Did you know that bank charges of more than £12.00 have been ruled as unfair by the OFT and you can claim your money back? And your claim can cover the last 6 years?

[tigermoth]

I've cut and pasted the article that appeared in Telegraph money section:

Get your money back from the bank

The Office of Fair Trading's ruling that bank penalty charges of more than £12 are unfair could spark a flood of complaints from customers seeking compensation for unjustified charges over several years.

Earlier this month the OFT ruled that penalty charges for late payments on credit cards, unauthorised overdrafts, unpaid direct debits and standing orders and missed payment fees on store cards and mortgages were deemed unfair if they exceeded £12.

Last weekend, this paper revealed that this could lead to redress for bank customers who have been erroneously charged for the past six years.

The OFT's initiative strengthens the case of anyone who has seen penalty charges automatically deducted from their accounts after falling foul of bank and building society small print. As with any legal proceedings, there is not a 100 per cent guarantee that you will win, but lawyers and consumer groups reckon the OFT's position means judges will be far more likely to accept arguments that penalties of more than £12 amount to unfair contract terms that cannot be enforced.

The process for reclaiming the unfair charges from your bank is straightforward.

First your bank is obliged to supply you on demand with a list of all charges you have paid in the past six years under the Data Protection Act. You then need to write demanding the bank repays the unfair charges. If that is not successful, you can take the matter further by either going to the small claims court of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

More details on how to claim and pro forma letters are available on the website of Which?, the consumer group.

"Claiming back these unfair charges from the banks is a relatively straightforward process," says Emma Bandey, a personal finance campaigner at Which? "These charges are nothing but an easy money-spinner for the banks."

I am thinking of doing this. What a windfall if I am successful!

But I am worried about something. If I push for this, and my bank give me my money back, is there a risk that the bank might start to get difficult with me? I don't want them to mysteriously refuse to send me a new cheque book, refuse to extend my overdraft limit or refuse a loan. Do you think there is a risk that banks might start doing this to customers who claim their charges back?

I've been watching this thread with interest, but have just seen this from every investor .

Would be interesting to see if any of you who have had your charges refunded find yourselves without a bank account in the near future.

You don't seem to be able to win any way. Cut your losses and you're out of pocket, claim the money back, and you have no account.

am guessing my statements are on the way to me, as Barclays have taken £5 from my account for 'copy statement fee'

HJ who is you bank ????

WHERE'S IT GONE!!!!???

weird

Argh!! I broke it

It was here just a moment ago, I posted on it............ did I break it??????

TECH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where has it gone!!!!!????

what have you done?

I got all excited at finding this thread again and reading that refunds were being given NOW WHAT!!!

wierd that in the active convos. it says it has 260 messages, but it says 6 when you click on it!!!

That will be the twighlight zone then )&"$&!&%$(&!)&$(!$!)(&$)(W*()&£"

bugger!!! I need this thread, I need the letters.......

oh bum! its showing as over 200 posts too!

sparkly - if you go to moneyexpert.com there should be a link there regarding this that links to a forum that has the blank letters in there.

HTH

Sparkygothcat i have the letters svaed in my favourites i can email you them if this doesn't resurface don't worry.

thats really weird, its not going to turn into another secret thread is it?, hidden in cyberspace?

*saved

thanks, i have done the first letter, and recieved a letter back from my bank saying that my statements would be send soon, and my bank have just taken a £5 fee for 'statement copy fee'

I'm off to bed before I break anymore threads!!

I posted my letter on 5th June and have heard nothing yet...

Question - if the charges have been ruled unfair, how come I have just been charged £30 for being over my o/d limit?? Can I claim for that or are they still allowed to do it?

I suppose they are still doing it, elf, until they decide how to charge differently. I read that some banks are lowering charges to £12.00 at the end of this month. AFAIK you can still claim for any you are incurring at the moment.

Well, I sent my first refund requestion standard letter on 6 June, to the Woolwich. They have not given me any news. I asked today about the hold up - my letter requested a response within 2 weeks. Now overdue. I was told that due to the large quantites of letters about refunds, it is taking longer. My request is in a queue.

That's sort of good news I think. I hope so many people are asking for refunds that the banks cannot automatically close down accounts. If enough of their customers ask for refunds, surely banks will be in trouble if they close down hundreds of thousands of accounts

right have recieved and gone through my bank statements. The charges come to £875!!! what do I do now??

BTW I have added any 'card misuse' charges (£25 each) and any charges when they have paid something (£25 each), or not paid something (£30 each). Is that right????