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?

Well I exceeded my overdraft limit last week (didn't realise til I went to cash machine and got a resounding NO)so I rang Abbey the next day (as it was evening). I tried to explain I had mistakenly gone over my limit, that I would pay money in today but could they please please not charge me. Anyway, the woman was very rigid and very patronising. Every time I tried to say something, she said "Mrs X it will do you the world of good to get your account in credit as soon as possible" yep - think I could work that one out myself! I asked her how much I would be charged and she said £60 (30 for yesterday and 30 today). I said so what is the point in me being responsible and communicating with you to let you know i'll be paying money in, if you're gonna fine me anyway. I then mentioned the OFT and she went quiet. She didn't have a clue what I was talking about. That is the problem when you ship your call centre out to India. Similarly (the only other time I've ever bothered to try and get charges dropped)when on Mat leave I phoned them and they didn't understand about the SMP (my pay dropped dramatically in the last month before returning to work)and even though I told them I'd be getting paid my normal salary the next month, they just didn't get it. They refunded two of the numerous charges I got, but would not increase the overdraft limit nor stop charging until I got paid. Anyway (sorry about the long rant) I went into my branch and let rip. Got one of the charges dropped, but dude says OFT ruling vague and open to interpretation. He said the ruling was made on the basis that many other countries charge their customers to have a current account, therefore fining them is unfair. My reply was "Harrummmphh, well if you initiate that, I think I'll just start keeping it under my pillow" (might be very easy as not much left after everyone else has had a piece)and he looked bemused. Think he thought I was a strange and eccentric type.

comgratulations, somethingaboutmary. I will certainly persist if my first letter meets with a 'no'. What about getting advice from the financial ombudsman or even the citizsedn's advice bureau, before deciding whether or not to accept the offer?

hunkercaribou, according to the original article (see OP) and the which website general info, credit card charges are counted - someone said you can read about specific successful cases there.

I am still waiting to receive all my statements from the bank. Will keep you posted and look forward to hearing how the rest of you are getting on.

i know someone asked this below but as at work had to scan read and couldn't see an answer - doe sthis apply to old accounts. I shut an a/c with barclays 4 years ago cos I disagreed with their charges.

I was late getting a pay rise - we usually get it in november and it didn't come till feb so I went over by that amount, realised 10 days b4 and asked bank to extend my o/d temporarily which they refused due to my credit rating - even though I'd been a customer for 14 years and their literature said a long-term customer wld be judged ontheir a/c not credit scored. resulted in loads of charges as direct debit was returned etc etc. In general barclays were dreadful.

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Thank you so much for starting this thread, tigermoth!
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We sent off the first letter to dp's bank and today got a letter offering slightly over what we calcualted our bank charges to have been. Success!

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Thank you so much for starting this thread, tigermoth!
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We sent off the first letter to dp's bank and today got a letter offering slightly over what we calcualted our bank charges to have been. Success!

sorry, comp was on a go-slow.

how is everybody doing here?

Well I sent a letter 8 days ago giving them 7 days to refund the charges. I sent it recorded and it was signed for. Just checked on line and no refund and no letter even acknowledging our demand. What now? Phone call or follow up letter?

Is it worth saying who we bank with? That way, if one of us gets a refund then everyone who banks with them will be entitled. My bank is Abbey, I haven't written yet but I'm going to tomorrow.

i am with barclays and halifax

i have hada £120 refund from halifax which i wnated to deal with first...so letters to Halifax will follow soon. then i will do Barclays. then when they all pay up we will go on holiday with the lootie

Yes I can just picture it........on the beach with a champagne cocktail........toasting our respective banks Maybe we could send them a postcard too!

Seriously though, I think they have underestimated the power of word of mouth/word of internet. They stand to lose a lot of money.

Thank you for this thread - hopefully a wee windfall will come our way thanks to you tigermoth! Cheers!

K, I've settled a dispute w/the council now - long, drawn out story, suffice it to say I have now successfully appealed two MAJOR incidents favourably and am currently working on Scottish Power and settling a PayPal dispute - already received a favourable outcome from Ebay as well concerning a rogue buyer I had.

I'm ready to rock and roll! Halifax has charged me £310 in fees since January. It's extortianate and I'm going to try to see if I can't get some of it back.

well done Kelly!
Good luck expat!

My bank (The Woolwich, owned by barclays) have sent me 6 years' worth of bank statements but have refused my request for a separate list of charges, so I can cross reference. I got a letter from them today stating this. I am going to phone up tomorrow.

It doesn't matter really as I can still wade through the statements to calculate my charges. However, I am certain the bank have my charges total on screen so why can't they give me a print out of this? mmm... perhaps the total is just so much they want to make it as hard for me as possble to find it.

Yep I think you're right TM. By the way, would also like to thank you for starting this thread

no one has to thank me - thank 'Which' and the Daily Telegraph :)

Just seen this thread, am gonna definitely do this today... also had severl heated phone calls with HSBC over the years. Has anyone has success with HSBC?

THANKS TO ALL FOR THIS GREAT ADVICE! :D

Just spoke to HSBC who told me there is a letter in post offering me a refund.

This is great, have avoided this section as money not my fav subject, but have told DH tonight and if we get back even a fraction of what we've paid out we'd have enough for a holiday!!!! What out Nat West ha ha ha

On a more sensible note, does anyone know if the banks are retaliating? Ie. would they suddenly ask for our rather large overdraft to be paid back immediately if we send them a letter about bank charges. Has this happened to anyone?

will it interfere with future requests from your bank though, such as loans/mortgages (if ur bank offers them?), we desperatly need money so am going to go thru all statements with a fine toothed comb (i am sad and i keep mine ) but don't want to face future hassle if ever i need a loan

I really dont see that it would be in the banks best interests to start causing you hassle and suddenly refusing a loan application for example or demaonding early repayment of an overdraft.

This is how the banks make their money (even if from no on they forced to water down their charges)

I really cant see them wanting to shoot themselves in the foot even further by sendng your business elsewhere.

I say - go for it!

i have now sent my letters - recorded delivery yesterday...so have marked 40 days time on my calendar.

ours was also hsbc, via the customer relations dept, if that is useful to anyone.