Bank Charges....

[pezzapixiedust]

Hi all, i am over the moon! Just checked bank balance and saw that natwest have refunded my £2000 in bank charges over the last six years! All it took was one letter. We leave in just under 3 weeks for our disney wedding so the timing is fantastic. Just thought i'd share my story!!

 

[natalielongstaff]

brilliant well done

 

[lgp1]

Nice wedding present

 

[Netty]

Fantastic result!! well done on getting all your money back

 

[oceanscape]

Congratulations! I'm still chasing HSBC for my refund. I've sent four letters so far; I'm filing a claim with the courts next week.

 

[Netty]

Congratulations! I'm still chasing HSBC for my refund. I've sent four letters so far; I'm filing a claim with the courts next week.

Have you rang them? this usually gets them moving

 

[oceanscape]

Have you rang them? this usually gets them moving

Yes, I called them on Wednesday and was told "to put my concerns in writing" as "this is the only way we deal with these issues". I wouldn't mind if they bothered to reply!

 

[mikki.young]

Try writing direct to the chairman complaining you have not had a response to your previous letters. They usually have a staff who get the complaint moving!

Frightening how high charges can get and certainly a nice wedding present.

I have to admit I have seen all this stuff about the banks giving back the charges but I am not quite sure why they are doing so. I can see why there should be something to discourage people from writing cheques out when they know they don't have the money to cover it. I also know that not all charges are fair but I think many of them probably are.

 

[Minniespal]

Nice wedding present

 

[florida sun]

Nice one

 

[mandymouse]

That's great news

 

[fizz13]

Well done, very impressed you got it after one letter, I had to go to the court claim stage but I did get back £5000 so anyone who thinks they can't do it, yes you can!!, so glad you got it in time for the wedding

 

[jtlover]

But has it affected your account - have you had to close your account?

 

[pezzapixiedust]

Natwest assured me that my account will stay up and running as usual, had to sign letter agreeing to any future charges, although there won't be any as the charges that i claimed back are from years ago!

 

[gilld]

What are these charges for? I have never paid any bank charges.

 

[daipp]

I have to admit I have seen all this stuff about the banks giving back the charges but I am not quite sure why they are doing so. I can see why there should be something to discourage people from writing cheques out when they know they don't have the money to cover it. I also know that not all charges are fair but I think many of them probably are.

The problem with bank charges is that they are unlawful. They are only allowed under law to recoup their actual loss which, these days to reverse a direct debit or send an automated letter to tell you that you have gone overdrawn ammounts to around £0.35 - £0.50. Anything over the actual loss is unlawful.

There are cases where banks have charged their customers £30.00 for being overdrawn less than £0.05 !!!

I would suggest that EVERYONE who has successfully claimed back bank charges agrees that they should have to pay for any loss the bank has made but until the banks will openly admit how much it actually costs, the customer will never know the true figure.

Why won't the banks admit it ? - because it will reveal to their customers how much they have been ripped off over the years.

David

 

[mikki.young]

The problem with bank charges is that they are unlawful. They are only allowed under law to recoup their actual loss which, these days to reverse a direct debit or send an automated letter to tell you that you have gone overdrawn ammounts to around £0.35 - £0.50. Anything over the actual loss is unlawful.

There are cases where banks have charged their customers £30.00 for being overdrawn less than £0.05 !!!

I would suggest that EVERYONE who has successfully claimed back bank charges agrees that they should have to pay for any loss the bank has made but until the banks will openly admit how much it actually costs, the customer will never know the true figure.

Why won't the banks admit it ? - because it will reveal to their customers how much they have been ripped off over the years.

David

I thought there was still some question over what was lawful and whether it was a service or something else. Some recent court case?

Being charged £30 for going 5p overdrawn is ridiculous and the banks should have enough common sense to stop that sort of thing.

If people deliberately write cheques or do something else that they know will make them go overdrawn (by rather more substantial sums than 5p) is different. Why shouldn't the banks penalise people in that case? In some countries it would be seen as theft. Maybe the banks shouldn't penalise those customers in money terms. Maybe they should just automatically close the accounts for the third offence or some such. Would that be fair?

I don't actually want to defend bank charges in general because I don't agree with them all but I do wonder why we seem to think it is OK for customers to break agreed terms and conditions without penalty.

 

[Netty]

I don't actually want to defend bank charges in general because I don't agree with them all but I do wonder why we seem to think it is OK for customers to break agreed terms and conditions without penalty.

fair enough if they charge what it actually costs them instead of what they are charging.

 

[Deedee]

To have a laugh about bank charges please read a post on the "adding an email" thread. i found it amusing