Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

mizfiesta · 26 March 2011 at 3:33PM

I have been charged £25 for going over my over draft. I didn't even realised I had done it! I knew my account was running very low so I transferred some money from my credit card account over to my current account. Apparently though I was a day late in doing this so I've incurred a charge. This is the first time this has happened to me! I am normally very careful about leaving some money in my account to cover direct debits etc. I called the 24 hour banking helpline and explained my plight to the girl but she said it was within the rules of banking or something similar. I asked if the charge could be refunded since I am a very long standing customer and it's never happened before. She said she would contact some department or other and they would get back to me. What's the chances of it being refunded? I am really skint and £25 is a lot of money when you have none. I'm gutted when I think of all the shopping it could buy me

Premier_2 · 27 March 2011 at 11:31AM

mizfiesta wrote: »

I have been charged £25 for going over my over draft. I didn't even realised I had done it! I knew my account was running very low so I transferred some money from my credit card account over to my current account. Apparently though I was a day late in doing this so I've incurred a charge. This is the first time this has happened to me! I am normally very careful about leaving some money in my account to cover direct debits etc. I called the 24 hour banking helpline and explained my plight to the girl but she said it was within the rules of banking or something similar. I asked if the charge could be refunded since I am a very long standing customer and it's never happened before. She said she would contact some department or other and they would get back to me. What's the chances of it being refunded? I am really skint and £25 is a lot of money when you have none. I'm gutted when I think of all the shopping it could buy me

As per the article, if this is a 'first offence', banks are usually willing to refund the charge on request as a goodwill gesture.
Note that it is a goodwill gesture and not a right, so you do need to ask nicely.
I'm not sure why the person you spoke to would need to contact some other department. The person should have been empowered to credit your account with the value of the charge and the fact she didn't suggests you may not get it. I would call again and ask nicely to see what they can do. Don't be fobbed off; get an answer either way and take a note of the person's name you speak to.

mizfiesta · 28 March 2011 at 10:49AM

I received a phone call from a lady from my bank this morning as advised, and she advised me that they would wipe the £25 charge as it is the first time I have went above my overdraft limit. Result! So pleased! I'll need to be vigilant however as she did state that if it happened again then all charges would apply. It's definitely been worth asking for a refund

wee_one_2 · 30 March 2011 at 11:26PM

Hi there, not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place as the previous posts seem a lot more serious than mine. Basically, I have a savings account set up with the Post Office which I pay into at the beginning of every month via direct debit. When I set up the direct debit I set it to be leave my account on the 1st of each month after my salary went into my current account on the last working day of the previous month. However, I've just checked my statement online to see that the Post Office has already taken out the money today that was supposed to go out on Friday, before I have been paid (which will be tomorrow) and has consequently meant I have exceeded my overdraft limit and will incur bank charges as a result!

I rang the bank and they say I need to get in touch with the Post Office and they will have to refund my bank charges. Is this what I need to do? Does anyone know the likelihood of them co-operating? I bank with the Alliance and Leicester and in the past have queried their bank charges and found them very difficult to deal with in this matter. Also, how can the Post Office just take the money before they are supposed to without asking/informing me first?

Many thanks in advance!!

Premier_2 · 31 March 2011 at 12:34AM

wee_one wrote: »

Hi there, not sure if I'm posting this in the correct place as the previous posts seem a lot more serious than mine. Basically, I have a savings account set up with the Post Office which I pay into at the beginning of every month via direct debit. When I set up the direct debit I set it to be leave my account on the 1st of each month after my salary went into my current account on the last working day of the previous month. However, I've just checked my statement online to see that the Post Office has already taken out the money today that was supposed to go out on Friday, before I have been paid (which will be tomorrow) and has consequently meant I have exceeded my overdraft limit and will incur bank charges as a result!

I rang the bank and they say I need to get in touch with the Post Office and they will have to refund my bank charges. Is this what I need to do? Does anyone know the likelihood of them co-operating? I bank with the Alliance and Leicester and in the past have queried their bank charges and found them very difficult to deal with in this matter. Also, how can the Post Office just take the money before they are supposed to without asking/informing me first?

