Report Bank Charges successes and failures

[Deleted User] · 20 November 2017 at 3:04PM

domski998 wrote: »

Can i send both bank charges and package claim in one letter?

Your letter is littered with errors which will deny you any refund I'm afraid. First, you should make no reference to the charges being "unfair", the banks won their court case about unfair charges. Secondly, you should not have calculated any interest, since this won't be repaid. Thirdly, you are requesting a set amount of charges be refunded. This isn't necessary and you are unlikely to receive the full amount in any case. Fourthly, there is no point threatening the Bank with the Ombudsman since the FOS cannot deal with such complaints. Fifthly, the Bank are allowed eight weeks to respond to complaints, so it is futile giving them a deadline of only two weeks.

To be honest, your letter appears to have been constructed based on an out-of-date template.

Bank charges are only refunded to those who can show they are currently in the Bank's definition of Financial Hardship. This means you are struggling to pay essential bills and that you are not simply wasting your money on things like a Sky subscription, mobile phone contracts and general consumer spending. The Bank will look at your statements to ascertain this and your spending patterns. If they deem you are in Financial Hardship they may choose to refund (some) charges; typically those from the last six months. They could choose instead to suspend future charges for a period or they might ask you to enter a debt management programme.

Don't under any circumstances send the letter you have posted here in it's current form..

As to your current account complaint, you need to send that separately, not mix up the two.

domski998 · 20 November 2017 at 10:15PM

Thank you guys for your time and answers,i`ll read all comments and try to do it as it shouldbe.

[Deleted User] · 21 November 2017 at 12:13AM

domski998 wrote: »

i`ll read all comments and try to do it as it shouldbe.

Remember that there is no "should be" about it, you are either in Financial Hardship or you aren't.

If you don't fulfil the Bank's Hardship criteria you won't receive a refund of bank charges regardless of whether you have a well-written complaint letter.

Be honest, are you actually in Financial Hardship?

NinaMccreesh · 2 December 2017 at 12:27PM

HSBC
£1179.69
£877.56
Used the template and wrote a letter. Included my annual charges summaries going back 6 years posted it recorded delivery on 19th November received £877.56 on 25th November!! I stayed in my letter I wasn’t asking for interest on top of the account charges but had included it in the total (doh) and that I am in a better financial position and that I understand going forward that I accept charges I may incur as they are now £5 per day capped at £80 a month not £50 per transactio or being charged £130+ in a month and not being able to claw out of that monthly cycle. Have to say I was so shocked, pleased and surprised!!

incesticde · 12 December 2017 at 3:04PM

I’m a little confused....

In martins template it says

You are / were stuck in a cycle of charges you cannot break out off. If you’ve had charges on charges, and were stuck in a trap of not being able to clear them before new daily or monthly fees are added on top.

Now this to me means that if you were in financial hardship you can claim but people on here are saying FH only applies if you are currently in FH

What gives?

(I had a shedload of charges 2000-2009 which contributed to missed payments etc. the guide seems to suggest I could have a chance but this forum seems emphatic I wouldn’t)

Thanks in advance for any and all help

dunstonh · 12 December 2017 at 3:39PM

In martins template it says

Remember that the template is largely out-of-date and originates from the days when bank charge reclaiming was common. This is not a complaint you are making. It is a plea for a goodwill payment to help you out of current financial difficulty. You want the person at the bank to be on your side. Using a template that they have seen many times before doesnt give them any personalisation to your issues. By all means, use the template as a starting point but make sure it is about you. Don't include generic reasons that do not apply.

Now this to me means that if you were in financial hardship you can claim but people on here are saying FH only applies if you are currently in FH

It is current financial hardship. The reason for that is that it is a goodwill gesture. The banks do not actually have to refund a penny. They have other options available to them. Such as suspending future charges for a period or putting in place a debt management plan. If you are not in current financial hardship, those things do not apply. If you are not in current financial hardship, they don't need to offer any goodwill payment to get you out of financial trouble.

(I had a shedload of charges 2000-2009 which contributed to missed payments etc. the guide seems to suggest I could have a chance but this forum seems emphatic I wouldn’t)

You would not expect any success with that. The FOS state on their website: A bank should respond helpfully and fairly where a consumer is in genuine financial difficulty, but that will not necessarily involve refunds of charges. See it says "is in". Not has been in.

Here is an example from the FOS:

83/01
consumer asks bank to treat her complaint about charges as a priority, because of her financial difficulties
Ms M complained to her bank about 'unpaid item' charges she had incurred on her current account over the previous six years. She asked the bank to give her case priority because she was experiencing financial hardship.

The bank did not agree with Ms M that she was experiencing any financial hardship, so she referred the case to us.

complaint not upheld
We asked Ms M for information about her financial difficulties. She was unwilling to disclose many personal details. However, she told us that her son, who was in his early 20s, had a number of debts. She planned to help him repay some of them with the money she was expecting from the refund of her bank charges.

The records of Ms M's current account showed that she had been through a period of financial difficulty several years earlier. At that time the bank had refunded some charges on her account, as well as helping her to re-schedule various direct debits so that it was easier for her to budget for them. We saw no evidence to suggest she had experienced any financial difficulties since then.

We said that, in the circumstances, the bank had no need to consider her case as a priority or to provide her with the type of additional assistance that might be appropriate in cases of financial hardship.

mand · 22 December 2017 at 2:28PM

A nice £1500 from Barclaycard, after I phoned up to cancel the PPI which has been on my account since 2001 and they suggested I might want to file a complaint. Thanks to all on these forums for guiding me through the process :-)

dunstonh · 23 December 2017 at 12:13AM

mand wrote: »

A nice £1500 from Barclaycard, after I phoned up to cancel the PPI which has been on my account since 2001 and they suggested I might want to file a complaint. Thanks to all on these forums for guiding me through the process :-)

Barclaycard is not a bank account and PPI is not bank charges.

However, well done on your success.

MummyQueenJules · 30 December 2017 at 10:03AM

SUCCESS - very fast - using MSE recommended "Resolver".

Lloyds - amount reclaimed £17 per month for 14 years - repaid just over £3,100 (full amount plus interest).

I saw the post on Money Saving Expert, clicked the link to Resolver.co.uk, completed the letter (five minutes investment of time - I didn't have the details of when I opened the account, so said "over ten years ago"). I said I'd been told I needed the packaged Platinum account in order to get the same overdraft I had at the bank I was tranfering from.

I did this on Christmas Eve.

I was contacted by the bank and spoke to the case manager yesterday and we talked about what had happened. The lady was lovely. I had used the car breakdown insurance as a passenger on three occasions over the 14 years, other than that, I don't have a car so hadn't used the car insurance, I hadn't travelled so hadn't needed the travel insurance. She said the decision would be made and any refund would be paid before a letter was issued as this is quicker. She said if the complaint was upheld, Lloyds would transfer my overdraft to a free account, so I wouldn't lose it.

Low and behold, I checked this morning and have been credited with just over £3,100.

All within FIVE DAYS. I really could not be happier and this could not have come at a better time.

Thank you SO much, MSE and Resolver - and Lloyds. So easy and so fast. I think the banks are fully on the consumer's side and in my experience were more than helpful. I would strongly encourage anyone with a packaged account to put forward a claim if they think they haven't benefited from the add-ons.

Happy New Year everyone

Jules

dunstonh · 30 December 2017 at 12:15PM

SUCCESS - very fast - using MSE recommended "Resolver".
<snip>

Well done. However, this thread is not on the subject of packaged bank accounts.

Report Bank Charges successes and failures

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