Bank Charges - Beat the banks!

sermad · 14 Jun 2006 at 21:12

Well guys,

A few months ago I wrote a letter asking for my bank charges back (over £1000 over 6 years) - today I received a very nice letter saying I could have the lot back.

All I did was go the bank action group forum and follow their step by step instructions - not bad for 5 minutes work!

So anyone that has been stung by charges - go get em!

Red and White · 14 Jun 2006 at 21:14

thats fantastic

but how did you rack up so many charges?

sermad · 14 Jun 2006 at 21:35

Well they kept on taking a cheeky £50-£100 in charges out when I didnt know - and that would take me overdrawn thus causing another charge...which then cause another charge....

Basically I was a broke as broke can be after university and it has taken me a long time to fix my ways!

R.O.S.S.I · 14 Jun 2006 at 21:45

so what is it you can actually claim back?
Charges for going over your overdraft? If so ive got a couple of them id like to have back

sermad · 14 Jun 2006 at 22:12

yes.

say you go into an overdraft and get charged - or go over your overdraft - have a late payment on a cc.

basically ANY bank charge + plus if you take them to small claims court you get interest back.

trust me it is worth it!

Kanye · 15 Jun 2006 at 14:08

What about my situation?

Had a agreed overdraft limit of £500 with HSBC but i went over that limit and kept using my card and everytime i used the card was being charged £30 and a £28 unautharised overdraft fee... in total i owe £2400 :| (About £800 of that is bank charges)

I know i was stupid with the card, but they took the michael with all the charges :|

doodah · 15 Jun 2006 at 17:14

think this could do with a bump

Tican · 15 Jun 2006 at 17:18

Tried it, just got the generic "We think our charges are fair, read the T&Cs of your account" and now its been passed to the debt collector company working on behalf of the bank... And its took them 3 weeks since 1st (and only letter) for them to take it (almost) to court :rolleyes:

(The debt collectors - Its been overdrawn for about 8 months... not working = JSA *dont say a word plz* = cant afford £550 in 1 week.)

AVOID NATWEST AT ALL COSTS :mad:

(lol)

stoofa · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:08

Whereas I do have sympathy for those people who have seen a cheque clear way faster than usual.
Or a Direct Debit or Standing Order paid a day early or anything else similar that has caused a drop in bank balance and has then received a letter and £20 - £30 charge for doing so.
I'm afraid I have absolutely no sympathy at all for repeat offenders and those people who rack up hundreds of pounds in bank charges.

As usual there are a vocal group of people who go around telling everyone else who are silly enough to listen how all banks are out to get you, how they are always looking for ways to make money, etc.

These people who keep getting bank charges added - what was your initial solution to the problem?
Bury your head in the sand and hope it would go away?
Do nothing and hope it doesn't happen again?
Banks (like any place providing you with a service) don't want to lose customers - even if you're not the worlds greatest customer to them.
A phone call or a meeting with your branch manager and 99% of problems can be solved.
You get no more bank charges because after your discussion your problems should be solved.

So a cheque cleared or money was taken from your account too early - call your bank, explain it was not your fault but their's and request the refund of bank charges.
You constantly drop below a £0 balance for a few days each month.
Call bank (or go and visit) and request say a £100 buffer zone so if you drop up to -£100 you are not charged but you must clear it within a fortnight.
If you are wanting to drop below £0 for longer call the bank and request an overdraught facility.
If your cheques are constantly bouncing it is time to start looking at your finances and once again this should involve a trip to your bank as a matter of course.

jpmonkey69 · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:37

I just got 1600 quid back from Barclays. I followed the link that 813all posted in March.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17556458&highlight=bank+charges

It took me from the 4th of April until the 11th of June for them to offer me 70% of what I was claiming.

Roalith · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:45

I'm pending £2700 from Lloyds. They have until the 28th to file a defense in court

jpmonkey69 · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:45

stoofa said:
These people who keep getting bank charges added - what was your initial solution to the problem?
Bury your head in the sand and hope it would go away?
Do nothing and hope it doesn't happen again?
Banks (like any place providing you with a service) don't want to lose customers - even if you're not the worlds greatest customer to them.
A phone call or a meeting with your branch manager and 99% of problems can be solved.
You get no more bank charges because after your discussion your problems should be solved.

To be honest, I deserved every charge I got and never challenged any of them, I didn't really care either at the time, but hey... I can claim it back, so I will. I'd written that cash of anyway. I was never financially screwed, as a contractor I was getting paid weekly... sometimes if you forget to hand a timesheet in, it really messes with your direct debits.

