Have you had ANY bank charges in the last 6 Years ?

As you may have noticed from the news and other sources there is a growing movement to reclaim punative charges from the banks.
These charges include unauthorised overdraft, declined Direct Debts and bounced cheques, not to mention the interest that these activities incur.

Which ? Magazine has recently done some research into these exorbtant charges and the banks' charges are currently under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.

Here's a few articles concerning this movement:
Watchdogs Back Fight Against Bank Charges (from The Argus)

Mirror Money - HAS YOUR BANK RIPPED YOU OFF?


One of the BEST resuorces I have found for this and other money related matters is MoneySavingExpert: Consumer Revenge, his no nonsense approach to these matters has got him a lot of media attention.
His directions on reclaiming these charges is excellent and a MUST read: Bank charges: Reclaim them, they're unlawful, so you can get six years money back,

But and it's a big BUT, the banks are starting to fight bank and threaten customers with account closure or canceled overdrafts.

Don't bank on reversing the charges | News_ | Guardian Unlimited Money

Banks threaten customers who reclaim account fees - Money - Times Online


Well thet way I see it is that the banks have been making money from our mistakes and are not willing to help, so it's time to fight back.

MSE has a whole board devoted to members stories that have tried just that:
Reclaimed Bank Charges SUCCESS stories - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

So my letter went off at the weekend, 27th Jan, just time to start with the old waiting games I suppose.

I'll keep you all posted how I get on.

Do Brit wannabees count? LOL

Actually I have challenged a few charges at American banks recently and they removed them post haste. Like when my company was charged for a customer's bounced check when it was arbitrarily put through a second time without us even seeing it and having a chance to get the customer to rectify it. And it was a hefty fee too. The poor bounced check author got nailed twice for their fee. And other assorted nickel and dime stuff I have challenged too. Seems that is the new tactic... chip away at the consumer's pocket whilst they aren't looking to boost corporate bottom lines. Cell phone bills are doing it too. And the new rebate tactic is to conveniently forget about it or send you a letter that if you don't read the fine print and respond, you don't get the rebate. Ugh.

It's worth looking into Val the banks are really just taking the pee and have been for many years its time as consumers we all fought back.

That has been a thorn in my side for a number of years. A Canadian backlash is under way: globeandmail.com: Banks 'gouging' customers on ATM fees, Layton says

I did the same thing with all the crap charges in the refinancing of a mortgage, letting my new bank know that if they cannot explain precisely what we are paying for in every one of those closing cost "this and that" fees, then we would not be signing the papers that day and any cost incurred with drafting up new papers with a new date would be on them. I think we pared down quite a few of the charges that way. Its amazing what is negotiable and how corporate America is sticking it to their customers who take it either out of ignorance or apathy. And before any of you say to yourself, wow what a penny pincher Val is LOL I do this out of a sense of conscience, not cash! LOL

I am an Ayn Rand fan politically and the first mandate any "Ayn Randian" has is to "vote" with our money!

NK, England had that backlash a few years ago now, especially as all the cash machines, ATM's, are linked.
There's only a few privately operated ones that still charge but these are run by businesses and not the banks.

So are there any other Brits that will join the bandwagon ?

Update from me and my claim.
Feb 7th received the stock we are sorry to hear about your complaint letter.
They said they'll respond with in 2 weeks.
We'll just have to see what happens.

So any more Brits going to fight the good fight and reclaim what is rightfully ours ?

Agree with needkarma, the canadian banks are bad for this too. We are late in fighting it but it is starting to happen.

Ben, as far you receiving a letter saying sorry to hear about your complaint letter and will respond in 2 weeks, I would not count on that. If it was me though I would keep them on their toes and keep at them.

Joe

I am not a Brit, Wish I were I would be right in there fighting a good fight.

*Update*
Saturday I received a letter from the Customer Relations dept concerning this issue.
They still haven't supplied my six years worth of statements, but promised they will arrive in the next three weeks.

My guess is they are holding off as long as possible so the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) can publish their report into bank charges.
This is due sometime in April, so I'm cutting things fine here.

Oh well, I'm going to get my charges back one way or another ;)
It's about time the "Little people" stood up to BIG business, especially when the UK banks have posted MASSIVE profits for last year, in the region of £40 BILLION!!

Come on guys.
So far there has been OVER £10 MILLION reclaimed from the banks.
Consumer Action Group are one of the main sites.
They give you all the information that you need to make a successful claim.

Just an update.
I'm still waiting for statements from my bank, so a nasty letter tomorrow I think.

Also I was digging through my records and found an old credit card, now paid off, that charged me penalties. Time to go after them as well then ;)

Come on any more Brits going to join the fight.
If you need any help, feel free to ask.

OK Nasty letter sent.
This is starting to be fun.

Now my bank has 7 days to respond or it's off to court we go.
All for the sake of some paperwork.

The really annoying thing is the fact that the office that is dealing with my request is only 30 minutes drive away.
I could have personnally collected them by now!

