DorsetStrider
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 03:11 AM |
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Bank Charges - Illegal
Hiya all.
Did you know that the Office of Fair Trading and The Financial Ombudsman Service have recently ruled that no bank or credit card company can charge
you more than 12.50 at any one time for a late payment, an unauthorised overlimit on overdraft, insufficient funds for direct debit, bounced cheque,
etc, etc!!!
If you have ever been a victim of unfair bank charges you can RECLAIM THEM ALL!!!
2 weeks ago I sent a solicitors letter to my bank stating that; I was unhappy about their unfair charges to my account over the past 6 years, I
informed them that I knew these charges were illegal and if necessary was prepared to take further action in order to get my money refunded...
...which can ultimately lead to The Office of Fair Trading revoking the banks credit license!!! (I kid you not - they are "bricking"
themselves over this)
Anyway, last week I recieved a letter from my bank (the Halifax) stating we are very sorry to hear of your dissatisfaction with our service, we will
investigate the matter, please give us 28 days to get back to you.
Today, one week later, I have recieved another letter it reads something similar to this: We are very sorry, we have been ripping you off, please
accept our deepest apologies and may we offer you a full refund as a final settlement (over a grand by the way!)
Obviously I may accept their offer, depending upon what my solicitor recommends.
So if like me you are a single parent struggling to make ends meet, or have in any way been a victim of this kind of corporate theft, you may want to
know how to go about taking action yourself; to find out more subscribe online to the Consumer Action Group (IT IS FREE) on their forums you will find
full details, including letter templates, to help you claim your cash back!
Good Luck 
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/
Who the f**K tightened this up!
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Macbeast
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 06:44 AM |
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Was it wise to tell everyone that your credit rating may be less than brilliant ?
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JackNco
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 07:10 AM |
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why would it be a bad thing on here?
Hell im basically broke at the minute. fell free to spread the word.
Some people are worried about the difference between right and wrong. I'm worried about the difference between wrong and fun.
O'Rourke, P.J. (1989), Holidays in hell. London (Picador)
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JoelP
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 07:32 AM |
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i got stung for £30 pounds last week when a £5 charitable direct debit took me over the limit - might give them a ring! 
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JoelP
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 07:34 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by JackNco
Hell im basically broke at the minute. fell free to spread the word.
i think if we made a skint list on the forum, you would find most of us on it, and the rest slowly heading that way Car building is an adictive
habit!
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matt_claydon
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 07:38 AM |
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I tried this recently with Natwest and they told me to eff off. It's only one charge of £38 for a bounced DD but I will take it further out of
principle. Might be a struggle as they don't seem to want to play ball 
[Edited on 25/10/06 by matt_claydon]
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RazMan
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 07:49 AM |
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Top Tip !! 
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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JackNco
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 08:06 AM |
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just been on that site. does it include charges for D/D's that go out because of a lack of funds in your account. if so ill soon be rolling in
it
John
Some people are worried about the difference between right and wrong. I'm worried about the difference between wrong and fun.
O'Rourke, P.J. (1989), Holidays in hell. London (Picador)
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graememk
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 08:13 AM |
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quote:
deepest apologies and may we offer you a full refund as a final settlement
does that mean they are going to close your account ?
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_luke
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 08:19 AM |
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Just remember guys, some of the banks have been known to say "here's your money, we're closing your account. Oh, and by the way
we're recalling all loans and overdrafts"
Also the banks aren't stupid and they will continue to make money somewhere - if everyone starts claiming money back, then we'll ALL lose
the free (personal) banking service that we've enjoyed for a long time.
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Peteff
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 09:14 AM |
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If it's on a credit card for a late payment, I pay mine off in full at the end of every month, it's one that gives you 1% back and a
couple of months ago I missed it because they moved the payback date forward 2 days and due to my inattention I missed it. They charged me £25 and I
phoned them back to complain so they instantly refunded me all but £12.50. So they know it's illegal but will only refund you if you complain. I
have been with them for 20+ years and that was my first miss.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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JackNco
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 09:26 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by _luke
Just remember guys, some of the banks have been known to say "here's your money, we're closing your account. Oh, and by the way
we're recalling all loans and overdrafts"
Also the banks aren't stupid and they will continue to make money somewhere - if everyone starts claiming money back, then we'll ALL lose
the free (personal) banking service that we've enjoyed for a long time.
Does that mean they should be allowed to make us pay illegal payments..... although as i have 1700 ona CC and 1500 on an overdraft it may make me
think twice i dont think they can make me pay a credit card off straight away and i can always get another student account for an over draft.
Although im not happy with HSBC atm anyway
A friend of mine just got a job there, on her first day they accused her of being a coke addict because they tracked down a live journal blog where
she said *i started the night on coke (cola she meant) and finished on alcohol*
And went through her live journal and made her take down *sexually charged photos* of her using a water pistol that resembled a dick.....