I don't earn a small amount of money, but the free 1600 quid I was just given has already payed for my new golf clubs, flights from LHR to Boston to JFK to LHR, and I STILL have some left for wasting.

jpmonkey69 · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:47

Roalith said:
I'm pending £2700 from Lloyds. They have until the 28th to file a defense in court

g/l

Roalith · 16 Jun 2006 at 10:52

stoofa said:
As usual there are a vocal group of people who go around telling everyone else who are silly enough to listen how all banks are out to get you, how they are always looking for ways to make money, etc.

Fact of the matter is, the banks are breaking the law by charging these penalties. Simple as.

jpmonkey69 said:
g/l

Thanks

Slinwagh · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:01

I have briefly skirted through this post.

How can you claim back charges when some of them were because of your mistake or am I missing something?

Beansprout · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:08

Roalith said:
Fact of the matter is, the banks are breaking the law by charging these penalties. Simple as.

I believe ze TV said "the banks should not charge more than is necessary to cover their costs" in other words they shouldn't make a profit from the charges.

Which is why, I believe, they recently pretty much got told to lower their charges and they did, from ~£20 to ~£12.

(This was only one charge though iirc - late payment/overdraft or something - can't rememebr exactly)

Result? Higher credit card APRs! Whoooooooo!

kitten_caboodle · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:08

my friend has just taken action after I pointed her in that direction after reading the original thread. She's claiming £4,995 back as apparently you can't go over £5k - and she's looking like she might well get the lot back!

Roalith · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:21

Beansprout said:
I believe ze TV said "the banks should not charge more than is necessary to cover their costs" in other words they shouldn't make a profit from the charges.

Correct. Which is exactly what they have been doing. They have also admitted (Macnamara Interview, if anyone's interested) to using the penalty charge system to fund other banking activities.

Beansprout said:
Which is why, I believe, they recently pretty much got told to lower their charges and they did, from ~£20 to ~£12.

Some have, some haven't. Of those that have, LTSB Credit Card in particular have issued new terms and conditions which state:

Section 8 Charges
8.1 For letting you continue to use your card (if we do let you) despite your having broken these conditions, we will charge you:
£12 for not making at least your minimum payment by the payment date
£12 each time you exceed your credit limit
£12 for each payment ...[etc] ... not honoured
We will also charge reasonable costs and expenses resulting from you breaking these conditions."

In other words, they haven't actually quite noticed the point. They say they are going to charge the £12 in addition to reasonable costs and expenses - which ignores the whole point of the Office of Fair Trading's recent statement (That they believe £12 should be the maximum chargeable fee, although they categorically do not believe £12 would be a fair reflection of the bank's costs for bouncing DDs, etc).

Beansprout said:
(This was only one charge though iirc - late payment/overdraft or something - can't rememebr exactly)

Result? Higher credit card APRs! Whoooooooo!

Sorry, beg to differ. It applies across the board to charges which constitute a penalty. These include, but are not limited to:

Bank-related:
Returned DD Fees
Returned Cheque Fees
Unauthorised Overdraft Fees

Credit card-related:
Overlimit Fees
Returned Payment Fees

It obviously does not include monthly account charges, we are after all paying them for a service.

As for the increased credit card APRs... only Barclaycard (that I am aware of, admittedly) have so far come forward and stated they were increasing their APR, for lower limit cards - they estimate it will affect about 10% of their customers. They are, however, upping their cash-forwarding interest rate.

grahamjenks · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:24

Completely agree with the guy above - you get charged more than a couple of times - you deserve exactly whats coming to you. If you think its unfair keep your money under the pillow.

Banks offer a service - via a contract - that you sign up to. I fully agree charges might be expensive - but they want to make money - just the same as the people claiming back their charges want their money back.

It seems stupid that its been ruled that banks can't make profit on charges - I thought this was a capitalist society - not state controlled!

Roalith · 16 Jun 2006 at 11:25

Slinwagh said:
I have briefly skirted through this post.

How can you claim back charges when some of them were because of your mistake or am I missing something?

Slinwagh - if you're really interested in this, you're probably best off registering over at the Consumer Action Group forum, and reading the FAQ etc there. There are full template letters and step-by-step processes, and around 30,000 users if you want a little support

Long story short: Penalty charges the banks have made/are making are unlawful. People are threatening - and in most cases, filing for the small claims court against their banks to recover these penalties.