things. This was after I had questions their maths in offering a difference between £20 and £12 charges. I received another letter dated 16/09 telling me they needed a little more time, then this one today dated 20/09. How could they be "still looking into things" in September if they had sent a final response back in August. I rang customer services who have told me that i can't speak to anyone in the Executive Response team and they can't arrange for a copy of the letter dated 18/08 - I need to write in. I feel Capital One are just mucking me around to make me back down, but it is just making me very angry with them. I don't see why I should have to wait another 40 days for a response on this. Nor can I believe that I would receive 2 letters after their "final response" telling me they are still looking at my complaint. How do they get away with this or am I over reacting? They are quick to ring if my payment is a day late, yet have spent 12 weeks looking into an investigation, that may take another 4!!

Premier_2

Whilst Capital One can be a nightmare to deal with (I know, I used to have one of their credit cards years ago and had one heck of a trouble coming to a resolution over a disputed transaction, at the time they didn't abide by the banking code so the FOS wouldn't help either), but if they say they sent a letter 18th August, I suspect they did.

I would use that as a basis to complain to your local Royal Mail sorting office over non delivery/possible theft of some of your mail, and even consider reporting the matter to the police.

Anyway, I don't see why they wouldn't agree to your request to send another copy (but I did say they were a nightmare) and if they will only do so if the request is in writing, put it in writing.

Unfortunately, you need that final response letter in order to complain to the FOS (The FOS will now consider complaints about Capital One), otherwise you have to wait the minimum 8 weeks.
But without knowing the full contents of the letter you haven't received, you could be chasing your tail, so do what is necessary to get a copy of that letter/response.

Edit: just saw you claim you started your complaint 12 weeks ago. What are you waiting for? :huh: Complaints can be escalated to the FOS 8 weeks after complaining to the financial institution if no mutual resolution has been agreed.
(but it would still probably be better if you knew the content of their 'final response' letter)

joncow75

Thanks Premier, I think that is the way forward. Bit hard to go to the FOS with a final response when i don't know what that is, but at least I know that Capital One don't read any letters sent to them and just file away for 40 days, or they would have noticed that I stated I hadn't had a response from them, when I wrote at the start of September. I will ring first thing in the morning and try to speak to someone in the UK. The excuse from the lady I spoke to was that as she was in the Philippines she couldn't get a copy of a letter sent to me. Seems a bit illogical sending a call centre abroad if the staff aren't authorised to do anything other than chase you for payment :-s No UK staff seem to work on a weekend either. Just a shame that customer service is something that Capital One don't seem to understand these days. I probably would have accepted the £20/£12 differerence (as it would have paid off half the remaining balance on the card) if they had conducted any of this with any kind sense and logic, but as they won't even speak to me, send standard letters, can't add up and lie in what they do send, I think i'll be ensuring I ask for the lot, which should pay off the card (which will be immediately cancelled) and put some money in my pocket for a change.

crask

Hi,
Could I get some advice?
I've sent off my claim to MBNA and requesting a full response in 14 days. They have replied with a letter and a complaints leaflet stating they are investigating and will give a full response by November 9th.

I realise this is probably a stalling tactic and the guide says I should stick to my timetable but my question is should I move on to step 4 and threaten court immediately or at least wait an extra week? If it goes to court or FOS would they look less favourably that I haven't waited? I see from the MBNA thread that there is a post about being patient and they will pay - but that is old.
Thanks.

joncow75

My understanding is that the FOS will not look into anything untill an 8 week time period is up from your request (or them receiving it). Virgin (MBNA) have point blank refused to refund me anything so I have gone to the FOS, although I have had nothing from them either (not even an aknowledgement after 2 weeks), but I suspect thay are snowed under right now with complaints. I think a few CC companies are now seeing that the FOS are starting to back Egg every time so have decided to just say no to everyone - while also dragging it out as long as possible. That way you have to go to the FOS, which can take a long time, or take them to court, and a lot of people would back down at this stage

Premier_2

crask wrote: »

Hi,
Could I get some advice?
I've sent off my claim to MBNA and requesting a full response in 14 days. They have replied with a letter and a complaints leaflet stating they are investigating and will give a full response by November 9th.

I realise this is probably a stalling tactic and the guide says I should stick to my timetable but my question is should I move on to step 4 and threaten court immediately or at least wait an extra week? If it goes to court or FOS would they look less favourably that I haven't waited? I see from the MBNA thread that there is a post about being patient and they will pay - but that is old.
Thanks.

You should consider court action only as a matter of last resort. Waiting the 8 weeks the FOS would usually allow seems sensible. Failure to do so could incur you in court fees which, because you hadn't waited, the company would probably be unwilling to pay and similarly it's very probably a court wouldn't award you even if the case did go to court and you won, as the court may feel your court claim to be made vexatiously.

The FOS won't worry about you waiting either; they won't even consider your case until the company has had 8 weeks to respond, and would typically take 3 months themselves after that to resolve.