They also made her remove a blog about her saying she had a bad dream about her new job she was starting soon there...
I went ape poo when i had her crying down the phone to me about how she was locked in an office and interrogated!
Personally thats more likely to make me think the company's got a bad attitude rather than them employing an average student!
anyway thats my rant over.
John
EDIT: oh i also think we have them for libel slander for misquoting her in a bad way from the blog.
[Edited on 25/10/06 by JackNco]
Some people are worried about the difference between right and wrong. I'm worried about the difference between wrong and fun.
O'Rourke, P.J. (1989), Holidays in hell. London (Picador)
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Hammerhead
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 11:42 AM |
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and i'm sure in this country, even coventry , she has the right to freedom of speech.
ar#eholes
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brashhighlander
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 11:44 AM |
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I recently did this and managed to get bank chargees for the last 6 years back, not all of them but i did get about £150.
I wouldn't recommend pushing for the whole lot as I know of people who have been told they are having the account closed and would like
repayment on the overdraft in 7 days because they did keep pushing.
Worth a try, only wastes some of your time, I didn't even use a solicitor.
[Edited on 25/10/06 by brashhighlander]
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JoelP
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 11:59 AM |
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i think it would be better if free personal banking ended and these fines ended too. I never realised til i got married and ran out of money, just how
expensive it is being skint! They all try to kick you when you're down. So as always, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
As for recalling the overdraft and loans, they are welcome! Bloody 16% apr on the overdraft and arranged loans! Disgraceful... i intend to add it onto
the mortgage now its up for renewal, 1/3 the interest...
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cloudy
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 01:24 PM |
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Looked back, been charged £480 in DD charges alone for the past year.
If i was to open this issue ( I have an overdraft and a loan with them) What's the worst they could do?
If they recalled the loan and overdraft I would have no way of paying, so would be royally screwed.
I'd probably be ok if they revoked the overdraft - but how far can they go on the loan?
James
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JoelP
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 05:30 PM |
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you would think they couldnt. With 3 acres of small print its hard to be sure!
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GasGasGas
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 05:49 PM |
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I found this letter ( rename to a .doc ) and gave this to my daughter.She sent it to her bank and got fobbed off. But i made her stand her ground and
eventually serverd the bank a small claims summonse. And guess what---- they coughed up . Dont be frightened off by these corporate thugs, claim your
charges back---I wish i had this information years ago (many) as i got well stuffed during the reccesion and my mortgage sky rocketed and left me in
the P#~
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/photos.php?action=showphoto&photo=1306102.jpg
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DorsetStrider
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 06:07 PM |
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Hiya all.
Several points to make here.
1) These days I pay for everything upfront, with cash if possible.
2) My understanding is that these illegal charges are any flat rate fine regardless of reason. So would apply to non payment of DD, Unauthorised
overdraft, Bouncing a cheque, etc etc... IF they charges a flat rate fine..... if they charged you higher interest you can't claim that back.
3) At the moment you can only claim for charges in the last 6 years with any degree of confidence. There are legal cases in process of going through
where the claimant is asking for money back before that but these have yet to be settled.
4) Yes there are cases were the banks then turn around and close the holders account. However it appears that this is also illegal and the banks would
probably not be able to enforce it IF it went to court as a seperate matter.
5) This also applies to credit card companies as well.... not just banks.
[Edited on 25/10/06 by DorsetStrider]
Who the f**K tightened this up!
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DorsetStrider
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| posted on 25/10/06 at 06:18 PM |
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Further details and information can be found at...
LINKY
Who the f**K tightened this up!
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DorsetStrider
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| posted on 26/10/06 at 07:11 PM |
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BTTT
Who the f**K tightened this up!
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ecosse
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| posted on 8/11/06 at 02:39 PM |
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I'm just reviving this post to say thanks.
To explain, my wife was charged £39 on her current account for going £1 beyond her overdraft limit, remembering this post and after a quick google I
found this site http://www.bankcharges.info/ which detailed it.
A quick phone call to the bank and what do you know, very sorry for the confusion Madam, no idea why that happened, please accept our appologies
etc etc, and please accept a full refund!...LOL..even the wife was impressed (and trust me, that takes some doing)
Cheers
Alex
PS
I'm now looking into a claim for the re-payment of many more illegal charges
After all how often do you get the chance to put one over on the banks!
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JoelP
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| posted on 8/11/06 at 06:06 PM |
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i intend to persure this one too, once i am a little closer to the black and hence have less to lose if they close the account! Good to know it works!
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Peteff
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| posted on 8/11/06 at 07:12 PM |
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Praise where it's due though.
I'll add that I have an account with the Coop bank which is only used to pay a DD to my insurance and to my gas rental and it has gone over a
few times due to my inattention and they have never charged me for this, so there are some organisations who are not jumping on you the second you go
down.
yours, Pete
I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.
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