I got a response to my nasty letter and they promise my info in 5 days.
Just have to wait and see.

It now appears that the normal 6 years SOL doesn't apply to these charges as the Banks have been hiding the fact the charges are unlawful.
So over 6 years is claimable.
Now which other Banks shall I go for ;)

Might even have a look at the Wife's as well.

One snotty letter and a couple of e-mails later I just received this:

Quote:

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I have checked your previous reference and it would appear that one of my colleagues has sent the statements to you yesterday. You should receive these within 3-4 working days.

However, I have passed your details onto a colleague of mine so that they can contact "The Office" tomorrow morning to double check. I have also requested that they contact you directly using the mobile number you supplied in your e-mail.

If there's anything else we can help you with in the meantime, please let us know.

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So they should be here shortly.
About time too!
Way over the 40 day legal limit, but I don't have the time to take them to court over non-compliance.
Bigger fish to fry ;)

Finally getting somewhere. That took forever, lets see if you actually do get them. I am holding my breath, nah too long of a wait. Lol

One of the members of the site I belong to has just taken his bank for £36K, yes £36,000 in unlawful charges over 6 years.

That's
$72,000 USD
Or
$81804 CAD
Or
$86436 AUD
Or
€53247 EUR

He's now starting on the pre 6 year ones as well.

As we have all realised, even in this case, the banks will not admit how much it really costs them.
So if it was cheaper to pay out on a claim of this size it really makes you wonder.
Businessman takes NatWest for £35k | The Register

It has been noted in various publications that the UK banks make OVER £1.2 BILLION in penalty charges A YEAR!!

The site I'm on has, so far, reclaimed almost £10 MILLION from 7000 claims.
Not bad for a years worth of work.

Hi everyone,

I'm in the process of claiming money back from my 2 banks, Natwest (£1500) and RBS (£3000) for my 6 years of charges. They sent me my statements no problem, sent off my first letter asking for the cash back, got a letter off RBS saying they were looking into it. Nothing back off Natwest for almost a month, so sent them the "I'm taking you to court in 2 weeks" letter yesterday! Eep!

Good luck to everyone else trying it!

J

I've never had a charge, boohoo :(

It looks fun.

Just to update everyone.
This action doesn't just apply to Banks penalty cahrges, but to credit cards as well.
Last year the OFT published a report saying that they won't investigate charges under £12, but this doesn't mean that these charges are lawful either.

So as the saying goes, In For A Penny, In For A Pound.
For the sake of a few pounds, some letters and a lot of waiting, it's time to claim back what is rightfully ours.

If anyone needs any further help or assistance feel free to PM me, in complete confidence of course.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Capuchin

I've never had a charge, boohoo :(

It looks fun.

---

LMAO that's because you are the worlds first tight student ;)

Hi all, just jumped on the bandwagon and sent of my DPA letter requesting statements. My daughter got 1400GBP back last week. Spent that on buying her second house (legal fees etc, not the whole house!).
Couple of other websites Ripped Off Shore - Welcome and Penalty Charges UK - Fighting your Corner for FREE same as MoneySavingExpert: Consumer Revenge - Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more but certainly time to kick a$$

Good on you colbtech, welcome to the club.

How long did it take for your daughter's case to be settled ?

I think she told me 8 weeks from the initial letter. It was vs HSBC

WoW that's excellent.
I assume by that she wasn't forced to take legal action.

Well at least one bank can do things correctly.

I'm still waiting on a complete set of statements, but saying that I am being very cheeky and pushing the Data Protection Act fully.

I have requested ALL the data that they hold on me, so that's 10 years worth.
Should make for an interesting calim when they finally arrive, especially with interest ;)

Quick update, DPA requesting statements to NatWest went in last week 25/4. I've had a letter back from the bank stating they are examining my account (worrying?) and will respond within 28 days... not much news but the interesting thing is... the letter is from the "Charges Referal Team". So at least they have a department set up to examine these cases.

Col, I wouldn't worry as this is a standard letter.
Interesting that they now have a specific dept dealing with these, but I bet you don't get a decent response to your request.

Well I now have all of my statements dating back to March 1997.
Time to get the highlighte pen out me thinks.
Thank god it's a long weekend, there's a ton of paper to get through.

Well I still haven't heard a thing from Natwest, they've got one week today until I take them to court! Woohoo!

And still nothing back from RBS after the usual "we're looking into it" letter! That'll be a month on Sunday, so they may be getting a phonecall / letter pretty soon too!

It only took me an afternoon to work out all my charges, why is it taking them so long?
Granted, they've got to sort out one or two more people than I did! Lol!

So, spent the weekend getting all my paperwork in order.
I've received statements going back to 1997 and THREE copies of charges applied to my account for the last 6 years.

A couple of hours with highlighter pen, caclulator and coke and I'm done.
Prelim goes off tomorrow for £2,600 including interest, £750 is pre 6 year "limit".

Not as bad as I was thinking, but still too much.

