Credit Card Reclaiming Discussion

Premier_2

JaspaC wrote: »

... on the condition that I close the account.


... appeal for compensation etc..?

You can appeal for as much compensation as you want from yourself if you are not happy with a decision you have made

However, I doubt anyone else will give you any compo, especially if they are simply following your request.

If you don't accept the proposed resolution, tell the company that. Ultimately, if you can't come to an agreed resolution within the usual timeframe, then you can of course escalate the matter to the FOS.

Ralphy101

back in early sept i sent off an SAR to Argos... i still havent had anything back and tommorow is the 40 day deadline? Am i within my rights to go to the ICO?

How long will it take to get it resolved? i wanted the money ideally before end of Nov as it would of been handy for xmas!

Premier_2

Ralphy101 wrote: »

back in early sept i sent off an SAR to Argos... i still havent had anything back and tommorow is the 40 day deadline? Am i within my rights to go to the ICO?

How long will it take to get it resolved? i wanted the money ideally before end of Nov as it would of been handy for xmas!

I would suggest you try to contact the company concerned first to see if (a) they have received your request (although you could probably check your bank account too) and (b) when they plan to respond.

Going to the ICO will delay matters by months, but if the company are absolutely refusing to provide any information they have that you have requested, then that would be the only option.
e.g. when I contacted the ICO recently to complain, it took them a good 2 months to respond, and that was only an acknowledgement letter plus a request for additional info (i.e. copies of my original correspondence to the company)
That was 4 months ago since sending what they wanted, and I've heard nothing since.

Ralphy101

Thanks for that

I emailed a form to the ICO and sent an additional letter to Argos informing them that they have failed to respond within the 40 days.

I knew they got it because i send the letter recorded delivery!

Oh and i sent a £10 postal order.

spamdip

Hello, apologies if this is already answered somewhere within the previous 130 pages of discussion

Got my charges list back from Mint. All are overlimit fees of £12 from late 2006 and all 2007. I'm unsure whether to attempt reclaiming these as Martin's article says this was agreed as a reasonable amount at the time.

Any advice please?

Premier_2

spamdip wrote: »

Hello, apologies if this is already answered somewhere within the previous 130 pages of discussion

Got my charges list back from Mint. All are overlimit fees of £12 from late 2006 and all 2007. I'm unsure whether to attempt reclaiming these as Martin's article says this was agreed as a reasonable amount at the time.

Any advice please?

How much should I ask for?


This is where it gets a bit trickier but don’t worry, it’s simply about how hard you’re going to push. Remember the OFT has pretty much indicated any charges higher than £12 are challangeable.

• Charges from before June 2006. Credit card charges from before this date will usually have cost between £30 and £35. With these, you can ask for either the full amount of each charge to be refunded or the difference between the actual charge and the OFT recommended fee of £12; for example, a charge of £35 minus £12 would give a refund of £23.
• Charges after June 2006. For any charges on or after June 2006, you were probably hit for £12 each time. As this is already set to the OFT recommended amount, you simply need to ask for the full £12 amount to be refunded.

It makes a partial offer
There is a chance it’ll offer some of the money you want. If you have asked for the full refund this may be the difference between the fee and the £12 OFT recommendation. Whatever it offers, you need to decide whether it’s worth continuing or just taking the cash.

Should you accept a partial offer at this stage?
This is always a very tough decision. Whilst there’s a temptation to say ‘fight the good fight and take ‘em on’, what’s actually more important is protecting your pocket.

Let’s say you’ve £500 of charges and are offered £350; the first thing is try not to think “I’m £150 short” but instead that you’ve got £350 you thought was gone forever. The ultimate decision is yours. It’s a combination of whether you want the hassle of continuing versus the ‘certainty of the cash’.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/credit-card-charges

What I would say is that the FOS will not support any claims that are for £12 charges.

So unless the company willingly refund you the charges you claim, you'll need to be prepared to go to court if necessary if you really want to pursue these.

But as the article also says:

You can always change your mind later on if you are offered a settlement for the difference between what you were charged and £12.

Amberama

Hi all!

I have been reading this site for years and have got a long way.....but now I'm scared!

I have been reclaiming credit card charges from Natwest for some time now, and compared to some of the banks I've read about they seem to play hardball!

I first sent my claim to Natwest in January 2009 for £302 plus interest (which has been creeping up ever since!). The claim was for charges dating back as far as March 2003. Since the beginning they have delayed at every opportunity, getting the wrong addresses etc and refusing to accept very reasonable offers to settle and I guess I also I was unaware of the limit approaching.

After being refused by the Ombudsman for being over their time limit, I decided to pursue through the small claims court and submitted a claim through MoneyClaim.

I submitted for the original full amount I claimed from Natwest, but due to all the delays a large proportion of these charges have now gone past the 6 year limit. Natwest have stated their intention to defend the entire claim and submitted their defence based on these charges being past the Limitations Act period, and something about the claim being "incoherent" and without facts and asking me to remedy this or they will ask for the claim to be struck out (the particulars were copied from previously successful claimants).

