Difference between revisions of "Guide to reclaiming bank charges"

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There are a lot of discussions on the methods and reasoning behind applying contractual interest to a claim. However, this should ONLY be considered if you fully understand the legal arguments, and be warned that you would be increasing the chances of having to justify your claim in court.
 
There are a lot of discussions on the methods and reasoning behind applying contractual interest to a claim. However, this should ONLY be considered if you fully understand the legal arguments, and be warned that you would be increasing the chances of having to justify your claim in court.
  
==Step 2 - Things You Can And Can't Claim For==
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REMEMBER! On the Advanced Spreadsheet Use the Charges and Interest tab. Do Not use the 8% Interest tab until you file your claim with the court (if you reach this stage).
 
REMEMBER! On the Advanced Spreadsheet Use the Charges and Interest tab. Do Not use the 8% Interest tab until you file your claim with the court (if you reach this stage).
 
  
 
==Step 3 - Preliminary Request For Refund.==
 
==Step 3 - Preliminary Request For Refund.==

Revision as of 00:15, 20 June 2007

(Scottish Claimants should read Scottish Step by Step)

Introduction

This guide will help you to recover YOUR MONEY, which has been unlawfully taken from your account.


If you are having doubts about claiming YOUR MONEY back then look at the Survey Results - to date the Banks have paid out over £11 million to 7748 people across the UK (and that Is ONLY those who have taken the trouble to complete the Survey - it is probably three times that figure or more).

We would like to expand this winners club so if you would like to become a member just follow the steps in here.


IMPORTANT: Read 'Things you really need to know', before commencing.



Preparation

Remember When Your Mother Used To Say

"Forewarned Is Forearmed" Well - It's True.

Make sure you read all the Frequently Asked Questions and understand what you are about to do. This may seem a little horrific to begin with but don't let yourself be put off by this.


We are all your friends now and we have all been in the same boat (read some of our threads - this will also help you).


Also study the letters in THE LIBRARY to familiarise yourself with them.

Reading the TUTORIALS is a must - If you want to be fully prepared!!!

Step 1 - Getting your list of charges.

Send the Subject Access Request letter asking for a list of charges made on your account for the past 6 years (or for the time you have had the account if less than 6 years).



We try not to use the phrase "copy statements" since these are not technically covered by the Data Protection Act. The Data Protection Act covers your transaction records. Banks, however, find it much easier to supply you with copy statements. Earlier information may be supllied on Microfiche printouts.



Remember


The data should be supplied within 40 calender days, ONLY complain to the Information Commissioners Office if the 40 days has expired and not before.

If the bank doesn't comply within the 40 days, you can send a further letter giving 7 days, and then apply to court. There are details how to proceed with this in the Templates library.

What Interest Do I Claim?

There are different methods to claim interest on your refund.

1) Overdraft Interest paid by you on the charges This is the amount of interest the bank charged you for being overdrawn. You can only claim the proportion of interest charged on your charges, as opposed to any charged on spending. The Advanced spreadsheet will help calculate this amount. The Overdraft Interest figures should be included within your Preliminary letters to the bank.

2) Statutory Interest under section 69 of the County Court Act. This is the standard interest applicable to your claim. It is awarded at the discretion of the court and should not be added to your claim until you file the claim with the court. The current rate is 8% PA. You can claim this on TOP of the Overdraft interest (1).

3) Contractual Interest

There are a lot of discussions on the methods and reasoning behind applying contractual interest to a claim. However, this should ONLY be considered if you fully understand the legal arguments, and be warned that you would be increasing the chances of having to justify your claim in court.

Things You Can And Can't Claim For

For those that have looked at their statements and may be wondering what they can claim for and why are the descriptions confusing, or whether overdraft interest is claimable as well...Wonder no more.


You can claim for anything which is deemed a penalty charge,

which includes:-

  • returned direct debits
  • card misuse fees
  • unpaid standing orders
  • unpaid item fees
  • exceeding your overdraft
  • referral fee
  • overdraft interest (see below),
  • total charges (see below)

See List of charges by bank for a more detailed list (thanks - Michael Brown)

You can NOT claim for: -


  • ATM (cash machine) usage fees
  • an agreed overdraft fee
  • account "service" fees

- i.e. where you pay a fixed monthly amount but receive benefits such as free insurance or travel discounts etc


Overdraft Interest


This is the single most confusing part of most people's claims and one of the most frequently asked questions.

Overdraft interest is applied to your whole overdraft. However, if some of your overdraft is made up from unlawful charges, then a proportion of the interest has been wrongly applied and is therefore reclaimable.


Example

You have a £400 overdraft, you purchase something that day for £200 so now you are -£200 on your current account balance, but on the same day £200 of charges are placed on your account, which means that your current account balance is now -£400 and the bank will charge interest on the whole £400, but as we are contesting that these charges are unlawful, then the interest should not be placed on the whole amount, only on the amount that you have actually spent. Therefore, in this example, you can claim back 50% of the interest, however these calculations have to be done daily to truly reflect the amount which can be reclaimed.


Total charges

Again this is another issue which many people aren't sure about.

Total charges are reclaimable, they are a separate issue to the other afore-mentioned charges (card misuse, returned d-d's etc), and are not simply all of these charges added together each month. So they are also claimable on top of the other charges.

"Total charges" refers to the charge they put on your account for going over your overdraft limit, this charge is calculated daily, and they can charge up to a maximum of £125 in one month for this, it is then debited from your account on a set date every month.


REMEMBER! On the Advanced Spreadsheet Use the Charges and Interest tab. Do Not use the 8% Interest tab until you file your claim with the court (if you reach this stage).

Step 3 - Preliminary Request For Refund.

Send the PRELIMINARY APPROACH FOR REPAYMENT LETTER together with a copy of the completed schedule of charges spreadsheet above.

If you obtained your statements online you will not have asked for details of manual intervention as this is in the DATA PROTECTION ACT LETTER, so it may be useful to add this paragraph to this letter.


Allow 14 calendar days before the next Step.


If they do not reply with a full offer, do not reply at all, or reply saying they are investigating and will contract you in 4 weeks, then STILL move to the NEXT STEP after your 14 calender days.