I noticed that back in 1997 I was charged £6 per month for exceeding my overdraft, in 10 years that has risen to £90 for the same "service"!!

Now if it'd stayed at £6 then none of this activity would have started.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Curlyben

A couple of hours with highlighter pen, caclulator and coke...

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I know it's boring work... but resorting to drugs is not the best way to stay awake mate! Lol!

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...atements-1.jpg

6 years of statements from 2 accounts! What a waste of paper eh! :p

Hi everyone, don't really know much about claiming back bank charges but I do know I want to take this action. I have an account with lloyds tsb and they take the mick. I get charged anything up £90 a month just for going a fart and cough overdrawn and Ive got money problems as it is! I want to get my money back but what kind of legal stuff do iI need to know before I take action? I reckon I can get about £500 out of them at least. I want my money back : (

Chameleonchick, welcome to AMHD Reclaimers.
If you need any help give me a shout, especially as LloydsTSB are the people I'm going for ;)

Thanks curlyben. I couldn't keep track of everyone's stories but I gathered you haven't got your money back yet?? How long have you been waiting?

I went on moneysavingexpert.com and downloaded template letters and had a read of what he had to say... think I get the idea now... sort of...
-get statements and work out how much to claim
-send letter asking for it with time limit
-send another letter threatening legal action
-if legal action required then do it through moneyclaim website

Sounds simple enough so why am I still wary? I read that some banks close your account if they pay out-luckily I have another account but Id prefer them not to do that in the first place. Do you think I should transfer my wages and direct debit etc to the second account before I do anything? How much does ltsb charge for requesting statements? Im very bitter at the moment because I had a perfect credit rating until all this rubbish started happening in the past year or so... Iv had the account since I as 11 and I'm 20 now. Do u think they'll care about my loyalty? Lol goo dluck with oyur claim by the way! : )

CC, MSE is OK, but there are better sites out there that give a lot more help.

In a nutshell it really is that easy, but there's a lot of waiting and then having to deal with legalise letters and solicitors and stuff.

First off you send a Data Protection Act Subject Access Request (SAR) to LTSB. There is a maximum that they can change of £10. This covers ALL the info.
This is meant to be complied with in 40 days.
In my case it took nearly 3 MONTHS!
In the end I did get 10 years worth of statements.
Now a SAR is meant to supply ALL the information the Banks hold on you, not just the last 6 years. This is the first place MSE falls over.

Once you have all the statements then it's PreLim time.
This is the first approach for repayment, time limit 14 days.
Once they refuse this then it's Last Before Action (LBA). Again you are asking for ALL the charges to be repaid, time limit 14 days.

Once they have refused both these letters then the fun really starts with court action.
Yes the easiest way to file is MCOL, but it isn't a case of file and you'll get your money.

The banks will try at every turn to have your case throwen out or to buy you off.
Again this is another area MSE lets you down, not enough support and help with dealing with the banks solicitors..

Now if you hold your nerve, and with LTSB you'll need it, the whole process can take up to 10 MONTHS. Yes you read that right.
You would be very lucky indeed to have the whole amount refunded within a few months.
This is NOT a get rich quick scheme and it is far from plain sailing.

Now don't let this put you off, just remember that they have taken your and you want it back ;)

On the whole the banks aren't closing accounts on the back of reclaiming, obviously if you are operating it badly then they may.
You say you already have another account, keep it on the back burner and only move if you absolutely have to.
No need to go through all the hassle if you don't.

I must admit I always thought that the banks where there to help and had our best interests at heart, well not any more.
Generally they are like any other big business, money grabbing!
I've been with LTSB for 15 years yet, when I needed some help with O/D charges that I ended up having after my expenses where late, I was basically lied to.
So I decided to reclaim EVERYTHING that they have taken over the years.

The fun has only just begun.

Feel free to PM me and I'll point you in the right direction.

OMG 10 months, seedy ltsb lawyers, lack of knowledge... I don't think I can do this but I really want my money back! :( can't I just get one of those no win no fee law firms to deal with this of me?

If you want to give away 25%+ of YOUR money and let some complete stranger go through your fincial records then go for it, but the whole process is quite straight forward.
Just takes time and a certain amount of balls.

I don't want someone else taking a quarter of my money- u just scared me a little with the lawyer stuff that's all but Im a big girl and I'm going to try and do this myself. Thanks for the support anyway- I'm sure I''llbug you with more questions as I get closer to making a move (waiting to get paid- another week and half to go!) :)

Right then, RBS have until the end of this week before I send off my second letter!

But Natwest, oh poor Natwest, they have until the end of this week until I take them to court! Pay up Natwest, you know it makes sense! Lol!

Good luck chameleonchick, do it on your own, it's much more fun!

Oh I feel a letter from Corbetts, NastyWest's inhouse solicitors, winging it's way to you very soon.

I'm looking forward to standing up in court and telling the judge what I think, I can't wait, I think it's brilliant that we're taking on the big boys!