Q. I have been charged (£20, £25, £35 etc...) by my bank/credit card company for going over my agreed overdraught limit. This was entirely my own fault. Do I still have grounds to start legal proceedings against them for recovery?
A. The law is very clear on this. If you have been penalised for breach of contract by means of disproportionate penalties regardless of how the breach came about then you may have grounds to recover your money
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Q. But I have agreed when I opened my account to pay charges on returned direct debits etc and exceeded overdraft limits.
A. Yes, you did. The banks are entitled to apply these charges but not at an excessive rate. Penalty charges must be calculated to reflect the losses sustained by the banks when you cause them a problem. No more. Contractual terms must be applied in a reasonable and lawful way. Banking contracts must be operated within the law.
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Q. I get charged a £5 (£10,£15) fee every month for an overdraft on my current account. Can I get these back too?
A. No, there is nothing unlawful about charging for a service provided. If there was, our hosting for this site would be free.
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Q. Can I PM/Email Dave or Bankfodder with regards to my specific case?
A. No - unless either of them have explicitly requested that you do. As you can imagine, their inboxes would be pretty full if everyone did this, so we have to draw the line somewhere. Sorry, but unsolicited PM's will have to be ignored.
NB. IT SEEMS PEOPLE ARE NOT READING THIS ONE! PLEASE STOP EMAILING ME DIRECTLY - I.WILL.NOT.ANSWER - I have to work and live too - my inbox is inundated with requests such as "can I claim back more than 6 years?", or "Can you give me a letter to send my bank?" - Give it a rest - read the rest of the questions and your answers will be found.
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Q. Will suing my bank affect my credit report?
A. No - unless the Bank closes your account - see below.
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Q. Will the bank close my account?
A. It doesn't happen often but you should bear it in mind - see below
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Q. I was charged on an account that I have closed XX years/months ago, can I still claim for my money back?
A. Yes, regardless of if the account is open or closed, you can go back 6 years.
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Q. Can I claim back for more than 6 years?
A. Maybe. There is a separate thread on this in this forum.
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Q. I am so angry that when this is sorted out I am going to close my account.
A. Don't close your account. It makes no difference to your bank. Get an account with another bank by all means but do realise that all the banks are the same when things get difficult. Keep your account. You might find it useful one day. Keep a couple of pounds in it and then just don't use it. Having multiple accounts may give you some flexibility
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Q. Is there any limit to the amount that I can claim?
A. No. Except that you shold keep your claim to less than £5000 in oder to stay on the County Court Small Claims Track. This way, if you lose, you shoudn't be liable for costs.
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Q. I want to claim more than £5000
A. Try splitting the claim into smaller chunks in order to remain on the Small Claims track. However, do not run your claims at the same time as the Bank might apply to consolidate the claims. If they did that, your claim would be over £5000 and you might find yourself at a serious risk of paying costs if you lose.
However, do note that this has nnot been tried yet and the defendant might object to the second claim and ask for it to be struck out.
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Q. Are there any other risks?
A. There have been instances where the banks have closed or threatened to close accounts by way of retaliation. There is always a risk involved in taking someone to court. If you are in any doubt of your claim, you should contact a qualified professional.
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Q. Can I stop them closing my account?
A. Although there are some legal arguments against this kind of retaliation, it would be very difficult at the moment. You would only be able to try and take action about it after the account closure.
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Q: We have a joint account, do we both need to apply/sign when reclaiming?
A: If you both have authority, no.
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Q. Are there any preparatory steps which I should take?
A. You would be well advised to open at least one bank account elsewhere. If your account is closed, it is likely that the Banks will make an entry which could affect your credit score and make it difficult to get even a debit card in the future. Open a new account when your credit rating is still intact. This will allow you to move smoothly to a different bank if you want. Ths will reduce the leverage which your present bank has over you.
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Q. Do I have to write a letter to my bank
A. You must communicate with them but it will be quicker if you try to deal with the matter on the telephone. Always take the name of the person you are dealing with, the date of the call and some notes of what was said. Then confirm the call in writing.
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Q. Do I have to put "without prejudice" on the top of my letter?
