Bank Charges Reclaimed

[Mellotron]

OK...so using the advice on the ol' moneysavingexpert website, I'm having a go at getting some of the £1,700.41 of bank charges I've accrued over approx. 4 years reclaimed.

Success stories? Failure stories?

Please tell all and give any advice you think could help me.

Thanks.

 

[ali jenkins]

OK...so using the advice on the ol' moneysavingexpert website, I'm having a go at getting some of the £1,700.41 of bank charges I've accrued over approx. 4 years reclaimed.

Success stories? Failure stories?

Please tell all and give any advice you think could help me.

Thanks.

Ive got quite a few of those over the years and Ive wondered bout trying to claim them back but I was told that all cases have been suspended untll a court ruling to decided if its legal or not. Untill then the banks arent paying out.

Might be worth a try though and let me know what happens.

What bank do you use?

 

[Mellotron]

Ive got quite a few of those over the years and Ive wondered bout trying to claim them back but I was told that all cases have been suspended untll a court ruling to decided if its legal or not. Untill then the banks arent paying out.

Might be worth a try though and let me know what happens.

What bank do you use?

I was under the impression that court ruling was a while back now. Banks ARE paying out.

I'm with Natwest.

Go on Money Saving Expert: Consumer Revenge - Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more, and have a read of the "Bank Expenses Success Stories" in the forum. Seems a very good success rate, you can download a letter template from there as well, very helpful.

 

[Easy 10]

How were the charges accrued ?

 

[Storer68]

and then wait for the banks to charge for banking

 

[fatbadger]

£468 successfully claimed from the Co-op Bank - and every time they have tried to charge me since, I have got it refunded immediately (same with joint account with the Clydesdale, although we had nothing backdated to claim from them).

 

[ali jenkins]

Granted it was about a year ago I was told this by someone at the Halifax. I hadnt heard anything about a ruling so just assumed that it hadnt been sorted yet!

 

[Mellotron]

How were the charges accrued ?

Me being an idiot and overspending, Direct Debits not clearing, cheques not clearing.

The point is not that I am charged for going over my overdraft. Fair enough, I've been naughty, slap on the wrist of, shall we say, £5? It can't cost them more than that in referral fees blah etc. I have no problem taking a REASONABLE hit for being unable to present a cheque etc.

But no. We're talking £80. Sometimes more. For a ONE OFF transaction.

That's the issue. The punishment is ridiculously exaggerated to the crime.

 

[Mellotron]

£468 successfully claimed from the Co-op Bank - and every time they have tried to charge me since, I have got it refunded immediately (same with joint account with the Clydesdale, although we had nothing backdated to claim from them).

How tough was the process? Did you have to threaten court action? Etc etc?

 

[Easy 10]

Me being an idiot and overspending, Direct Debits not clearing, cheques not clearing.

The point is not that I am charged for going over my overdraft. Fair enough, I've been naughty, slap on the wrist of, shall we say, £5? It can't cost them more than that in referral fees blah etc. I have no problem taking a REASONABLE hit for being unable to present a cheque etc.

But no. We're talking £80. Sometimes more. For a ONE OFF transaction.

That's the issue. The punishment is ridiculously exaggerated to the crime.

Well, it GETS ridiculously exagerrated if its not sorted out promptly. The huge charges are there not so much to "reimburse" the additional admin costs. They're there to act as a deterrant. If all anyone got was a "tap on the wrist" charge of a fiver for bouncing a cheque, bouncing a d/d or going unauthorised overdrawn, and it only cost a few quid in charges, then a large proportion of customers would just get slack and start taking the piss.

I'm not saying you are one of those people of course. But unfortunately banks inevitably have to legislate for the shysters of this world, because some people really DO take the piss.

Where is gets shitty is when someone has fallen on hard times, lost their job or whatever. Provided they tackle it early though, go to their bank and don't brush the issues under the carpet, then it should in most cases be possible to nip charges in the bud and come to an arrangement before things get silly.

 

[WATFORD zero]

On the rare occasions that i have cocked up and got a bank charge over the last 25 years, they have always refunded it - all you have to do is ask nicely

*edit* (although i may have indicated that i would move my account the first time)

 

[Mellotron]

Well, it GETS ridiculously exagerrated if its not sorted out promptly. The huge charges are there not so much to "reimburse" the additional admin costs. They're there to act as a deterrant. If all anyone got was a "tap on the wrist" charge of a fiver for bouncing a cheque, bouncing a d/d or going unauthorised overdrawn, and it only cost a few quid in charges, then a large proportion of customers would just get slack and start taking the piss.

I'm not saying you are one of those people of course. But unfortunately banks inevitably have to legislate for the shysters of this world, because some people really DO take the piss.

Where is gets shitty is when someone has fallen on hard times, lost their job or whatever. Provided they tackle it early though, go to their bank and don't brush the issues under the carpet, then it should in most cases be possible to nip charges in the bud and come to an arrangement before things get silly.