Many thanks in advance!!

Do you really mean the PO collect via DD?
If so, you would have been given a copy of the DD guarantee (or you can google it if you've since lost it). Use it to claim.

If you don't mean direct debit, please advise what type of transaction is involved.

befair · 31 March 2011 at 1:14AM

I had won a court claim by default in early July 2007 but didn't get paid and in Sept 2007, bank got claim stayed awaiting OFT Case. Still sitting in court and I'm hoping I'll come up with a way to reactivate and win. Any chance of a win under Misrepresentation? Bank had stated in their Defence that their charges are proportionate to their costs - they didn't ultimately say this to Supreme Court, so could I say they misrepresented their charges to me (or that the Supreme Court ruling clearly doesn't apply to 'my charges' as they must be of a different kind to those described to the Supreme Court)?

Or does the use of 'proportionate' not really mean that much?

Very galling that if I'd just got in a bit quicker in 2007, I would have got paid

So I can't let it go and move on! Worth me having a go on Misrepresentation or any other thoughts?

Premier_2 · 2 April 2011 at 5:26AM

befair wrote: »

I had won a court claim by default in early July 2007 but didn't get paid and in Sept 2007, bank got claim stayed awaiting OFT Case. Still sitting in court and I'm hoping I'll come up with a way to reactivate and win. Any chance of a win under Misrepresentation? Bank had stated in their Defence that their charges are proportionate to their costs - they didn't ultimately say this to Supreme Court, so could I say they misrepresented their charges to me (or that the Supreme Court ruling clearly doesn't apply to 'my charges' as they must be of a different kind to those described to the Supreme Court)?

Or does the use of 'proportionate' not really mean that much?

Very galling that if I'd just got in a bit quicker in 2007, I would have got paid

So I can't let it go and move on! Worth me having a go on Misrepresentation or any other thoughts?

Have you read the article linked to in the OP? :huh:
In particular the link to the reclaiming via court that is included towards the end of that article?

Note that in over 12 months, no one has won any claims in court following that article. Hopefully yopu can make your own mind up as to the chance of success based on that statistic, but if you do plan on pursuing your claim through court, the article does hint at the risks such action will expose you to.

butterflygirl47 · 3 April 2011 at 9:00PM

Advice needed! I sent a letter to the Halifax requesting a refund of the last 6 years of bank charges, totalling £480. I received a very prompt reply, and also a phone call, from Halifax. They are offering to pay £294 back into my current account, and also offering to pay £113 from my old cardcash account which I didn't even apply for! I have 8 weeks to respond to this offer, and I am wondering whether I should cut my losses and accept or push to get the extra £73. Am I lucky to have been offered what they have said? And if I decided to appeal to the Ombudsman and it did not go favourably, would I lose the right to accept the offer (provided I heard back from the OB within the 8 weeks)?

emmawilding · 4 April 2011 at 4:18PM

i'd cut my losses and be grateful to receive anything, halifax seems to be the only place still paying out. I've got 4k of charges with hsbc but idont think i'll see any of that again :mad:

Smamfer · 10 April 2011 at 8:12PM

I have a reward account with Halifax which i have constantly been in the overdraft for a while, I make regular payments but their charges are the ones like for many of us are putting me back up. I had a lot of problems with this last year where they were removing money from one account to clear it leaving me short, then id be on phone for hours and writing letters asking them to not just do that as it was causing financial difficulty etc etc. I did pay the £10 for all my details on this account.
Eventhough i have not started anything with this am i entitled to at least add up what charges i have incurred and see if i can reclaim? My main point for this and any other financial difficulty is that when i was out of my main work or on a low income i was visiting my bank regulaly explaining my situation and felt nothing was there to help me at all, they never asked if i had a loan, a credit card nothing just kept charging me.

Bank Charges Reclaiming Guide discussion

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