A. No you don't. "Without Prejudice" merely means that the contents of that letter cannot be disclosed to a judge in the course of the hearing of the case. If you really think that you are saying something which you don't want the judge to hear then by all means put "without prejudice". However, most often you will be pleased that the judge knows the whole story. It wil tend to be the bank that wishes to keep information hidden.
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Q. Can I use email?
A. Try to use email whenever you can. However, the banks are not keen on it and don't normally reply with email but don't worry. Look around on The Bank Action Group forum for information on bank email addresses. According to the Civil Procedure Handbook, email is an acceptable way of contacting a second party.
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Q. Do I have to negotiate with my bank before I take action?
A. You should claim and litigate reasonably so as not to incur unnecessary expenses for yourself or the bank or cause unnecessary trouble for the court
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Q. Do I have to send a letter before action?
A. You should give the bank written notice that you will be suing them. However there is no reason why you should not give them this by email.
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Q. How much notice should I give the bank that I am going to sue them?
A. About 14 days is normal and considered to be acceptable.
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Q. I'm worried about costs if lose the case.
A. If your claim is less than £5000 then it will most likely be conducted within the Smalls Claims procedure of the County Court. Costs are not awarded either to the loser or to the winner unless the case is highly exceptional. The only costs you might lose are the cost of your summons and the reasonable travel expenses of the defendant.
If you win, the only costs you will receive will be your summons fee and your reasonable travel expenses.
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Q. Supposing I have a lawyer. Can't I get the costs of that legal help?
A. No. And neither can the Defendant
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Q. Can I claim interest?
A. When you put in a claim you should claim interest at the statutory rate of interest, which is currently 8%
You must write your claim in the following way:‘ The claimant claims interest under section 69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% per year from (date when the money became owed to you) to (the date you are issuing the claim) of £ …(put in the amount) and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgment or earlier payment at a daily rate of £… (put in daily rate of interest)
You will need to work out the interest you are owed up to the date you start the claim.You first need to work out the daily rate of interest. Using a calculator, do the following:
0.00022 X the amount of your claim – this gives you the daily rate of interest.
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Q. Does the £5000 Small Calims limit include interest and costs?
A. No it doesn't. You can claim up to £5000 net of costs and interest. Add the interest and costs afterwards and even if that takes the claim over £5000 it doesn't affect the track allocation.
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Q. Where do I start my claim?
A. Go to your local County Court. A much easier alternative is to start your action online at
www.Moneyclaim.gov.uk . You will need a credit card to pay the summons fee.
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Q. What happens if I make a mistake in my summons if I do it online? Can I correct it?
A. Moneyclaim have a very helpful helpdesk. You can phone them in office hours and they will tell you what to do. Their number is 0845-601 5935
They will not give you legal advice
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Q. Can I sue for charges which the bank has taken from me in the past?
A. Yes. You can certainly sue for any excessive charges which have been taken over the last 6 years. There may be grounds for extending this period but that has yet to be explored. 6 years is the contractual limitation period.
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Q. The trouble is that I don't remember what they have taken from me. I'm not very good with my paper and I don't have my statements any more OR I was troubled about ID theft and I shred my statments after looking at them and therefore do not know the amount I have been charged, how can I find this information?
A. You can apply to your bank for a list of charges going over as long as you need. You can make an offical request under the Data Protection Act (1998) - you need to make the bank aware that you are making this request under the Data Protection Act. They then have 40 days to comply with the law. If they state that bank statements are not covered under the act, point them at the Durant v FSA case, in which the judge ruled that bank statement information (thought NOT the bank statements themselves) is 'personal' information and thus covered under the Data Protection Act.
Extract:
Provided the information in question can be linked to an identifiable individual the following are also examples of personal data:
+ information about the medical history of an individual;
+ an individual's salary details;
+ information concerning an individual�s tax liabilities;
+ information comprising an individual�s bank statements; and
+ information about individuals� spending preferences.
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Q. My bank wants to charge me for each statement sheet. They want a lot of money - far more than the actual cost of each one. It adds up to a lot of money. What should I do?
