Thread: DM 31/05 - HOW TO GET YOUR BANK TO PAY UP -Mention of BAG...

BANKS are frustrating customers who approach them with complaints about overdraft charges. This week JAMES CONEY takes you through a stepby-step guide on how to complain to your bank. . .
GET wise to your rights. When you open a current account, you are entering into a contract. If you go beyond your overdraft limit, banks and building societies are allowed only to charge you for the cost of administering this.
You need to tell the bank that you believe the charges do not reflect this cost and therefore they are in breach of contract.
PRINT off your statements and work out how much you are owed. Remember, it's perfectly reasonable for the bank to make some charge if you've gone beyond your overdraft limit.
You can find tips from other customers who have complained about bank charges at independent pressure groups such as www.bankchargeshell.co.uk and www.bankactiongroup.co.uk.
WRITE to the bank and ask for your money back. There is a template letter on our sister website www.thisismoney.co.uk.
Keep a copy of all relevant correspondence. The bank should respond within two weeks.
IF THE bank does not respond within two weeks, write to them again, stating the date you sent the initial letter. Follow up with a phone call. Note the time, date and name of the person you spoke to. Be polite at all times.
YOU may get a full refund at this stage. If you are offered a partial refund, refuse and write back demanding full payment. Say that if you do not hear within 14 days you will pursue further action.
Do not be fooled by legal jargon or by suggestions that you are in the wrong and that the bank has already let you off one charge.
Lawyers say that this has nothing to do with your right to reclaim excessive charges.
IF THE charges are not refunded, inform the bank that you will take up the complaint with the Financial-Ombudsman Service. You can also go to the fos if the bank has not resolved your original complaint within eight weeks.
YOU can get an FOS complaint form by downloading one from www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. You will need to send it back by post.
Outline your complaint and the actions you have taken. Explain that you believe the charges do not represent the cost incurred by the bank and how they were implemented.
ï For the FOS, phone 0845 080 1800, e-mail: complaint.info@ financial-ombudsman.org.uk, or write to: Financial Ombudsman Service, South Quay Plaza, 183 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SR.
ï TELL us your experiences with bank charges. We want to know who you bank with, what the charges were, and how the bank handled your complaint.
E-mail: j.coney@dailymail.co.uk Or write to: Bank Charges, Money Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT.

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Yeah, I've seen it and that's what I've emailed him back:

Hi there
re; your recent article about getting your bank to refund unfair charges- writing to fos does as much good as trying to stop the tsunami wave with a plastic bucket. Utterly futile, proven NOT to achieve any results and an absolute waste of time. To see more about it, read members forum on consumeraction.co.uk
What works is taking your bank to court and you need to be very clear to your readers about it. FOS is a toothless old beast on a leash. As much potency as Hugh Heffner- big mouth, corpse down below.
Very, very occassionally banks refund at earlier stage, but only if amounts are small and there are lots of other factors like the customer is a generally good, old client etc.
I am taking Lloyds to court for over £3700 and they will settle virtually on a steps of the court, because recently they have adopted policy of stringing it out as long as possible. But settle they will becasue they would not wish to have to explain to the judge how much REALLY it costs them to sent me a letter informing me that my direct debit hasn't gone through. As it is highly automated and the banks send millions of such letters a day, it costs them max £2 not £35 and they would have to explain to the court why they charge so much. So the banks do prefer to settle with couple of thousand of customers rather then creating a precedence and having to follow it up with refund to couple of millions of clients.
I am single parent with a disabled child- I have sat on many occassions in front of my online banking to see my disability benefit payments being swallowed by this greedy charges and leaving me with nothing. Once, in March this year, my account was stripped of £600.14- charges for just ONE MONTH, which were result of previous charges spiralling out of control. I wasn't able to pay virtually no bills, dd's, standing orders, nothing.
So I would like to ask you and encourage you to have balls and stop being so delicate, like an old spinster. The banks are wrong wrong wrong and they will not admit it. The only way to get your money back is to file a court claim. Also, the consumeraction website needs promoting- there is everything there you need to know about this subject, so no need to reinvent the wheel.

Kind regards