Has anyone ever claimed their bank charges back?
I am hoping to claim back my bank charges. I understand that I can do from the past 6 years. I've also found a site where I can download letters to send to my bank. I just wondered if anyone has done this and can give me an idea of how long it takes and if its as easy as they say. Also do you know if you can do it with an account which has been closed nearly a year
Thanks,
Amy x
Answers:
Hi Amy,
This is definately worth doing, and although some of the previous answers say you cant, I can assure you they are incorrect!
You can also successfully claim back your charges on a closed account, its the best situation to be in as the bank can't retaliate in any way. They can pay you by sending you a cheque for your charges.
You can claim back for the last 6 years, however this starts from when you start claiming your charges back, rather than the date you closed you account. So in your case, if you account was closed 1 year ago, you can go back 5 years from the date it was closed.
I successfully claimed back over £700 from the HSBC, and i`m currently persuing a second claim. Many users of my site have claimed back thousands from a range of different banks and building societies.
Use the steps below, and the template letters on my site and you should have a good chance of getting a full refund of your charges.
The full process and timescales for claiming back your charges is:
1) Write to the bank and ask them for a copy of your charges for the last 6 years, or alternatively a set of statements for the same period. You do this by making a "Subject Access Request" under the Data Protection Act, enclosing a cheque for £10 made out to the bank. This by passes the banks normal charges for statements which is normal a large amount for 6 years worth. The bank have 40 days to send you the data.
2) Write to the bank asking them to refund your charges, giving them 14 days to reply, attaching a "Schedule of Charges" (a list of the charges you are claiming for).
3) Send the bank a "Letter before Action" giving the bank one last chance to refund your charges before you take court action. They have 14 days to reply.
4) File a claim online using the Money Claim Online web site run by the UK Court Service. The claim is served on the bank 5 days after its submitted. The bank has 14 days to acknowledge the claim. If they don't you can request a "Judgement by Default" and you win the case, and get your charges, statutory interest at 8%, and your court fees.
If they do acknowledge the claim, they then have 14 days to submit a defence (making 28 days in total from the date the claim was served). If they don't then you can again request a "Judgement by Default", and get back your charges, interest and court fees as above.
If they file a defence, then you and the bank get an "Allocation Questionnaire" to fill in. Some judges dismiss the case at this stage, as the bank can't win, so again you win. If this doesn't happen, a hearing date is allocated. The bank will most likely either back out before the hearing, or won't turn up in court. Again you win the case and get your charges, interest and fees.
Follow the correct procedures and you stand a good chance of getting your charges back! Its important to send all letters to the bank and courts by recorded delivery, so you can prove they were received, and more importantly when they were received (which you can find from the tracking section of the Royal Mail web site).
Also make sure that you send all letters to the banks head office, and not your local branch. Don't phone the bank either, as this can delay things and you have no proof of whats been said.
Have a look at my site below which has detailed step by step guides to the whole process of claiming your charges back. It also has template letters you can put your details into and send to the bank, and forums for one to one advice. We also have a guide to filing your claim in court online, which is unique to the site.
The site is free to use!
Amy - I've worked in the financial services industry for over 15 years and have never had someone try to get back fees from 6 years ago.
We normally don't refund fees on a closed account - we need an account to deposit the money in to.
I would recommend that you contact the financial institution you are seeking the funds from and see what their policy is. Normally, we require that you dispute any transaction within 60 days of it first appearing on your account statement.
Good luck!
hi, i assume you are going down the martin lewis route, two of my friends have just done it, one got 2 grand the other 4 grand, well worth doing, good luck
Last year I was 16 and trying to support myself in a flat while still being att school full time. I paid a gas bill by cheque which left me overdrawn by £4 (i'm not allowed to be overdrawn because i'm under 18) and because of this I was charged £48.
So i went into the bank and asked why. I couldn't hardly afford my bills, so how the heck did they expect me to pay a charge of nearly £50 while i was still in school?? I broke down and cried because I was so stressed out about the lack of money, and the manager just turned round and said 'no problem, we'll refund you the charges'.
So, anyway, to the point. It's really easy to claim back the charges. Go for it, what you got to lose?
a mate of mine is going thro this process , all you have to do is go into the bank and tell them you want to claim your bank charges back , they are obliged to give all the assistance you need xxx
soz and thanks at same time.i cant help but i will be watching your answers cause my son wants to know the same.(By any chance would that be Barclay's *ankers)just wondering?
my sons charges have taken all his wages each time he got payed cause of charges for direct debits that have come off earlier than anticipated,or late wages.And on countless complaints to them to try to stop this from happening,nothing was done to avoid this,so they charged him again,and again,and again.Its so maddening cause he never had an income left for anything,in fact on pay day he was still in debt to them .And he hasn't got any real debt probs other than what they have caused for him.Only 3 direct debits that don't quite add up to £50 a month.So were really angry.
Great ? Amy.HOPE WE CAN ALL SORT THIS OUT.
I claimed back £1500 for my son from Halifax. He was continually overdrawn when he joined the Army and his pay was all over the place. I did not follow any of the online advice. I just got together proof of all his bank charges, listed them and sent them to his bank with a covering letter stating that I considered the charges to be excessive and that I wanted a refund in full with interest. Naturally they sent back a letter saying basically no chance. So I sent another letter stating that the charges were unacceptable and if they did not repay the amount in full I would take them to the Small Claims Court (you must be prepared to carry this part through). They again refused to pay so I got the relevant forms from my local County Court and took them on. You pay a pro rata amount according to the value of your claim, which if you win is added to the amount claimed. They offered settlement on receiving the claim from the court. You can claim up to 6 years back. Go for it, they are currently considering whether to accept a ruling by the ombudsman which may well scotch, or at least reduce any future claims. Good luck.
I've just issued court papers to Abby (account closed 2yrs ago) and Nationwide, they have until 30 May to pay or they get a CCJ and I send the Baliffs in.
I used the website below,
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin...
Just starting with Natwest.....watch this space!
Is this possible in the US. If so what kind of charges are you getting money back on. Thanks
i got £1050 back from HSBC going back 6 years :-)
If they are playing ball and you send it to the right place, it can be quite a quick process. If not, it can take months
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