A. This has caused a problem for a lot of people. Appy to receive your statements as a data disclosure under the Data Protection Act. You should try this route. It costs only £10. However, an application under the Act may result in the Bank sending you the statements without any further trouble. it is worth also asking the bank to supply you with evidence of manal intervention in any DD refusal or exceeding of overdraft limit. Thi sis bcause the banks sometimes say that these steps need manual intervention and it is this which causes the high charges. However, as far as we know, no bank has yet managed to show that the process is not entirely automated.
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Q. My bank has refused or has not responded to my application for statements by way of Data Protection Act disclosure. What should I do?
A. Make an immediate complaint to the Information Commisioner and let him decide.
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Q. Where should I address the standard Data Protection Act letter?
A. You can send it to any of their registered addresses. If it were me, I would send it to the branch or the head office.
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Q. I have sent a Data Protection Act request. When does the 40 days period begin to run?
A. The Data Protection Act request takes effect when a fully paid request reaches the appropropriate person in the organisation. If the request is correctly addressed then you can reckon 24 hours after it has been received by the organisation.
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Q. I have been "defaulted" by my bank.
A. This can cause serious problems for a long time. you should try and avoid this if you can but this will normally have happened before you even begin to start recovering your costs.
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Q. It was the penalties which put me into a position where I was defaulted.
A. Yes, this is an abusive practice by the Banks. If you decide to recover your charges then when they are offered back to you make sure that part of the deal is that the bank agrees to remove the default entry entirely - not just enter a correction or say that the default has now been satisfied. If the bank refuses to do this then you should refuse to settle and proceed to court. It is most likely that the bank will concede to your request. If they do, then get it in writing immediately and make it clear that you will not interrupt the claim process until it has been done. There is one report of the Nationwide having reneged on its promise to remove the default. If your settlement is subsequently recorded by the judge, make sure that this aspect of default removal is recorded as being part of the deal.
You can let the bank know that if you are proved right in court, that you will take the view that their default notice is defamatory and is a breach of their duty of trust. This may encourage them to meet all your conditions.
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Q. I have a business account. Can I or my company still get penalty charges back?
A. Yes, but on a slightly different basis. To do so you need to rely on the Common law of contract and the Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 rather than the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regualtions because these deal with business to consumer rather than business to business relationships. If you are trying to recover business charges DO NOT cite the 1999 regulations in your court claim. An amended version of the standard initial letter for businesses is included in the library.
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Q. I started a claim a few weeks ago. The bank have put a defence into the court and I have now received an Allocation Questionnaire. It asks me to complete it and send a cheque for £100. Is this right?
A. Yes, but only if your claim is for over £1500. Don't worry, you will get this back from the bank. If you cannot afford it - phone the court up, they are very sympathetic and may well allow you to pay later.
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Q. The bank has responded and left me no choice - I am now prepared to go to court. Where should I address the court papers?
A. You can send it to any of their registered addresses. If it were me, I would send it to the branch or the head office.
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Q. Where should I send my request for a list of charges?
A. You can send it to any of their registered addresses. If it were me, I would send it to the branch or the head office.
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Q. What if my bank actually lets me get my case to court (by not giving my money back after a claim has been issued)? Will this set a precedent if I win and stop people having to pay these charges ever again?
A. No, precedents cannot be set in the County Court. However, it would be ok to bring this case to the attention of the judge in other cases in an attempt to influence his decision.
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Q. When I refer to the bank in the forum is it ok to mispell the word 'Their' (as in 'their charges') or 'They're' (as in 'They are') by using the word 'There'? Also, can I use the word 'loose' when I really mean 'lose'?
A. No, absolutely not. (ok, this wasn't really a frequently asked question, but it should have been.)
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Q. Is it ok to completely ignore the section labelled 'FAQ' and just ask the same question as everyone else has before me?
A. Yes, of course. The Admins and Mods want for nothing more than to repeat themselves serveral hundred times per day. We live for it, really we do. It's not like there's more pressing issues at hand - or people with questions that haven't been answered here.
PS. No, in reality, it's not.
Bank charges...want them all back ?
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