View Full Version : Unfair bank charge refunds,
John 675
18-04-07, 11:00 AM
Does anyone know how to go about getting your unfair bank charges refunded? i have had so many over the six years, i have explained to the bank that i will be taking legal action for a reclaiming them and they have put a quiery on my account now i have to go through the consumer rights depo, its so irritating
any thoughts?
mudge32
18-04-07, 11:44 AM
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632,
Not tried it yet....keep meaning to ;)
My missus and I reckon we are owed £1602 in unfair bank charges from Lloyds TSB so we went to to www.thisismoney.com (http://www.thisismoney.com) its the financial site for the the mail on sundays financial pages. They have loads of info and even templates for letters to your bank etc.. check it out and good luck.
Stew
:D
Good timing.
A couple of months back, I paid off my current account debt to Abbey, and asked them to remove the overdraft facility. They did this.
I then later (a couple of weeks) closed my account. A week or so ago, I got a snotty letter from them, saying that I owe them money due to a charge (£30 I might add) for going over my non-existant overdraft.
I also don't like the fact that they employ indians (not brits, real indians) in their call centres, who can't understand English.
So I think I'll teach them a lesson. Six years worth of claims covers when I was a student...
The thing is, I dont mind paying charges, but if it only costs about £2.45-£2.50 how can they justify £30 bast#rd quid evry time I go over by a few pence. Bast#rds !:smt076
TVR_Tracy
18-04-07, 12:22 PM
Might seem an obvious answer, but hows-about going into your bank for a starters ;) or calling your citizens advice bureau? :rolleyes:
The thing is, I dont mind paying charges, but if it only costs about £2.45-£2.50 how can they justify £30 bast#rd quid evry time I go over by a few pence. Bast#rds !:smt076
I've had pre-emptive charges applied to my account.
As in, Abbey have known there is a payment due out of my account, known that I didn't have sufficient funds, and charged me for exceeding the overdraft.
How do I know this? Because I'd asked the company for more time, and to delay the payment (recurring payment on my debit card). They agreed.
Charge for being over the overdraft? Wait a minute! I didn't go over the overdraft! C-nuts!
They also refused to give the money back, stating that I had gone over my overdraft. I agree, I had, but only because they applied the freaking charge!
Same position here baph, Ive had standing orders due out on a saturday and they have been moved forward to friday. Saturday a cheque would have cleared friday it hadnt, result £30 charge for insufficient funds in account. Bast#rds the lot of em
If you complain they will probably give you 30 days notice of closing your account, so do be prepared and have another account open elsewhere to transfer to.
If you complain they will probably give you 30 days notice of closing your account, so do be prepared and have another account open elsewhere to transfer to.
Already done :thumbsup:
There's also no payments going into my abbey account, and no payments coming from it. By their own terms & conditions, they should of closed the account roughly 2months back, because it's inactive.
Work this out if you can though...
I also have a savings account with Abbey, which was closed and emptied at the same time as my current account. The account is still open. I got a statement from them around a week ago, saying that they'd paid me £1.86 in interest. Erm, hang on, that's a bloody ace interest rate, £1.86 interest for a month when the balance was £0.
John 675
18-04-07, 01:01 PM
Already done :thumbsup:
There's also no payments going into my abbey account, and no payments coming from it. By their own terms & conditions, they should of closed the account roughly 2months back, because it's inactive.
Work this out if you can though...
I also have a savings account with Abbey, which was closed and emptied at the same time as my current account. The account is still open. I got a statement from them around a week ago, saying that they'd paid me £1.86 in interest. Erm, hang on, that's a bloody ace interest rate, £1.86 interest for a month when the balance was £0.
the thing is for me if they want to close my account with them thats okay because i own money on my overdraft
but i do have another account set up with the HSBC :)
SoulKiss
18-04-07, 01:26 PM
the thing is for me if they want to close my account with them thats okay because i own money on my overdraft
but i do have another account set up with the HSBC :)
They will justcome after you for immediate repayment of the overdrawn amount.
So have that amount ready when they close it.
