http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6401901.stm
Useful if you have been charged a lot but there are DIY options that cost less.
Isnt this a shark bites shark incident? :/
Greedy Bastards.
Its easy to get your bank charges back.
Sign up to consumeractiongroup website & its full of free templates.
Shouldnt need a 3rd party. Even IF you have to go as far as taking them to a small claims court. - Banks will not go to court, because if they lose, it will be a landmark case for every other claim. Everybody have had a bank charge of one or another. At the moment tens of thousands are claiming. If it became a landmark case, then it would open the doors for millions.
Anyway, anyone want to claim the basic steps are :-
Send Ã,£10 cheque to your bank & ask them for a copy of all your statements, which they have to do so by law - they dont usually cash the cheque.
Go back 6 years - a "debt" can only be claimed upto 6 years. Anything over would probably require a lawyer.
Look for all Penalty Charges in that 6 years period.
Penalty charges are overdrawn fee, underpayments, late payments, returned cheque/direct debit, etc. - Arrangement fees, interest, etc. arent included.
Write all these charges down, with the dates & write to your bank saying you want to claim.
They will usually say under your T&C you cant.
You reply saying your T&C aint valid,etc.
They will offer you a partial settlement.
You decline & threaten court.
They will A) Settle or B) do nothing
After about 40 days & you hear nothing, then submit a claim online - moneyclaim.gov.uk I think.
When you go as far as court. Make sure you claim back costs for taking them to court & claim Interest.
A fair Interest rate to charge is 8%. Thats not 8% of the total, but 8% for Each Charge for Each Year. - ( So a charge from 5 years ago, has just earned you 40% Interest ;-) )
I have done mine & went as far as court. My Charges was about Ã,£900. By the time Interest & Fees got added on, It had risen to nearly Ã,£1300
They settled Out of Court the week it was due to be heard by a Judge.
Good one egg, someone had to have done it already on here ;)
Unfortunately I havent had an overdrawn charge for over twenty years. Last, and only, one was Ã,£15 IIRC and I immediately switched from Barclays to the TSB. Later on I switched to Lloyds who offered me a better option and some cash in hand, that was a couple of weeks before they merged... :twisted: :mrgreen:
Now have my main account with the Nationwide, who arent really that much better off, but they gave me a credit card (Ã,£3,750 available) 8)
as Egg said, theyll settle out of court rather than deffend in case they loose, no need for a lawyer.
Moneysavingexpert.com also has templates etc and a massive article on how to do it. No good for me since I have never incurred a penalty charge on my bank account, but useful for many people.
fock, ive been screwed over loads recently.
they always take debits before payments, even if it goes in on the day.
i reclaimed 1300 from smile a year back. its simple to do and like is mentioned abouve, they wont fight cos they know their practices are illegal.
Matt
Quote from: bytejunkiei reclaimed 1300 from smile a year back. its simple to do and like is mentioned abouve, they wont fight cos they know their practices are illegal.
Matt
I think its more that at the moment its just about sortof legal because its never been tested in court. British law is heavily based on Common law so if they fight and loose thats nearly as good as the government legislating against them.
Main Entry: loose
Part of Speech: adjective 1
Definition: unconstrained
Synonyms: apart, asunder, at large, baggy, clear, detached, disconnected, easy, escaped, flabby, flaccid, floating, free, hanging, insecure, lax, liberated, limp, loosened, movable, not fitting, relaxed, released, separate, slack, slackened, sloppy, unattached, unbolted, unbound, unbuttoned, uncaged, unclasped, unconfined, unconnected, undone, unfastened, unfettered, unhinged, unhooked, unlatched, unlocked, unpinned, unrestrained, unrestricted, unsecured, unshackled, untied, wobbly
Antonyms: secure, tight
Notes: loose means not restrained, fastened, confined or attached, while lose means fail to keep or to maintain or fail to win
;)
Pedant :S
I think Eggtastico is pointing out that the word is LOSE.
Cheers
Tongy
Who cares? :lol: ;)
Quote from: SeriousWho cares? :lol: ;)
somebody who has loose change to lose?
congratulations gentlemen, you have noticed that spelling is not my strong point
Ive owned about 30 different cases on behalf of friends, and I can out waffle any bank lawyer.
as Im bored with lots of free time, if anyone wants any free advice PM me, or get me on MSN, the chances are whatever bank you are going up against, Ive nailed them at least once :)
Seems some banks and building societies are getting tough on customers who do this and pulling their accounts, although they have to give reasonable notice. The banking ombudsman is now looking into a number of cases that may have been closed against the banking code of practice.
Two Words. Parachute Account.
Quote from: SeriousSeems some banks and building societies are getting tough on customers who do this and pulling their accounts, although they have to give reasonable notice. The banking ombudsman is now looking into a number of cases that may have been closed against the banking code of practice.
The Financial Ombudsman has now said banks arent allowed to do this.
FSA has put a freeze on cases until the result of a test case IIRC.
Fair enough tbh.. Id rather keep free banking and let the people who cant manage their money pay for the charges
If the banks lose out on a stream of revenue via not being able to place these charges then they will simply make up for that lost revenue in other ways.
Quote from: MongooseQuote from: bytejunkiei reclaimed 1300 from smile a year back. its simple to do and like is mentioned abouve, they wont fight cos they know their practices are illegal.
Matt
I think its more that at the moment its just about sortof legal because its never been tested in court. British law is heavily based on Common law so if they fight and loose thats nearly as good as the government legislating against them.
You do know that almost all UK banks have signed the OFT waiver now?
Meaning they do not have to pay any bank charges back at all, until the decision is reached within the OFTs test case. Going to be a long long long long wait now until you get any cash back.