Two cards in total for the missus and I, both seperate accounts. One was defaulted on at the turn of the year so lets call it Dec 2014 and the other Oct 2013

G'day Cagger's I need a bit of advice on what possibly I could claim for under BCOBS. Naturally I'm skinter than Flint and can prove this no problem with a budget planner and panoramic shots of a really cross looking wife. I have a few questions, I have a credit card with Santander that I defaulted on a few months back. Naturally Santander sold the debt on to some other sharks called Arden who have now sold the debt onto Wescots who will probably sell the debt onto their neighbours vicious looking dog as she'd probably have more chance of getting any money out of me. I requested the CCA and Adren admitted that there wasn't one and that the debt was unenforceable (but the jokers still chase after me) SAR'd Satanader and Arden with Arden sending me the equivalent of some crap written on the back of a fag packet whilst Satander wrote back telling me that they did not own the debt anymore and would forward the request to Arden. Arden duly obliged by sending me some account info going back a few years but hardly anything comprehensive. Credit card - I have all of my statements and there is no PPI at all but there are some pretty nasty late payment charges and hefty interest charges. Bank account - loads of bank charges for going over my agreed OD limit as well as payments returned charges etc. I did a bit of reading up on the subject but need some clarification on what I can try and claim for with respects to the credit card and bank account and how far backI can go when populating my spread sheets. Any advice would be really appreciated. Cheers

Hey Slick, Yeah I sure understand where you're coming from. I spent most of last night reading into the early hours of the morning with the topic being - Reclaiming charges from banks. I spent yonks trawling through MSE posts, LeagleBeagles and others and came to the conclusion that this is not an exact science. I am at the mercy of the banks for now, that's OK I can deal with that. My letter went off today so I await with eager anticipation for what will likely be the defacto initial reply - a slap in the face as a goodwill measure. It's no problem though, the best I can do for now is to educate myself and prepare for phase 2 whatever that may be. Now I need to sort out the mrs Santander and Barclaycard woes

I understand what you're saying Slick but this whole thing is rather confusing. I have actually taken time to read the lending code, especially section 9 and it is here that my bank has seriously failed me. I remained in contact with my bank during the period that I am claiming for explaining that I was in financial trouble but they did nothing about it aside from smacking more charges on me, this is contrary to the lending code and the only real foundation for my case against them. However having read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Fair_Trading_v_Abbey_National_plc which preceeded the lending code I'm left wondering why the banks would sign up to the lending code or rather the relevence of such a code after the OFT vs Abbey case. I'll probably get a kick in the teeth, it's to be expected; but I'm no chancer trying to grab a quick buck from the banks. I honestly feel that I have been wronged so must try and fight my corner. I'm just curious as to why I should be wary, is it that I could be ruined financially or wouldn't have the means to fight this if I wanted? Or just that I shouldn't get my hopes up high as you've probably seen my kind of enthusiasam before only to see it come to nothing. Either way my wife is gonna beat me if I lose as I've spent ages doing all these spread sheets and I can almost feel the 'told you so's) on the horizon. You don't have to be kind, be brutal!

Quick update. Hardship letter drafted and ready to go. I've enclosed schedules of all charges on seperate sheets with the 8% interest taken from the CAG provided excel sheets (amended to remove any reference to PPI). I've claimed for, All Additions charges from beginning Overdraft interest from date of FD Paid referrel fees from beginning Reserve usuage fees from date of FD Emergency borrowing fees from date of FD Overdraft fees from date of FD I showed this thread to a friend of mine last night who is a barrister (criminal law unfortunately) and he at least offered to help me with any paperwork should this go to court which is a relief. From the general vibe that I've picked up around here I think that it may just have to go that far. He skimmed over the Lending code guidelines and cross referenced it with my bank statement data and thought that I had a good case. The only downside that he mentioned was that 'financial hardship' is a grey area and it's interpretation is left to the banks who will naturally tell me to naff off. Anyway this is out of my hands now, with the help of FKO and Slick I am as informed as I could possibly be and ready to fight back! I'll keep ya posted

Cheers Slick, appreciate your help mate!

Hi Slick or any member of the CAG forum, I need some advice on gaining access to an excel sheet which I don't have the priviledge to link to I believe that is the advanced spreadsheet link taken from the Interest Tutorial in your sig. I'm trying to work out how this interest malarky works and kinda have a fair understanding of it but would love to have a few excel formula's to help speed things up a little. Cheers

No I'm only messing mate Just wanted to know if I could add any interest to those pesky charges at Wongaesque rates

Intestesting that link from the DM. Well done to Foster Burnell. Does anyone know what the outcome of the ruling was? So I've completed my banking spreadsheet and it makes for 18 rated viewing. The figures below are appx has I have missing statements, Additions charges £2000 Overdraft interest £1500 Paid referrel fee £560 Item returned unpaid fee £150 Reserve usage fee £2000 Guaranteed transaction fee £50 Returned transaction fee £150 Unpaid transaction fee £ 50 Emergency borrowing fee £400 Overdraft fees £700 All in all pretty shameful reading. Lets hope that the kids don't use the above figures for our Friday night family quiz night. I've filled out the budget planner but have a blank in my letter to the bank regarding financial hardship and how much to claim back. So I have a few questions, 1) Can I claim back Additions fees from the beginning? I've started my sheet in 1998 2) Should I only try and claim for the time that I was in financial hardship? 3) Which of the above charges can I try and claim back 4) Do I consult my uncle who works for Wonga about adding interest to these charges? Cheers