What do you mean by "not sorted out promptly", though? Any time I miss a direct debit payment, it is IMMEDIATELY a charge of upwards of £38. Nothing to do with leaving it to go slack, or not "sorting it out". If I am 0.06p underfunded for a transaction, I can and will be charged stupid amounts of money.

Sorry but bo**ocks is it a deterrent. It's there to make money, pure and simple.

 

[wehatepalace]

Don't bounce cheques - No bank charges
Don't go overdrawn - No bank charges
Make sure DD clear - No bank charges
Don't live beyond your means -No bank charges
And Watford Zero is right if it is a one off and you made a cock up, phone your bank apologise and 9 times out of 10 they will refund the charge anyway
Simples

 

[Easy 10]

What do you mean by "not sorted out promptly", though? Any time I miss a direct debit payment, it is IMMEDIATELY a charge of upwards of £38. Nothing to do with leaving it to go slack, or not "sorting it out". If I am 0.06p underfunded for a transaction, I can and will be charged stupid amounts of money.

Sorry but bo**ocks is it a deterrent. It's there to make money, pure and simple.

Sorry, should have clarified. What I often used to see (when I worked for LTSB in the 90's) was an account go overdrawn, and then start incurring an unauthorised overdraft charge of £3 per day for up to 30 days. On top of this would be a £27.50 charge for every d/d or cheque that was bounced, and on top of this would be interest, so it would soon start to mount up. Dunno what sort of charge tariff banks run nowadays, but I wouldn't be surprised if its an immediate £38 now, as you say.

I'm not saying its fair. But it DOES act as a deterrant, because a hel of a lot more customers would just allow their accounts to run like shit if they knew they could take the piss and wern't going to get hammered by charges.

I cocked up once when I forgot about a cheque that was due to come out. They bounced it and chargde me £27.50. I had a grizzle as it was the first time I'd been overdrawn, so they refunded it "on this occasion", and I've made bloody sure ever since that I stay in the black.

Money-making ? Probably. But I'd far rather they make their money from the defaulters than for everyone to have to pay a regular fee just to have a bank account.

 

[wehatepalace]

Sorry, should have clarified. What I often used to see (when I worked for LTSB in the 90's) was an account go overdrawn, and then start incurring an unauthorised overdraft charge of £3 per day for up to 30 days. On top of this would be a £27.50 charge for every d/d or cheque that was bounced, and on top of this would be interest, so it would soon start to mount up. Dunno what sort of charge tariff banks run nowadays, but I wouldn't be surprised if its an immediate £38 now, as you say.

I'm not saying its fair. But it DOES act as a deterrant, because a hel of a lot more customers would just allow their accounts to run like shit if they knew they could take the piss and wern't going to get hammered by charges.

I cocked up once when I forgot about a cheque that was due to come out. They bounced it and chargde me £27.50. I had a grizzle as it was the first time I'd been overdrawn, so they refunded it "on this occasion", and I've made bloody sure ever since that I stay in the black.

Money-making ? Probably. But I'd far rather they make their money from the defaulters than for everyone to have to pay a regular fee just to have a bank account.

EXACTLY what he said

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Don't bounce cheques - No bank charges
Don't go overdrawn - No bank charges
Make sure DD clear - No bank charges
Don't live beyond your means -No bank charges
And Watford Zero is right if it is a one off and you made a cock up, phone your bank apologise and 9 times out of 10 they will refund the charge anyway
Simples

 

[Safeway]

Well, it GETS ridiculously exagerrated if its not sorted out promptly. The huge charges are there not so much to "reimburse" the additional admin costs. They're there to act as a deterrant. If all anyone got was a "tap on the wrist" charge of a fiver for bouncing a cheque, bouncing a d/d or going unauthorised overdrawn, and it only cost a few quid in charges, then a large proportion of customers would just get slack and start taking the piss.

I'm not saying you are one of those people of course. But unfortunately banks inevitably have to legislate for the shysters of this world, because some people really DO take the piss.

Where is gets shitty is when someone has fallen on hard times, lost their job or whatever. Provided they tackle it early though, go to their bank and don't brush the issues under the carpet, then it should in most cases be possible to nip charges in the bud and come to an arrangement before things get silly.

You know I once said you LOOKED like the bloke off the Ocean Finance ad.....?

 

[Easy 10]

Better that than HOWARD

 

[Mellotron]

I'm not here to be preached at. I understand that it's wrong when I've let it go over the overdraft, I started this thread to hear stories of other people successes or failures, not be told how to handle my account.

Sorry if that sounds flouncy.

 

[Mellotron]

I'm not saying its fair. But it DOES act as a deterrant, because a hel of a lot more customers would just allow their accounts to run like shit if they knew they could take the piss and wern't going to get hammered by charges.

Why not make the charge realistic and in line with the amount of "taking the p*ss" that is occuring?