bank charges

[martin]

hiya

am going after barclays for 2 personal and 1 business account charge refunds.

any updates or recommendations please.

thanks

martin

[char1ie]

Yes, don't bank with Barclays.

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Hold off for a little while. Everything is frozen until the test case sometime this month (14th). Look on Martin Lewis' site:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges

[Keef]

Yeah definitely hold off. I got ?2k back from HSBC last year, and it was so easy, but they still wouldn't admit that they had actually done any wrong. A friend tried a month or 2 later, and got a letter saying he'd get nothing, as all the banks were getting together on this... Fingers crossed for the test case!

[martin]

nice one!

[embellina]

?2K! Jeez! Sorry Keef. Nice one though, bet that made a difference. And well done for getting in while the going was good

[Keef]

It was nice, paid off the biggest bar tab ever and cleared the credit card... Not particularly exciting I know.

Annoyingly, they're still hitting me with charges whenever I put a foot wrong. They are thieving scum!

Worst of all, I had some wedding money in a spare account waiting for Mrs Keef and I to get our acts together and open a joint account. I then went a bit over my limit on my current account, and they took it upon themselves to move some of the wedding money in to the current account! I couldn't believe the fecking cheek of it!

[peckhamboy]

Would you rather have been hit with another charge (and interest) for going overdrawn?

[Domitianus]

Keef Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Yeah definitely hold off. I got ?2k back from HSBC

> last year, and it was so easy, but they still

> wouldn't admit that they had actually done any

> wrong. A friend tried a month or 2 later, and got

> a letter saying he'd get nothing, as all the banks

> were getting together on this... Fingers crossed

> for the test case!

If all the banks are together on this one, then why don't all the consumers get together on it as well. Let's start a mass movement and all promise to move our accounts to the first big bank that dumps its draconian charges. I have a funny feeling that the prospect of a million new current accounts or something might make someone break rank in this obscene cartel.

[Keef]

peckhamboy Wrote:

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> Would you rather have been hit with another charge

> (and interest) for going overdrawn?

You don't seriously think they didn't charge me as well do you?

[peckhamboy]

Well, I was just being facetious, but in that case, I'm with you on that one Keef.

[Ultraconsultancy]

yep i'd say hold fire and keep reading martin lewis's MSE newsletter. i used his stock letters last year and got about 75% of my total charges over six years as a settlement. the man's a champion.

[cdonline]

Lloyds have recently changed their bank charges. If you go overdrawn, you pay ?10 per day up to a maximum of 15 days.

Not one to read bank letters, I did not pay attention to this change in policy.

I realised a few days after I had gone overdrawn, but I'm afraid I ignored it. When I got my next statement, they informed me that I had ?150 bank charges for going overdrawn ?30.

I have complained and I know I'm stupid for not paying attention, but THIEVING SCUM just about sums it up. They will not do anything until this court case is resolved.

[*Bob*]

Keef Wrote:

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> Annoyingly, they're still hitting me with charges

> whenever I put a foot wrong. They are thieving

> scum!

If it isn't a silly question.. why are you still banking with them?

[Keef]

I know I know, I should change, it's just one of those things you don't get round to.

Martin Lewis is recommending an online current account with Alliance & Leicester. Have just opened a joint one, but waiting for the stuff in the post to make it active.

Never fancied First Direct because I thought they were part of HSBC. Am I wrong there?

[SeanMacGabhann]

no you're correct Keef - they definitely are part of HSBC. But they offer a completely different service and would recommend them to everyone

Of course, if ethical concerns over HSBC are a problem then that won't sway you. But if you have had bad service from HSBC* then trust me first direct are miles apart. And changing bank accounts is far, far easier than I ever imagined it to be - I was expecting direct debits and cheques to go awol and bounce everywhere... not a bit of it

*next time I'll notice which bank someone is already giving out about - sorry Keef

[*Bob*]

Keefie, if you're electing to stay with them despite your troubles, they're not really thieving scum.. they're more like a child who follows you round the park as you throw handfuls of pound coins over your shoulder every ten paces.

I'm with First Direct. I think they're top drawer. No complaints.. quite the opposite, in fact.

[lozzyloz]

Like some others before me I've been with FD since their inception over 15 years ago (attracted by the free blk leather chq bk holder). Without wanting to repeat everything above I'll just echo the positive sentiments already mentioned. However, big drawback has been the lack of any personal relationship with a manager that you could've had in the old days. Yes they have all your stats and banking history at their fingertips but it's not quite the same when you're trying to arrange some financial coverage that's a little out of the ordinary.

[mlteenie]

Keef, I opened the A&L online a/c after Martin L's recommendation, although I am still have my RBS a/c too. The A&L a/c requires a minimum of ?500 deposit a month or they charge you ?5 (which seems very reasonable what with the amounts the thieving scum rip off you normally).

How did you go about taking your bank to court? I sent a letter to my bank after thinking about it for ages, only to find they had decided to freeze its claims. I haven't gone further as it seems a bit daunting doing it online. Did you use a lawyer?

[Brendan]

Ok I don?t know much about this but surely the bank can?t just decide to freeze all claims? You can still take them to court. It is the court that will decide whether they owe you money.

[mlteenie]

Martin Lewis' website explains it in more detail. I need to check the latest status, but I think you can still take them to court and be awarded money if the individual judge thinks it is appropriate, but there has been some sort of hold on hearings until after the test case.

[Keef]

Didn't take them to court, wrote a letter loosely based on a "which" template, but far better sounding even if I do say so myself.

They then sent my a huge pile of statements, and requested an itemised request.

I spent a couple of hours going through the statements, then sent them a long list with date, amount, description.

Example

14th May 2005 - Overdraft fee - ?80.00

16th June 2005 - Card misuse fee - ?30.00

and so on...

After sending that, they took a fair while to come back to me (a good couple of months), but in the end it was great. I'd claimed a total not much over ?2k, and they sent a ltter saying that whilst they were absolutely sure they'd beat me in a court, they would offer me ?2k... Can't have been that confident of beating my.

Simple as that, 5 working days later it was credited to my account. Happy Days.

Will look at First Direct then.

[embellina]

What about Co-Op or their interent branch Smile? I bank with Smile as it's ethical and online. They seem very nice and helpful and it was a swift and easy changeover from leaving HSBC. I'm sure like all banks they're not perfect, but I've never had any problems and I do feel better knowing my money is ethically invested, and with a company that delivers good customer service.

[mlteenie]

I have all my bank statements from the last six years and wrote down all the amounts they had (over-)charged me (a shocking amount - no good with wad) and by the time they had got back to me the hold on cases had been announced, so now I think the only way forward is going to court/lawyer.

[peckhamboy]

You can't go to court at the moment - once the test case has been decided, the banks will deal with all outstanding claims, which would include your letter, mlteenie.

Until then (and bear in mind the decision will probably be appealed and then the appeal decision will probably be appealed up to the House of Lords so it could take a while), there's not a lot you can do, I don't think.