Slick, According to this speadsheet of mine I've been consistently overdrawn and living in the reserves for around 5 years. It's a rather stand out point in time as before then my fininaces were pretty good. I do recall at that point trying to seek help in arranging a larger overdraft so my bank were definitely aware that I was struggling to make ends meet. Ok so the first thing that I'm going to do is fill out that budget planner and attach it to hardship letter and get that off to the bank. I'll do this first thing and then carry on with logging banking charges. Cheers!

Ahh you're dead right good sir. And yes again I have no plan to go belly up or self combust just yet (self loath maybe but it'll pass)

OK so here goes Can't pay for necessities - YES, I've had to go on an interest only mortage and have payments plans for some utilitiesas I couldn't afford them every monthCan't pay debts - YES, I defaulted on a CC last year and now can't/won't pay the fake bailliffs (Thank you CAG)! Income eaten by charges - NOT SURE, I'm currently living in my reserve with no income and the £100/month charges are suffocating any small amounts of borrowed money that I put in there. Payments regularly returned - YES, my last mortgage payment just got returned.. Substantial drop in income - YES, along with Pat I also got the sack around 3 months ago. Disability or illness - Going bankrupt or into debt management -YES, for my defaulted credit card which I am now behind on as well Continually living off credit - UNSURE, unless living on your overdraft and reserve counts as credit Regular credit card cash withdrawals - NO, I don't possess a credit card anymore. Frequently over your overdraft limit - HELL YES, my place of abode in in Barclays Reserves, I've been pretty much living there for years and haven't seen daylight for more than a few months at tops during those years Bank charges have hurt your situation - Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr The charges are disproportionate - I guess this would be very difficult to prove You are / were stuck in a cycle of charges you can't break out of - Yes I am a human snowball I often spoke with the bank staff at my local branch and were told that I had no option to stay with my Additions account as Barclays had repackaged all of their accounts and this was the only option for me. What gets me is that during the last 18 years which I'm looking at, I have always been an Additions customer whether I had 10k in my bank account or 4k overdrawn. I'll list the charges for the statements that I have tonight/tomorrow. It should be interesting to see what I have for each amount. Hey Slick - So the chances are I'll only get a few years worth of Additions fees, man that sucks as it's probably a coupla hundred quid. It's those pesky reserve fees where the monies at. It's a shame as I never used any of the benefits of Additions whatever they were. I don't even know what I was eligable for, car breakdown cover or phone insurance etc. It would be my word against the bank staffs though. I often would go in branch to discuss my account with those personal advisers who would just reiterate the company mantra of ' sorry but if you have no money this is the best account for you'. I'd request a large OD but would be told that it was not possible. I've been living in my reserve for years so the bank really should have known better and been more sympathetic (there's an oxymoron for you - sympathetic bank) Thank you for your help gents, back to my speadsheet for now

DSAR for 6 six years is not too bad, fortunately the older statements that are missing are from a period when my account was in credit. Ahh the good days Muchos gracias, I really appreciate it!

Afternoon, I've been in a bit of a spot recently, lost my job, had to re-arrange my mortage to interest only or risk losing my house, defaulted on my one credit card, missing paying bills every month, I think you guys get the picture but the last year or so has been financial hell for me. My credit report is a sea of red Anyway I'll concentrate just on the Barclays account here. I've had an account with Barclays for around 20-25 years and I have most of the statements which I've started to dump info from into an Excel spreadsheet. I have a question if anyone would be so kind as to help, 1) I've dug a folder from around 1998 onwards and logged charges that include Unauthorised overdraft fees Additions fees Transaction charges for insufficient funds in account Personal overdraft usage fees Overdraft interest charges Paid referral fees Items returned fees Reserve usage fees I'm missing a few statements here and there so will SAR Barclays today to get the missing information. Naturally I'm awful at administoring my personal finances or should I say I was awful until a few ago when I stumbled across this place. My question is this, what are my chances of recouping any of the above fees and if so over what period. The Additions fees which are small are already over a thousand pounds and I still have another 5 years of statements to go through. I hope I don't come across as a chancer who is trying to claw back money for services that I used. I have a deep loathing of Barclays as they have me by the short 'n curlies since I live in their 'reserve' paying close to £100/month for the privalige of doing so. I never asked for the Additions accounts, I frequently popped into my local branch on occasions to speak about the horrendous charges but was always told that I was on the best package for my current situation, surely this was misleading to say the least? I've read the BCOBS stuff in this section but am still a little confused as to what my next move should be once I've completed my spreadsheet and write to Barclays asking for ermmm, some money back please?