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 was 'had' last month when my tax credits were stopped....meaning i went over my overdraft limit...and 2 direct debits were paid...casing me charges of £90....and the 2 direct debits only totalled £20!

so i wondered who to moan at first... the tax credit people for not warning me in advance that they weren't paying me...meaning i could have covererd my direct debits...prevented going overdrawn etc....
or the bank for 'unfair' charges...as i know i cannot argue the toss that i wasn't over my limit- cos i was because the tax office didn't pay my money....

anyone have any ideas!!!???

Think you should ring your Bank first and explain the situation to them. Ask them if they will kindly extend your overdraft in the short term while you solve the problem with the Tax Credit Office.

re: your Tax Credits. Did you submit your renewal form by the end of August with your income details? If not then that will be why they have stopped your payments and you're responsible. However if you did then you can give them a piece of your mind and explain what a mess this has left you in and that you are holding them responsible for the bank charges you have incurred.

shedevil...we even had the local mp involved....have appealed the overpayments...so am waiting their decision.
the effect on my bank accout only came to my attention last week when i got my statement!

Hello shedevil here (name change due to joke on another thread!!)

Definately still speak to your bank and explain the situation to them - they may refund the charges as a gesture of goodwill as it wasn't your fault, and you had no idea the money wasn't going to be paid in and didn't realise it hadn't gone in until you got your statements and now your panicking. Some banks are very sympathetic others aren't, but its worth a try x

...thanks!

yes...the letter i finally got from the tax office notifying me...was only dated 3 days b4 the money should have gone in...and actually arrived 7 days after letter date....so for arguments sake...if they had sent it a 2 weeks before date money should have gone in...then i would have got it b4 money stopped....rather than after it was too late!!!

Grrrrrrh!!!!

3 days thats a joke, perhaps try taking the letter in to your bank with you and explain it to someone face to face, they'll help you and at least you won't get any more charges.

Ring Tax Credits office up. Honestly they're a bunch of idiots i'm an accountant and deal with lots of client's Tax Credit claims, they've messed up so many its unbelieveable, you aren't alone by any means.

in 3 years they have over paid us £3000...and reclaimed £2000 so far!

I have 2 disabled sons and am disabed myself... so our tax credits are a significant ammount.

therefore when they over pay...its to extremes....

so from this last muck up.... i have been advised of an ammount which is 'safe' to spend each month...and the rest i am not touching for at least a year......i feel that for 3 years now we have not been able to budget....as we never know how much we will get....or when it will be taken away.......

also i'd rather not have any extra lump sums they keep sending everytime we do what they tell us and that is to advise them of any change in details.........so everytime i did they sent a £1000.....and the latest muck up followed a call i made where the woman ammended my husbands wages...then from what i'm told...didn't go to my details (on a split screen)....and unwittingly 'zero'ed' my details....hence when i gave them my details this july (before august!!!!) it appeared that i 'suddenly' had declared my 'earnings' as they call it (in my case incapacity benefit) ...so that they say caused the overpayments this time....BUT even though they admit they ballsed up.....they say i should have still realised it was wrong...which i did..and queried....and was advised ok...yet apparently i am still in the wrong!

my dad is an accountant too!!!
and wait for this.....my brother is a manager within the IR!!!! (however...NOT tax credits...and even so..i don't ask him for help....as i worry he'd get in trouble if it appeared that he was 'helping' us get money!

so cannot win!

I'll let u know!

I'm sorry you're having such problems with the Tax Credits, they're a complete load of pillocks in my opinion!!

I would urge you to speak to the bank though about the charges and making sure it doesn't all go horribly wrong at that end as well - you don't want to end up owing them loads of money in charges and then not being able to get back on track i.e. every month they are taking £30, £60, £90 or whatever and you aren't able to repay this, believe me it just gets worse.

I wish you all the best and do keep me posted as to how you get on. My grandparents have had a similar problem they now owe the Tax Credits Office about £8000 allegedly.

dhedevil...its ok as far as the taxcredits monthly paymet///they have reinstated our payments (at half the usual ammount)...but is enough to budget ...and my overdraft is now safely within boundary.....its just that when all that happened i was so shocked that they could just stop peoples money without giving them enough notice to preven bank charges etc!

thanks for your suppport!

Started a fresh thread here - this one is getting hard to navigate!

Ok

I am about to send letter 1 to my bank wish me luck= PLEASE!!!!!

I am worried though that they will get nasty with me

good luck! I think it's really worthwhile to do this and don't be put off if the bank writes to say no or you speak to customer services and they put you off. I have seen how decisions get reversed.

Of the four accounts I have been claiming back charges from, I accepted a high-ish compromise figure (£1,000) for my major current account with the Woolwich in July. (I could have gone the legal route and pressed for £2,000 but I decided not to) My current account has not been closed and everything is as normal.

I also had a full refund of charges from a less used current account (about £50.00) from Lloyds. This took time and the initial answer was a 'no' but after a letter threatening legal action and 4 or 5 phone calls, but I got the full refund.

I am still going through the process of getting charges refunded from two other accounts I closed with the Woowlich a couple of years ago. I am awaiting a their final decision, expected in early January. Since I started my claim in the summer, I have been too busy to follow up my letters promptly so it is partly my fault things are dragging on. However if the final decision is not in my favour, I will complete the online forms for the small claims court. As these two accounts are closed already the bank can't frighten me off with threats of closing them. Getting the online forms done is one of my new year resolutions.