hi, i have a closed business account from sept 99 to nov 2002, my last accounts shown 2495.00 pounds bank charges for one year? i have looked for my old records and cannot find anything and the business was sold in 2002 and the bank accounts paid off and closed. My business manager at the time kindly charged me the maximum charges per month as my overdraft was not applied for at head office and let me run as if i had one but made me pay? my accountant picked up on this and was told its too late to do anything as i would never get an overdraft now as i was always overdrawn.i must have been charged a mint , would i be able to claim for any of these with it being closed for a few years and how about getting past records off them.

if I write requesting statements and they have an idea what I want them for surely they will wait the 40 days to supply them, knocking 40 days off my claim.

So would I be better sending the request for a refund in the same letter as the statement request, would they have to pay from the date of the request, even though I couldn't give a fixed amount?

Can you tell me if anything in this letter adapted from your templates doesn't apply to business acounts as I'm not sure about the data protection sections, contracts acts, etc. Do you think its OK? Thanks.

Dear Sir or Madam

I held the above mentioned current account with your bank from 1999 to 2001. During this time I incurred charges for exceeding my overdraft limit due to cheques being cleared at unfortunate times, unauthorized overdraft fees, direct debits and standing orders being dishonored (and in some cases honored) due to insufficient funds.

It is my opinion, and that of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), that these charges are punitive in nature, not a genuine pre-estimate of cost and not intended to re-imburse your losses for a breach of contract occurring. Further to the 1999 Consumer Credit Regulations quoted by the OFT, there are numerous cases in law that prove that punitive charges in contracts are unenforceable at English law.

Murray v Leasureplay (2004)

Dunlop Tyre Company v New Garage and Motor Co. (1915)

Bridge v. Campbell Discount Co. Ltd. (1962)

There are many more cases of this type, far more than I have room to list here.

Further to these cases, I also believe these charges to be a direct breach of the 1977 Unfair Terms (contracts) Act which require that contract terms be reasonable. I do not believe these charges are reasonable as outlined in the aforementioned act.

With this in mind, I respectfully request that you return to me ALL charges made on this account since 15th February 2000 and 8% APR as allowed by the County Courts Act (1984), within 40 days of receipt of this letter, by way of personal cheque. If you choose not to do so, I will start proceedings for recovery in the County Courts, as I believe that legally I am entitled to this money back. By doing so, you will be eligible for my court costs.

In conjunction, would you provide me with a copy of all my statements from this account from the account opening in 1999 to it’s closing in 2001? I am aware that the information commissioner allows you to make a nominal charge of up to £10.00 for this service, for which amount I enclose a cheque.

Please be aware that these are formal requests under the Data Protection Act (1998). As you are no doubt aware, you are afforded 40 days to comply with this request, or you must request an extension from the Information Commissioner.

If you are of any doubt that this information is covered by the act, may I respectfully draw your attention to the case of Smith v Lloyds TSB, Neutral Citation Number: [2005] ewhc 246 (ch) in the high court of justice chancery division, where the judge ruled that bank statement information is, indeed, personal information, and thus covered.

Yours sincerely

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