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?

Oh, and well done to everyone who has got money so far - I'm hoping I will have a similarly successful outcome.

Can anyone tell me what the future problems could be from this? I have been warned that the banks "close ranks"... I still cannot afford a mortgage, and don't want to do this, and then find that when I can apply for one, they have a little note pop up on the screen "whinger, tell her to sod off"

bump for flamebat - hope someone can answer your query.

We decided to accept the offer of £1,000 refund from The Woolwich rather than going for the full amount of approx £2,300. This is our main, current account.

However, I am prepared to fight all the way for full claims on our two other accounts. The money involved isn't as much, but it's still considerable. What's more, we closed both these accounts a year or so ago, so have nothing to fear there

The bank has yet to respond to my pre court letters - they have not got to the stage of filing an online small claims court thing. I am certainly prepared do the online forms, especially now I have read the recent messages.

Emsiewill - good luck - hope the post brings you joyful news very soon!

Woo hoo! That's all I'm allowed to say, but woo hoo and woo hoo again!

Thanks TM - was just coming on to bump too. Will copy my post...

Can anyone tell me what the future problems could be from this? I have been warned that the banks "close ranks"... I still cannot afford a mortgage, and don't want to do this, and then find that when I can apply for one, they have a little note pop up on the screen "whinger, tell her to sod off"

i dont know for certain but i dont think they would refuse you a mortgage if you have a great credit rating.

is business. not the WI! i think they would fall over themselves to give you a mortgage

I think there have been cases where account have been closed and people have to find a new current account, but to be honest, if you are likely to borrow a large sum of money like a mortgage, custy is right, they will take your business. I have pursued my bank knowing that we owe them so much and pay a fortune in interest that they are very unlikely to tell us to bugger off.

Thankyou... will get some ink and print a letter then!!

recieved a form from the coop, got my postal order. and sent it today

My husband just received £270 from First Direct which was the full amount of charges claimed with no deduction for the £12 amount. They settled in full at the first request.

my bank have until 31st October to supply me with my requested details - what happens if they dont?

my bank have until 31st October to supply me with my requested details - what happens if they dont?

With the £10 £12 or whatever it is that you are meant to pay for the statements etc... how do you send it - a cheque addressed to the bank? Tell em to take it out of you account or what?

i sent a cheque

sorry a little post so i can find this in the morn and do this my self

Does this only apply to credit cards. Has anyone tried to claim back from their bank account yet?? How did it go?

Mostof the banks are now reviewing their charging policies - we have had new tariffs from our credit card companies, not sure about from the bank re current account. The new tariff mentioned #12 fee but it said on one website it will mean the end of 0% transfers on credit cards. You will still get a 0% period of time to pay off but there will be a transfer fee, say 2% of total transferred.

I'll be a bit upset if they intro charges for everything and everyone - every debit card, cash withdrawal etc costs because I rarely incur bank charges.

So is it still up to the bank to charge whatever the hell they like at the moment? I know most of the credit card co's have altered their fees, but I received a £39 charge yesterday from the Halifax for a failed d.d., which was my fault totally, as it goes out on 22nd of the month and all others go out in the first 4 days of the month and I forgot. But even so 339 for what?!?

ive received my bank statements today from Lloyds but they only go back 5 years instead of 6

duh there were copy statments forthe previous year for some reason. However am surprised to see only £500 in charges for 6 years. So can I now claim these charges back? do i have to ask for the whole amount or charges above £12?

I only asked for charges back that were over the £12 and worded my letter to say that in the interests of being fair andresonable I was only asking for the £12+ charges to be reimbursed as I accepted that £12 charges were fair. I thought it would makeme llok better if it did go further. The RBS were great and sent mea cheque for almost the full amount straight away.

I got my money back from natwest from first letter, still haven't gotten round to send abbey my letter

Just to let you all know that I have received a cheque today for the full amount that I claimed from Abbey (just over £2,000).

Hurrah! Hurrah!

Keep on fighting everyone...

Just wanted to know if the banks that reimbursed you of your unlawful charges cancelled your accounts with them after paying up?

Abbey has shown no sign of wanting to cancel my account - however, I have opened a new account, and am in the process of leaving Abbey for ever...