Report Bank Charges successes and failures

:j.
9 years ago I was persuaded to open a packaged account with RBS. The only reason I did was because my brother had moved to Canada and I was about to plan the first of several visits. I made a point of asking if my existing condition would be covered and was advised it would be and there was no form to fill in and no need to declare it. Only recently when I was diagnosed with another condition and was advised to contact the insurance department at RBS did I learn that I would be charged over £100 on top of the monthly fee for BOTH conditions. When I pointed out that there was only one new condition I was advised that for the previous 9 years I had NOT been covered for the original one. I used the template letter as a guide and soon received an acknowledgement followed by a telephone call to check details. Within a couple of weeks and no quibbling at all I had a cheque for over £1700 refunding all my monthly payments plus interest. Wonderful!

Hi I logged a complaint with Lloyds on Friday about the bank charges I have incurred over the last 3 years on my current account, due to going over the overdraft etc. They phoned today and £325 has been credited back to my account - not all but most of it for the 3 years.

Now thats fast service

TonyOwen95 wrote: »

Hi,

Just heard about this. Contacted the bank on Friday to ask for my transaction history over the past six years. For as long as I remember I have been living at the extend of my overdraft, and frequently go over it. Normally its the bank charges that take me over my overdraft limit.

I'll keep everyone updated on how I get on.

How have peoples experiences been when dealing with HSBC?

If its financial hardship, they may consider refunding some (typically 12 months or less). If you are not in financial hardship they will usually refuse and quote the court case that the banks won.

TonyOwen95 wrote: »

Ah right, It looks like the information I have seen may have been superseded then.

It mentioned backdating up to six years.

Its certainly financial hardship, and please don't get me wrong, anything I can get from them is a bonus. Just want to make sure I'm going into this with the correct level of understanding.

There is no 6 year rule in respect of financial services regulation and compliance. Never has been. However, the data protection act requires firms to hold information no longer than is necessary and 6 years was the timescale that was recommended. Some hold longer.

The banks won the court case in 2009. The guides on this site were written prior to that. Although a couple received small updates to reflect the court case win.

Since 2009, the banks will only consider financial hardship cases or wrong charges paid. Even if you qualify under their financial hardship criteria, it is only a goodwill payment they may offer and in some cases they may not refund a penny. They have multiple options available to them. This includes suspending future charges for x months or putting you onto a debt management process and giving debt counselling.

You didnt need to get the statements and you dont need to give them to the bank. That is unnecessary. It is important you focus on the points of hardship. What arrears, defaults etc you have. How your living standard is suffering. They do look at your spending habits to see how and where you spend your money. For example, if you have £80pm going to Sky tv then they know you are not in hardship. Shopping in Next was a rejection reason given in the past as was buying sandwiches at M&S.

Under no circumstances should you state the charges are unfair or words like that. You will get the auto-rejection stating they won the unfair bank charges court case.