David
Fizzy Fish
18-04-07, 01:31 PM
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632,
Not tried it yet....keep meaning to ;)
this is a great guide to the process & background. I'm in early stages of various claims at the moment and it really doesn't take much time
Loads of people have done this successfully so far, the only risk is whether the bank closes your account, in which case they will ask for any overdraft to be paid off (as Soulkiss has mentioned). They usually give 30 days notice of closure. Note that in most cases the accounts aren't closed though, it depends on the bank
i wrote a letter of complaint to my branch, they passed it on to their complaints department. they say I should hear by 4th may. Bank charges of £300 since mid December to mid Feb in one year.
basically i had direct debits due out. unfortunately one was taken out earlier than i expected which was ok. but left no money for other remaining direct debits, all for less than £10 each. I got a email stating they would be charging me £30 for each direct debit ie £90. charges would be taken in 2 days, this put me overdrawn again hence vicious circle. I have now opened another account with only a cash point card.
Hope to get charges back in time for summer holidays.
Fizzy Fish
18-04-07, 04:23 PM
It's when they start charging more than one penalty fee per month that it really annoys me - HSBC used to charge c. £25/mth, then last year they started charging for every time the amount you are overdrawn increased. This is a particular problem if you have several DDs set up to come out on a particular day and accidentally go OD just beforehand.
Having managed his account almost perfectly for several years my other half was suddenly slapped with charges of as much as £150 some months! If they had been a bit more reasonable about it we might not have claimed, however as a result of their heavy-handed (and illegal) tactics, they will shortly be paying back c. £800...
this is a great guide to the process & background.
We are in the middle of the process. we got to it via
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/business/6170209.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/1/hi/business/6170209.stm)
We had a prob a few years back so that's what we are claiming for. Changing banks now as well.
Latest record repayment is £36k to a business - so I understand!
northwind
18-04-07, 07:35 PM
i wrote a letter of complaint to my branch, they passed it on to their complaints department. they say I should hear by 4th may. Bank charges of £300 since mid December to mid Feb in one year.
basically i had direct debits due out. unfortunately one was taken out earlier than i expected which was ok. but left no money for other remaining direct debits, all for less than £10 each. I got a email stating they would be charging me £30 for each direct debit ie £90. charges would be taken in 2 days, this put me overdrawn again hence vicious circle. I have now opened another account with only a cash point card.
That's a really slow turnaround for a charge complaint, I'd be surprised if it's within the FSA guidelines- though I can't remember exactly what they are now. Which bank is it? If it's my shower (HBOS) let me know and I might be able to give you some sneaky advantages in terms of policy stuff, if I still have access to the retail systems.
Be prepared for Cop Out #1- "these charges are the responsibility of the direct debit originator". Assuming here that it actually came out earlier than it should, not earlier than you thought if you know what I mean. Cop Out #1 is a very vesatile cop out, I used to use it all the time, but it doesn't stand up under pressure.
Incidentally folks, if you ever have a DD come off early and you notice at the time, and you get in with your indemnity claim, your bank's required to give you the funds back IMMEDIATELY. No choice whatsoever in the event that the amount's disputed, or that no advance warning was given, or that the date was wrong. Don't accept "It'll take 24 hours" or "Speak to the company", this genuinely isn't the bank trying to fob you off, it's just that cashmonkeys don't usually get trained on this so they have no clue. This can make a huge difference... It's not always all that smart, if it's a loan DD or something even though they've broken the Direct Debit regs the consequences of pulling them up for it can be bad.
This only applies to the debit, not to any charges, but most banks will refund the charge if you lean on them.
That's a really slow turnaround for a charge complaint, I'd be surprised if it's within the FSA guidelines- though I can't remember exactly what they are now. Which bank is it? If it's my shower (HBOS) let me know and I might be able to give you some sneaky advantages in terms of policy stuff, if I still have access to the retail systems.
yes it is your shower. On one occasion I was £1.21 over my overdraft, when I checked my statement on line I realised that bank charges of £8 or something had been removed I realised I had gone overdrawn, so I transferred on line £5 from my savings account held in same branch. it showed up immediately on line. i got a email next day saying I would be getting charged £30 as I was £1.21 overdrawn. I phoned and said I had transferred money into account same day during banking hours, they said that when the direct debit was presented I did not have enough funds (they presented it at 2am) so unfair.
northwind
18-04-07, 08:56 PM
OK, I'm back in work tomorrow, I'll see if I can get into the branch system still- if so I might be able to give you a wee nudge in the right direction, sometimes just asking the right question can make the difference.
OK, I'm back in work tomorrow, I'll see if I can get into the branch system still- if so I might be able to give you a wee nudge in the right direction, sometimes just asking the right question can make the difference.
thanks hun xxx
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