Reclaim Your Bank Charges For The Last 6 Years

The One We’ve All Been Waiting For – Enjoy!

Why Has It Taken Until Now To Challenge The Banks?

The law is clear, charges levied by banks must be
proportional to the actual cost the banks incur. Thirty five
quid for an automated letter when you go a tenner over,

come on?

Everyone in the country has been stung at some point or
another and it sucks – how have they got away with it.
The good news is you can reclaim up to the last 6 years of
charges, plus interest if you’ve got the balls (no sexist
pun intended), you get the jist.

Let’s Get Started

Write to your bank, ask for a list of the charges levied for
the last 6 years. Simply add interest on and ask for a full
refund. The bank is likely to refuse, threaten to take them
to the small claims court and the likely hood is, they’ll
roll over. One person received £17,500 – SHOCKING!

There is no formal route to do this, it’s just about saying
*{7fcbeda410c9f02a886f83a59a5af911565ec7141a170d397df667872a958d9e}^$ You! give me my money back or I’ll take you to
court!

WARNING As much as I’d like to say it’s as simple as
that I can’t, if you push your luck you end up in a nasty
battle. You must do your research first there is no
guarantee you’ll win, but most people have.

So What Is The Cost To Bank (as if we care)

A measly £2.50 – £4.50 as reported by a group of
former senior bank staff by BBC2’s ‘The Money Programme’.
Which is the true cost of sending an automated letter and
there must be something else????

This makes bank charges pain unlawful! They
took our money without the right to do so, automatically!
Time To Take It Back

What About Those Pesky Terms And Conditions Though?

If I told you I was going to assault you before punching you
it doesn’t make it legal. Enough said.

The head of the British banker association believes the
charges are lawful, but the banks are paying out
left, right and centre. So much so the courts can’t shed any
light because these types of trial are so rarely tried by a
judge.

At this stage it’s still just an opinion as to whether the
charges are lawful or not.

Don’t worry though, the banks want to avoid going to court.
If a high court judge ruled in your favour it would set a
precedence which could lead to a simple ‘reclaims process’
opening the flood gates to millions. The banks would rather
settle now for millions instead of the potential billions a
high court judgement could cost. Better still to fully
understand whether banks charges are proportionate or not, a
high court would need to delve into every internal cost the
bank absorbs. Leave the bank at with a major competitive
disadvantage to boot.

Until the scale of the ‘movement of the people’ to reclaim
these charges reaches tipping point the banks will keep
on paying out.

What’s the Official View?

The Office of Fair Trading in April 2006 summarised that
credit card charges were to high and should be reduced to
£12, this is know becoming the norm amongst most card
providers. This only adds fuel to your ‘take money from the
banks’ fire. It also means you can apply the same principles
to reclaim your credit card charges, even if twelve quid is
still to much.

One Step At a Time Get’s your Money Back

Open a bank a new bank account just in case your bank closes
your account when you make your claim. Unfortunately some
banks will do this don’t let it put you off.

If you’re seriously over drawn look to prevent taking the
bank to court to reclaim your charges, if the rebate in
charges doesn’t come close to paying back what you owe and
your credit history is suffering, get your credit report for
further guidance.

Will Reclaiming My Bank Charges Effect my Credit Score?

No, the bank can not put a note on your credit file if you
reclaim your bank charges.

What Next?

Write to your bank an ask for comprehensive list of all the
default charges for direct debit, unauthorised overdrafts
and standing orders you have paid over the last six years,
which you are entitled to buy law. Enclose a cheque for ten
pound as this is usually required to request you data under
the data protection act. The bank must respond within 40
days under the data protection act or you can seek remedy
from the Information Commissionaire, (all the letters you
need coming soon).

How much interest can you claim?

You’re entitled to 8{7fcbeda410c9f02a886f83a59a5af911565ec7141a170d397df667872a958d9e} interest on the money you have been
charged from the date you were parted with the money. You
wouldn’t be paid this money unless you won your claim in
court but it’s a great bargaining tool, negotiation is an
art not a science. If you get lucky you will get back your
charges and the interest.

Time To Write To The Banks again

Write and tell them that you want to reclaim all the charges
totalling the full amount because you believe them to be
unlawful and that you want a response within 14 days. If you
want to risk it for a biscuit tell them that you want to
claim the interest accrued from the date the charge was
made.

The Response

There are several replies you can expect to get:

• You get your money back in full, this happens on the rare occasion.
• Refused or ignored – there are a multitude of ways the banks are trying to stop you pursuing your hard earned cash. They may flat out refuse, offer you some of the money, (at which point you need to decide to take it or hold out for all of it. Or delay you by ‘looking into it’.

If your not happy with the response carry on
regardless

Threaten to Take Them To Court

Tell them you are not satisfied/ haven’t had a response and
that you do not believe the default charges are
proportionate and you believe ‘your local court’ will agree
in your favour. Give them 7 days to respond or you will
start proceedings to reclaim your bank charges.

Deal or No Deal?

You will either get a response similar to the last or you
will get an improved offer. You need to way up how much
you’re owed against what they are offering to pay. Think of
it I term of ‘what is the chance you would loose if it went
to court?’ Work out how much they are offering you as a
percentage of your claim e.g. You claim £1000, your offered
£750, which is 75{7fcbeda410c9f02a886f83a59a5af911565ec7141a170d397df667872a958d9e} of your claim. Reverse it, ‘is there a
25{7fcbeda410c9f02a886f83a59a5af911565ec7141a170d397df667872a958d9e} chance the court will rule against me in favour of the
bank. If there is or it’s to close to call, take the money
and crack open a bottle of champagne.

Again this is an art not a science, you have to way up
whether the battle is worth the hassle and the possibility
that you walk away empty handed.

I’m Going To Get Legal Or There Ass

If you have still not managed to reclaim your bank charges
make your claim through Moneyclaims website in England and
Wales ( use Northern Ireland Courts Online in Ireland).
There is a fee of between £30 and £120 depending on the size
of the claim, which is refunded if and when you win.

If the banks don’t make a response within 14 days you can
claim for the whole amount in full without a hearing. Using
Moneyclaims is the best bet, as it’s online and it is likely
that your claim will be actioned much faster. Long live the
net to automate their asses back.

Congratulations You’re Done!

Only in the rarest of occasions will you not have been
awarded your claim at this stage, if you aren’t follow it
through to the small claims court and your home and dry.

This topic is changing constantly check back regularly for
updates.