Hard up? How to claim back bank charges
Updated 25th November 2009, to reflect 'Banks win Supreme Court case on overdraft charges'
People in financial hardship can still continue to request a refund of their bank charges.
Hardship is defined as being unable to meet priority financial commitments; these are things like utility bills, rent, council tax, and food. When contacting your bank, you should also highlight any change in lifestyle such as relationship breakdown, death of a partner or starting a lower paid job.
As was the case before today's Supreme Court ruling, there is no guarantee they will receive their charges back but the bank is still required to treat cases of financial hardship in a sympathetic and positive manner.
People in financial hardship should write a letter of complaint to their bank as they would have done before today's ruling.
Template letter
Here is The One Show's template letter to help you with your claim:
Your bank has eight weeks to resolve your complaint. If you're unhappy with their response, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service who will look at your claim and decide whether the bank should award you some or all of your charges.
More information
Have you attempted to claim back back charges because you're in financial difficulty? Share your hints, tips and stories here.
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Comments
hi just a comment on the halifax i am over my ovedraft limit by £66 they ask me by post to ring them they told me that in december charges will change they will be £1 per day for your overdraft and £5per day if you go over i said why have we not been informed of this she argued that they had sent me a letter telling me this well i havent
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I can not read the hardships letter to send to the bank. Is this available in any other form as the one posted is not compatable to my windows XP Pro. Could you advise?
Sue
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amazing i have thought of contacting my bank barclays for over a year as i lost my job and partner who left me in debt, i cant seem to get out of my overdraft and barclays charge me every month, do you know where i should sent my letter?
many thanks
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A great piece, well done. If anyone needs help & advice submitting a claim for their bank charges under the waiver then please visit us at LegalBeagles.
Many thanks to the One Show Team for allowing us to help in the making of this piece.
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have been chasing bank charges of nearly £8.000 now for a few years, due to hardship, rent, utilities and so on, we just filled out a hardship form two weeks ago and got offered free banking for 3 months (on the account we havent used for over two years), recieved complaint letter from FOS and awaiting their decision, we feel now we have nowwhere to turn. some other authority should now take this over as thousands of people like us are struggling along waiting on someone or another making a decision about our unfair charges.
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Hi thought your viewers would like to know the following Re Bank Charges.....
If you are a business & have been charged by your bank £35 for overdrafts, bounced cheques/Direct Debits etc.....you can forget all about reclaiming them!!
As from the 29th of October 2009 the Financial Ombusman Service ruled in favor of the banks for unfair charges due to legal reasons ie: the rules for business accounts come under common law & that it is not classed a charge but rather as a "Penalty" under a contract.
How do I know this.....
Well Clydesdale Bank charge me £365 in bank charges over 10 working days which I contested through a solicitor & was told today that the FOS has closed the case with the above ruling.
I am a very small business & as usual big brother wins!!
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Interesting and helpful feature about bank charges. I consider myself to be in financial hardship for various reasons, of which I will inform the bank. Am I able to request a refund of charges that were applied as a result of returned direct debits? The charge used to be £40 but they reduced it to £35 earlier this year.
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As I am unemployed, I have tried to claim back £720.14 (including interest) from the Halifax Building Society as I believe I come under the banner of being in hardship and their answer is "...that they, along with other banks, have become involved in legal proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading in relation to unarranged overdraft bank fees and will not be dealing with these until the court case has been settled!..."
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hi
I was having my over draft limit of 1750 up to Aug 09 andthat Halifax changed it to 1650 in Aug. In sept in they send me a letter that it's again changed to 1750 and I was happy with that and by chance I checked it on 23 Oct and I realized that it was still 1650, so I want to halifax with that letter. They refused everything and told me that they will recheck my situation and than decide. I told them my direct debits are supposed to go on 25 and there is not enough money in my account, otherwise i will be getting more bank charges, they told me don't wory we will inform our head office and will let me know next day(24 oct). No one called me that day and after few days they send me 2 bank charges(35+35=70) and refused to do my overdraft limit to 1750. they have already taken out one from my account and going to take the other one on 14 of NOv. I am in very difficult financial situation. I am really confused is it my mistake or the halifax mistake. If it's their mistake why I am paying for it and my family if left with no food on table.
