Hi, like many others, new to this site after finding it on moneysaving expert and in need of a little help! I have read lots of the site and still alittle confused, must be something to with the colour of my hair!!!

From what i can understand i need to contact my bank (RBOS) asking them for a record of my account for the past six years. What i don't get is the £10 fee part. What's that all about?? Also, can I just write and ask my local branch for them?

Cheers and sorry as I'm sure many others have asked the same....

Sugar:p

Indeed, many people have asked similar questions before, hence it's in the 'Frequently Asked Questions' section ;-) :

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 DPA. 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.

 

 

---

 

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.

Hi Sugar,

The best place to start is whit the local branch. Send them the DPA letter asking for your statements. I myself, did not have to pay anything for statements going back 3.5 years.

Hope that helps

Many thanks, and wow, what a quick response. Will contact bank and fingers crossed as have a feeling it will be rather a significant amount and make all the difference to my financial situation which i can never seem to crawl out of.

Sugar:p

Ok, have sent the letter requesting details of charges etc to rbos, including to £10 charge, which i understand is the first step in claimimg back my charges. I've just been looking at the interest calculations and really confused. If, like me, you have an agreed overdraft, but tend to go over it, is it possible to claim interest? I've read all the notes in the thread to do with the spreadsheet by vampiress but clueless. Can someone please point me in the right direction as i'd like to understand this fully before getting a reply from my bank with the info on charges.

Thanks, Sugar:p

Ps, informed all my friends about site, hopefully we will change the world!!!!

hi there

You can only claim part of the interest that appears on your statement not sure how much I just left that out in my claim. But when you file court papers (if it gets that far) then you add the 8% APR that the court allows. check the interest in the FAQ.

Welcome and best of luck

mairi

Hi, thanks for the reply. Still not very clear on the interest front, but will sit and sift thru faqs this weekend... :o

Well, perhaps next Monday would be better!

Am loving this site, it's so good to hear when people get their money back. I can only guess that they contest it for so long cos a) they hope we will back down and b) they can gain interest on our money, which seems so unfair. I think one of the most distressing things is many of us would not be in the situations we find ourselves in if it weren't for these damn charges.

Anyway, hooray to England!

Sugar:p

Hi, Received statments this morning so intend to spend morbning adding up charges, although already know they are around £2000 mark, which will be so lovely to get back!

Can anyone help me get in touch with another rbos customer who had charges refunded immeadiately as they had a student account and should not have received charges? Mine is a student account so very keen to hear from said person.

Many thanks,

Sugar:p