So...like I say I am now a little scared on several fronts.

Should I proceed?
Will they turn up or is it a bluff?
Will I stand to be unable to claim the full amount despite my initially asking for the full amount from Natwest legitimately? I have read of people going beyond the 6 years but I am unclear as to what my rights are as yet.

I feel like I have been lead down a blind alley by Natwest, just biding their time knowing that my claim would become worthless in a matter of months and now they are going to win!

I would be so grateful for any help you geniuses can offer!

Thanks!

podperson

Hi Amber,

I am also in the process of a court claim for charges over 6 years (Halifax) and unfortunately it seems that going back this far makes for hard work since the others I have claimed within 6 years paid up with very little fuss. This is the part of my poc which deals with the limit:

The Claimant will seek to rely to Section 32c of the Limitation Act 1980 in pursuance to recover charges levied which are outside 6 years. The precedent for this was Kleninwort Benson-v-Lincoln City Council. The claimant contends that they were mistaken into paying the charges, and that they only became aware of a right of action and that such charges could be deemed as penalty following media focus on the Investigation of Credit Card Charges by the Office of Fair Trading in 2006.
The Claimant will say that although there was an agreement between the Office of Fair Trading and Credit Card issuers that a fee of £12 was reasonable for a breach of contract, the Office of Fair Trading said in their final report that only a Court could deem whether £12 was fair and reasonable and in proportion to actual costs to the Credit Card issuer.

What exactly are they saying is 'incoherent' regarding the claim?

jjww_2

Hi everyone,

I sent a letter to hsbc credit card to get a list of all default fees on 07/10/10 got a reply back today 13/10/10 saying:

"the bank is in the process of obtaining the necessary information, and will contact you in due course with the requested documentation. At the same time should any default fees have been applied to your account we will look to pro-actively offer a resolution at this stage."

Sounds pretty promising seem to be easier to deal with than mbna have been, not sure if that is just because of company policy or because I closed mbna account in july and have not quite finished paying hsbc back so that one is still open at the moment: although it is getting closed as soon as it is paid off.

Premier_2

Amberama wrote: »

Hi all!

I have been reading this site for years and have got a long way.....but now I'm scared!

I have been reclaiming credit card charges from Natwest for some time now, and compared to some of the banks I've read about they seem to play hardball!

I first sent my claim to Natwest in January 2009 for £302 plus interest (which has been creeping up ever since!). The claim was for charges dating back as far as March 2003. Since the beginning they have delayed at every opportunity, getting the wrong addresses etc and refusing to accept very reasonable offers to settle and I guess I also I was unaware of the limit approaching.

After being refused by the Ombudsman for being over their time limit, I decided to pursue through the small claims court and submitted a claim through MoneyClaim.

I submitted for the original full amount I claimed from Natwest, but due to all the delays a large proportion of these charges have now gone past the 6 year limit. Natwest have stated their intention to defend the entire claim and submitted their defence based on these charges being past the Limitations Act period, and something about the claim being "incoherent" and without facts and asking me to remedy this or they will ask for the claim to be struck out (the particulars were copied from previously successful claimants).

So...like I say I am now a little scared on several fronts.

Should I proceed?
Will they turn up or is it a bluff?
Will I stand to be unable to claim the full amount despite my initially asking for the full amount from Natwest legitimately? I have read of people going beyond the 6 years but I am unclear as to what my rights are as yet.

I feel like I have been lead down a blind alley by Natwest, just biding their time knowing that my claim would become worthless in a matter of months and now they are going to win!

I would be so grateful for any help you geniuses can offer!

Thanks!

Hi Amberama, and welcome to MSE :hello:

Don't worry!

Lets start at the beginning. Yes some companies may not make things easy for you, and will delay repaying you charges for as long as they can get away with.

According to the article:

...You can go back six years in England and Wales or five years in Scotland; these time periods are limited by law. This includes late payment and ‘over the limit’ fees but not standard account fees or interest...

However the Limitations Act (at least as far as England & Wales is concerned, I guess Scotland is similar) only applies for the period that you failed to contact the company.
If you initially contacted the company in 2009, then the claims going back to 2003 should be ok.
I'm not sure why the FOS would have thought otherwise? Perhaps they couldn't see your evidence that you had initiated the claim in 2003.

I guess the company are claiming they have failed to acknowledge any debt and are simply looking for an easy way out now. But if they were making offers to settle, they must have acknowledged the debt, at least in part :huh:
All you can do now is ensure you explain everthging to the court, and make sure you have the evidence available to back it up if necessary.

Regarding your POC, and the company's suggestion that it is "incoherent", can I confirm you used the template POC contained within the article? If so, I doubt any court will agree it is "incoherent".