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Hi
i too am affected greatly by this situation of crazzzy bank charges. I have discovered over the last couple of weeks that since February this year i have had almost £3000 STOLEN from my account by the HALIFAX. The problem stemmed from this time back in Feb when due to unforseen circumstances i went over my overdraft limit and never recovered. Ever since it appears that my salary goes into the bank every month and the bank just help themselves. More recently in October they helped themselves to over £800. I am seriously struggling as i run a house with 3 Children and financial hardship is now suffocating me. I earn a good salary work hard and pay my way but the bank are currently taking approx one third of my salary every month.
I was promised by a halifax rep in the branch 3 weeks ago 'good news all future bank charges will be stopped until the situation is resolved'. This has not happened as more charges have appeared.
To Rub salt into the wounds Direct debits are now being declined by the bank and i am falling behind with these including council tax, utility bills and insurances etc. THE BANK TAKE THEIR CUT THEN DECLINE MY DIRECT DEBITS which ultimately sustain my family... can anyone help, i thought us taxpayers recently bailed out the banks.. This is killing us....
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The banks are laughing all the way to their own back door. My hardship case has been confirmed by the consumer credit counselling service, lloyds tsb disagree with their assessments, and the financial ombudsman has said that there is nothing in the waiver to force banks to pay, nor can they do anything to help, merely to monitor that the banks conduct a review of hardship cases, I have this in writing from the FOS, its no wonder therefore that the banks find in their own favour every time. Its about time the authorities and tv companies stopped paying lip service to this debacle,leading people to believe that just because they are in hardship that there is some magic bullet that can bypass the system. NOT TRUE!
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I lostmy job in 2003 through ill health. Having covered myself with so-called insurances so that they covered my repayments on loan, credit card etc.
The insurances failed to payout and as such I had large scale bank charges with Llyods Bank that varied from £0 to £110 .
I decided to take a chance to reclaim charges as I have already lost the money and made a claim 2 years ago approx.
I was then informed that income supprt is protected income and bank charges can not be used by the banks to cover bank charges.
I was then told to apply for hardship as I onlyhave a basic bank account and state benefit to live on. I am classed as beingin Fuel Poverty as 18% of my money is used for electricity costs.
I applied to the Bank who refused to acknowledge hardship. I then applied to the Court to ask for a review on my hardship.
The Small Claims Court sent my case to the Circuit Judge at Cambridge who dismissed the hardship aspect of the claim.
Last Winter, I had to endure 3-4 days without electricity as it was a case of turning heat on and using all electric credit up n my pre-payment meter, or no heat and having electric.
Having just endure part 1 of a 4 part surgery, I am not looking forward to this winter either, just wish someone in authority can make a decision to allow everyone with claims in the small claims court to have 50% refund with the remainder being released when the courts and FSA decide to get there act together and start representing the people's interests.
Without any local supermarket, public transport my shopping is done at the local shop, this adds an extra 45% to my food bill as I am pretty much restricted to the area I live in.
No doubt the millions of pounds that are being earned in interest will be refunded to those people who have claims onhold... but no doubt our MP's and FSA and FOS will stick to the side of the BANKS again... :(
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Nationwide has stole £30 of me several times for 'lack of funds' for direct debits etc, I am on Incapacity Benefit and this week they took £6O off for same, Leaving me £34 to live on for a week and £25 of that goes on electricity alone! Can I claim this money back???
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I bank with Abbey National and I find their charging structure difficult to understand.
If they return a direct debit the charge they make is dependant upon the amount of the direct debit, however surely the costs to them are the same irrespective of whether the D/D is for £10.00 or £100.00.
These seems tome to be profiteering.
Also recently I have had to claim under the direct debit indemnity clause, the first time it went through with no problems, the second time whilst I was told the money would be in my bank account within 48 hours it wasn't and when I followed it up I was told that I now had to wait up to 21 days.
I am currently unemployed with my job seekers allowance suspended and I had to use our shopping money to cover the direct debits left to go through so that I would not incur any bank charges for returning the direct debits, if they had given me my money back straight away I would be able to buy food for the next week.
