Has anyone sent letters to First Trust bank in Northern Ireland - Any Joy?

i would like to know if these rules apply in northern ireland

Any help would be appreciated !

As far as we know, the rules are the sam in NI.

The rules of procedure and the limits are different.

There are links to the NI court service in the Library

I'm hoping to pursue First Trust Bank for numerous charges over the past 6 years. Once I familiarise myself with laws and regulations I'll get the ball rolling. I'll keep you informed.

Yes, please. It would be useful to get some NI experiences on this forum

I have just sent a Data Protection letter to the First Trust bank asking for statements for the past 6 years. I would be glad to hear how you or anyone else has progressed with the First Trust

I am disputing charges and interest added to an account which is now closed as I moved to another bank. They have offered a credit but I think they owe more.

I would be interested in how you progress with your claim

I suffered from financial problems over the last 2 years, which I'm just surfacing from now. The banks certainly did not make life any easier, but instead stuck the boot in. I incurred in a 2 year period charges amounting to over £12,000 from 1st Trust on my business account, and was forced to sell an endowment policy, which I would not have had if I did not have these charges.

I have currently engaged a solictor to pursue first trust. But I have no idea how it will go. Out of all this in my view is very excessive charging.

Anybody any clues how a claim like this will go, in light of the fact of a lot of complaints about charges

Hi James

I have a court date of 26/09/06 with First Trust. - I am quietly confident. In their Terms&Conds they actually state penalty charge which is contrary to the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts.

What does your solicitor think?

Good Luck

Flo

james

your situation is different in that yours would be heard at county court, and all the legal fees that this entails. if you search through the other institutions thread, you will come across anaconda, he has a claim against the northern for 25k. i think that he would be the best person for you to talk to at the minute.

i have found with FT that they sure know how to stick the boot in when your struggling. best of luck , time to start kicking back

I suffered from financial problems over the last 2 years, which I'm just surfacing from now. The banks certainly did not make life any easier, but instead stuck the boot in. I incurred in a 2 year period charges amounting to over £12,000 from 1st Trust on my business account, and was forced to sell an endowment policy, which I would not have had if I did not have these charges.

 

I have currently engaged a solictor to pursue first trust. But I have no idea how it will go. Out of all this in my view is very excessive charging.

 

Anybody any clues how a claim like this will go, in light of the fact of a lot of complaints about charges

Hi James

What does your soilictor say about your case?

Elizabeth

Hi James

What does your solictor say about your case?

Elizabeth

my solictor has written to both banks. Ulster bank told me to get lost, first Trust requested more information. I have re-written to Ulster bank, now they are talking. I have sent a detailed list for the last 2 years of charges, and waiting on them to investigate. My solicitor has also referred to council for opinion. So with the courts closed for summer, I guess I will get no-where til September

I intend to push to limit for result. First Trust also had me sell a standard life policy I had held for 18 years, to reduce my overdraft, which increased due to bank charges. If I did not have bank charges I would not have needed to sell. This too I intend to bring into the equation. I have all my bank statements for many years with both banks, so I guess now is a very good time to audit all, and go for the lot. But who knows, I might get a big raspberry at the end of all this !!

my solictor has written to both banks. Ulster bank told me to get lost, first Trust requested more information. I have re-written to Ulster bank, now they are talking. I have sent a detailed list for the last 2 years of charges, and waiting on them to investigate. My solicitor has also referred to council for opinion. So with the courts closed for summer, I guess I will get no-where til September

I intend to push to limit for result. First Trust also had me sell a standard life policy I had held for 18 years, to reduce my overdraft, which increased due to bank charges. If I did not have bank charges I would not have needed to sell. This too I intend to bring into the equation. I have all my bank statements for many years with both banks, so I guess now is a very good time to audit all, and go for the lot. But who knows, I might get a big raspberry at the end of all this !!

Hi James

Did you see the Sunday Times yesterday about Bank Charges it was on the front page and it covers the legal opinion in detail.

I also have an ongoing case with The Ulster since 2001.Have you a good solicitor who doesn,t mind suing banks

Liz

Liz

hi james im claiming a similar amount from the first trust and will be issuing a summons to them shortly. dunno how it will go but i cant see them wanting to go into a court room incase the judgment goes against them. il keep you posted.

sounds very interesting, please keep me posted. How long did it take them to investigate your complaint ? i seem to be waiting a long time for an answer from them. On my ulster bank, they sent me copies of all my statements from day 1, no idea what they expect me to do, as i already passed them data in regard to this,think it is a delaying job .What are your experiences on this

I have sent my first letter to First Trust Bank with my £10 cheque for access to data Protection. The clock is ticking for the 40 days. Please see my other post for details (shunky)

I hand delivered my SAR letter on 15th Septr to first trust so it will be interesting to compare notes and progress.

I wondered if any one can advise on this.

- The account I had was called a bonus account during which I paid £2 per month as a maintenance charge and £8 if I went into the red. The idea of the account was to pay interest on your money and protect from penalty charges. However I still had to pay £3 referral charges if a DD or cheque wasn't covered. To be fair to the bank they would not have returned a cheque or DD unpaid.

However we still got charges and the bank advised us to take out a £200 rolling overdraft to prevent charges. This cost us another £25 per year for the last ten years or so

Would the maintenance fee be something that is reclaimable or is it just the £8?

Is the referral charge reclaimable or is this a reasonable administration cost?

Is the £25 reclaimable for each of those years?

Just received my bank statements from First Trust Bank. Just about to go through them. They only go back to Dec 2000 even though I had asked for all charges going back to 1990. The envelope had been damaged and sealed by the post office in a bag saying "item damaged before arrival in UK" even though they were sent from Belfast to belfast address.

Is there a limit on the number of years the bank can go back?

I've been through my statements from Dec 2000 to date. The only charges are the £2 per month maintenance fee, a few £8 fees for the months that I went into the red, DD set up fees and cancellation fees and fees for setting up a yearly rolling overdraft.

Don't know if any of these are reclaimable. Perhaps £6 of the £8 fees for when I went into the red but there isn't many of these.

shunky any developments since your last post

sent the letter template to them that they only sent me statements going back to 2001 and I had asked for all but they are adament that they have fulfilled their duty under data protection. Haven't had time to follow through again. Not sure if its worth my while anyway

Hi

i sent a request to first trust asking for list of charges for past 6 years and got response on 6th dec. saying i will receive the statements/list of charges within next 40 days.

my account with them is closed, but i am interested to see how much i paid them.

i presume the same rules apply here and will move on to the next stage once i have received above??

Also have a refund claim (or possibly 2 (1 on another account)) in against halifax.

not a lot of info around on NI experiences, so hopefully we can all help each other out

will keep you posted.