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Hi there, I found these forums just today and have decided to attempt to get my money back from my bank (overdraft charges mostly) going back nearly four years. As you can imagine I am pretty nervous about starting this journey!!!
Can you kind people please scan your beady eyes over the letter I have written (see below) and advise me on whether I should make any changes/amendments? {The body of the letter was taken from one of the templates offered} Thankyou for any help you may be able to offer.
Due to recent media coverage on bank charges I am now aware that you, HSBC have been charging me, charges, that are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Schedule 2 (e) of the said regulations gives a non-complete list of terms, which may be regarded as unfair, such as a term that requires me as a consumer who fails in his obligation, to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.
I believe that your charges are disproportionately high. Therefore they are contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Regulations 1999. In addition I believe that your charges are a Penalty. Penalty charges are irrecoverable at common law. The precedent for this was Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co Ltd v New Garage and Motor co Ltd [1915] AC 79.along with Murray v. Leisure play [2005] EWCA Civ 963 It was held that a contractual party can only recover damages for an actual loss or liquidated losses. It is clear that your charges do not reflect any actual and or real loss.
Your charges appear to be nothing more than a profit-making scheme. Therefore I require you to refund my entire bank at a total of £1327.50 and any other bank charges dating back 6 years. I hear by give you 14 days to refund the charges back on to my account. If this is not done within 14 days, I will be forced to take legal action.
Please note, if I do not receive your response (to my satisfaction) within 14 days of the date of this letter, I shall be entering a claim against you with the county court, should this be the case I shall also be adding 8%apr of the total amount as above, and all costs incurred to date.
You might want to take the without predjudice off the top. That means that you cannot show it to a judge-which you might want to do to show that you have made an attempt to solve the matter through negotiation.
Originally Posted by FAQ
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.
Moved your thread to the more HSBC Action Group. please always try to post in the most appropriate forum
The law maybe reason without passion as Aristotle said, but hey, he said nothing about having fun when getting even!
Opinions given herein are made informally by myself as a lay-person in good faith based on personal expereince. For legal advice you must always consult a registered and insured lawyer.
Thanks guys, I will edit the letter again re your advice.
HD sorry not sure what you mean by "manual interventions", I am pretty dense when it comes to all things financial. :/
I came to the figures quoted in my letter by printing off all my statements and adding up all the charges levied. Is this the correct way to go about calculating my claim or should I be making allowances for "reasonable charges" whatever reasonable is! lol
Thanks again.
Hi guys, I have taken the 'without prejudice' from the letter, but have also changed the third paragraph to the following (see below) Does this seem ok, or should I have left it as it was in the original? :
Your charges appear to be nothing more than an unlawful profit-making scheme. Therefore I require you to refund my bank account at a total of £1327.50 (should you dispute this assertion, I require you to set out in writing a clear and concise list of all the bank charges applied to my account together with any manual interventions applied, with dates and times and work carried out, during said manual intervention of my account).
I hear by give you 14 days to refund the charges back on to my account. If this is not done within 14 days, I will be forced to take legal action.
I have finally taken the plunge and sent my letter today! (and now the nerves have really set in)! GULP!!! I wish the HSBC were as 'accommodating' as some of the other banks I have read about on this site
Wish me luck people xx
I now am wondering if it goes to court how to fill in the N1 form (I have seen it in the library but am still unsure how to proceed).
On the N1 form from the court there is a space near the top saying "brief details of claim" and then on the next page there is a space which says "particulars of claim" what do I write in the first space " brief details" ?
(I know what to write in the particulars of claim as I have seen it in the bank templates library).
also where it says "claimant" do I put in my name AND address? or just my name?
also where it says "defendant" do I just put in HSBC, or the branch address too?
Just starting to really consider that this may actually get to court (knowing my luck) and want to get it all straight in my head as to how to proceed if it comes to it.
Sorry Im still not 100% clued up on the court process either, so rather than answering and confusing you we will wait patiently for a Mod or other Knowledgeable bod to come by and pop their head in to answer!
Ok so now I have had a response to my first letter (I didn't actually request DP stuff) but the letter says thankyou for your letter of 18th April please fill in the DPA request forms so that we may process your request, there will be a £10 charge for this service.
Now, I am not bothered about the charge or even that they have disregarded the actual content of my letter, (I think that having the records including any manual interventions will be a good thing incase it actually gets to court), but now I am confused - do I stick with my origional 14 day deadline, or wait the requisite 40 days that they are allowed for the DPA ? before sending my letter before action?
Hi, I calculated all the charges from my online statements but on the DPA request form (received today with their reply) where it asks why do you want this info? I have specifically stated that I require full details of all manual interventions on my account with times, dates and actual work carried out.
I think that if they can't provide proof of any manual interventions then my case will be stronger when/if it gets to court.
But now I am unsure as to how to proceed, do I give them 40 days or stick to the origional 14 days which will end on 2nd May, before issuing my lba.:?
I am in the same situation, I sent the prelim letter and got a dpa form back. It was even stapled to my letter which contained nothing about a dpa request.
I am sticking with my 14 day deadline then the letter before action, it's not my fault they haven't read my letter properly.
Why give them 40 days as per the dpa request, when you haven't made one?
Exactly the same as mine, stapled to my origional letter!!! I agree with you on this one m8, I think I may just go ahead with my own timetable and send the lba on 2nd May.
I think I just panicked because it was a tactic I hadn't read about before but now I have read your post it seems like this is just going to be another of their standard responses!
So roll on 2nd May when I will send a revised LBA.
LBA now sent
charges mostly) going back nearly four years. As you can imagine I am pretty nervous about starting this journey!!!
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Originally Posted by FAQ
LOL, :-|...waiting patiently for a mod...:-|
I agree with you on this one m8, I think I may just go ahead with my own timetable and send the 