Regards
Andrew Weeks
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All of the above stories are typical examples of what we see every day on LegalBeagles. Register on our free site and you will receive some excellent help and advice. Please refer to the LegalBeagles link on The One Show's story page. The use of the site and all help is completely free, I would not recommend anyone uses a fee paying claims management company as you will not get very far. As Dom has explained there is a set process that must be followed, more can be read in our Guide to Reclaiming Charges whilst in Hardship. We also offer help and advice with all other aspects to deal with debt, credit card charges, Debt Collectors bailiffs etc. Look forward to seeing some of you posting, give a brief outline of your circumstances in the Welcome Forum
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Hi how apt for me y/day when you included this subject in your
show last night as I had, in the afternoon, complained to the
Alliance & Leicester for charging my daughter (who is out of work
at the moment) £30 for being a penny overdrawn. We immediately
closed the account and she will be finding another bank as she
also was offered a job on the same day. Thank you for the template
letter which I have downloaded and shall be complaining to them in
writing but am not hopeful for the money back, also a previous
charge to her of £60 for being slightly overdrawn. Scandalous!
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Bank charges are only repaid by bank's not wholly, or partly owned by the government.
Barclays, Abbey, and I think HSBC will repay bank charges with a minimal cajoling.
The ones with government involvement simply do not in any circumstances.
Many thanks to the Chancellor, it can only be by his direction.
Pat. Nicholls. (Mr)
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Patrick, we have members in hardship that have been refunded by Natwest, HBOS, Lloyds, all of who are part government owned. The government does not have any say in the matter. In fact, Natwest are one of the best at complying with the terms of the hardship waiver when refunding charges to people in Hardship.
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I would highly recommend the Legal Beagles site - very knowledgeable, very helpful & free to join.
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Challenge the Bankers!!!
Having just read that the High Street banks may start to charge their customers for using A.T.Ms. I feel that they have not learned their lesson.
It was only last year that the leading banks had to go cap-in-hand to the Governement for a hand out to avoid them going bankrupt. So, now well healed from public funds, they continue to sock it to their customers, the public whose taxes are keeping them in their high paid, high bonus jobs.
There is this idea that they have to receive high salaries and bonuses. Why? Because if they do not receiver high salaries and bonuses they will go else where!!! Where? I ask. There are just so many high paid, high bonus banking jobs and those available are already filled with high paid, high bonus banking executives.
One such banking executive is quoted as saying "We are not a charity, we are a business". O.K. so start acting like a business, one that has to rely on its customers to carry on traading. Oh, I see, if we decide to transfer our business to another bank that's O.K. What goes round comes around. If you move from one bank to an other it all ends well as the circle is completed!!
Right, let's all start to make these top executives work for their salaries. Start now. Customers of all High Street banks. Start complaining. Demand the service our business demands. Do not take "brush off" answers. Complain and keep complaining. Take the banks to theOmbudsman and the Financial Services. Keep them on the hop. Do not worry about the junior level bank servants. You will be doing them a favour. The more hassle you give the banks the more hassle spreads upwards and the more hassle that spreads upwards the more people at the lower levels are required to keep the hassle from spreading upwards. This way we can alleviate the evil of the "Fred the shreds".
The High Street bankers are not doing the country any favours, don't believe that they are. Their first concern is their personaljob security and fat bonuses. People and the country come late on their list of priorities. (It is time stop their public recognition - no more knighthoods, etc.)
Do you realise that each High Street bank has thousands of customers who will be forwver in the bank's debt because their direct debits and standing orders are paid on the last day of the month when their income is only paid into the bank on the first day of the month!! This results in a perpetual overdraft with the consequent high cost of that overdraft!!! So, each month those people are pushed further and further into debt.
I read that, if the court decision, due shortly, goes against the banks they may put a charge A.T.M. withdrawals. Now, if all the High Street banks do this there is no way out!!! So where is there any justice? I say, let's take this to the European Standards of air trading.
Look, I could go on all day about the injustices imposed by the banks, but enough is enough. Let us, the bank customers, make the top bank executives realise that they are not the be all and end all they think they are. We, the bank customers, have have some force. Let's use.
Tom wilson.
'
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By making it somewhat confusing and cumbersome the banks win, people will always evaluate their chances of winning before making any claims.
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