Thread: Advice before Claiming

I have been reading this site with great interest over the last few weeks.

I have a Bank of Scotland Student Current Account with an overdraft limit of £750. I had a serious gambling problem and lost around £15,000 on credit within the space of a month. I then started going to casinos writing cheques for £100 with my cheque guarantee card. I did this with my Bank of Scotland account about 15/20 times over the space of a week. Each time, the cheque bounced and I was charged around £30/£35 for this.

A debt collector was sent to my door to remove my card and cheque book which I gave him and my account was passed to collections.

I paid off the money I owed over the last year and my account was re-opened two weeks ago, they have still given me the £750 o/d limit, which I am currently £700 overdrawn in.

I would like to submit a claim for the bank charges that I received, do I stand a chance of getting the charges refunded to me? I feel that that I will be unsuccessful as I was fully aware that I had insufficient funds available and continued to write cheques that would bounce in the casinos.

I would be greatful for opinions on this, before I end up going to court, losing and having to pay back my full o/d that I can't afford to pay.

Thanks in advance,

Adam

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Thank you for your prompt response. I will have a further search through the forums and keep you updated of how I get on.

Thanks,

Adam

I agree. The charges are unlawful and that is the main point. You should definately claim.
I also wanted to say look after yourself. I don't know how long you had a gambling problem for but if you consider that you were addicted you should consider getting help, maybe from a support group. Maybe you have already done this. Just wanted to write it as probably your biggest danger is going back to gambling.
Take care and definately go for your charges.

Not wanting to put a damper on things, but I think you should look deeper into the legality of your writing cheques whilst being aware there were no funds to cover them. This is something that could be bought up in their defence - I think its unlikely but worth researching a little first.

Well done for paying your debts off - just be careful - you're already at the limit of your overdraft - and stay out of the casinos... you dont want to go through the whole thing again.