'm fairly new on here and have been trying to take as much in as I can as regards banks mischarging, you will probably all laugh and call me a divvy but 'manual interventions' or 'manuals' as most seem to call them feature on the S.A.R.s request and I can't seem to find out what they are and what they will prove. Any explinations and mockery of my intelligence will be gladly accepted.

Thanks

Most (well 99.999%) transactions on your a/c are automated, but the banks could justify their charges by saying that human intervention has been neccessary. The DPA asks for proof of this. To date, all banks have refused to confirm this ie there isn't any.

Do you mean that they can justify manual charges because they have to pay the wage of the manual operator as opposed to a computer generated charge that would obviously only cost minimal electrical usage??

Thanks for your reply

Yes it costs pence to send an automated letter so to justify their chrages they would have to PROVE that someone had acted in response to you exceeding your overdraft limit. Seems all quiet on the western front up to now!!!

Thank you my friend, that was the last bit I wanted to know about before sending my S.A.R. Watch out First Direct and Yorkshire Bank, you are in my sights:razz:

Hi all,

was just wondering, I had, up until about 3 years ago, a joint account with my wife and have no account info that I can find. Will I be able to find out what the account number was just by phoning and asking them or is there some other path I have to take???

Thanks

hi , think all you need to do is send a DPA Letter to them , any banking info they have on you they will send , remember to include £10 postal order for it thou , template is on site for you to use

That's right, the SAR covers all information no matter how many accounts you have. They may try and delay matters, but just send full names, current address and any change of address since closing the account. They have started saying that they need sort codes but this is ridiculous. You could put the branch you were with on if you like.

My wife and I currently have a Yorkshire bank account each of which we know the account number and we used to have a joint account but we don't know the old acc. no. to that one.

1) When we submit our SAR, should we do it separately ?

2) Will it be a problem not having the old joint account number, have heard Yorkshire Bank like to play games as regards things like this?

3) I have heard that they have to divulge all my banking history (even joint accounts) if I request a SAR for just my banking would we both have to sign it to get the joint account info??

Does anyone understand what I mean or am I just confusing the issue, basically what is the best way to approach 3 bank accounts by 2 of us when one was joint?

HI there

NO i dint think your confusing, or at least i dint feel any more confused than usual.

Re the joint accounts, we have two accounts with Abbey, a joint and a sole account.

For simplicities sake i sent off two SARs one signed by both of us and the other signed by me alone.

I dint think the DPA considers joint applicants or if it does i dint recall seeing it. Anyway although in theory one of the signatory's can ask for the data I would send a letter from both of you for the joint account.

Re not having the old account number, they may ask for a form of ID, send them a recent utility bill or similar with your SAR and if you have moved since using the account confirm your old address too.

HTH

Glenn

Thanks Glenn

Thats pretty much what I was planning to do mate but just wanted a bit of clarification and guidance as Yorkshire Bank are supposed to like to play games and delay as much as they can.

Again, thanks for you time

To reduce initial paperwork, do you think YB would accept a SAR with both mine and my wifes seperate account numbers on it but as we no longer have the account number of the old joint account simply state in the letter that we want this joint account info aswell and both sign it?

What does anyone think?

Once we have the statements we could then split them in to 3 accounts and go from there, couldn't we?

I think its worth a try, and of course you can always send them a single tenner too.

If they reject it then you know where you stand. I did it differently but would be happy to see others move the process forward and then we can all learn something.

JMHO

Glenn

Or you could try nipping into your local YB branch with some ID and asking them if they can search their records for yout joint account number. That way your SAR will be more complete and less likely to be mishandled.

Glenn's right, one crisp tenner will cover all three accounts.

Elsinore

RE: Unknown joint account number.

My wife tried going in the branch with I.D. and asking today and was given varying excuses as to why they couldn't give her it. She was asked why she wanted it and said it was for private reasons so the guy said "If you can't tell me why then I can't give you it":o . He also informed her that they only keep records for 5years:confused: , that they will no longer have details as the account was closed, that all records are held in Leeds and that they do not have access to them, and that it will cost her money to find out the account number although he didn't know how much.

As you can see YB have covered every conceivable excuse in a 5 minute chat, apart from "the dog ate the number Miss":p .

She did kick off a bit and was told he would "Try his best to find it out" and ring her with it later, but I think this was just a ploy to keep her quiet and get her off the premisses. Guess what, no they never phoned:mad: .

Anyway, looks like I'll have to try and do the S.A.R. for this just stating the account holders full names and addresses with signatures from us both and hope they play ball.......you never know

Oh! well, just a thought!

Seems like YB are just as bl**dy awkward as LTSB.

Back to Plan A.

Elsinore

Hi guys, modified this paragrath at the start of the S.A.R. to try and stop any YB wriggling, what do you think.......?

'Please supply me with a complete list of transactions and charges relating to my full banking history with your organisation, this includes a now closed joint account for which we do not have the account number, in the names of myself and my wife Mrs X. To assist you in retrieving the information on this account and to prevent any delays in this matter I am providing you with our previous address (see footnote) at which the account was held, and both mine and my wives signature as authorisation for the release of account details with both of our knowledge. Alternatively, a complete set of statements for that period will be acceptable.'

Will that do the trick????

Thanks for your interest:-D

UNBELIEVABLE YB have just phoned me with that joint bank account number. Can't quite believe they have but the guy on the phone was very wary of giving us it, Do you think they know whats coming. :D :D

Damn, just realised i'll have to retype my S.A.R. letters, bloody awkward YB.lol.

Well myself and my wife have just taken our first steps along the long road of reclaiming our bank charges. My wife took 3 S.A.R.s into our branch today, the first one was for my current account, the second was for my wifes and the third was for an old joint account we had. This might be overkill but we didn't want to give them any delaying excuses, espeicially with regards to the joint account. We got a reciept for the letters so its just a case of waiting for our statements now, wish us look;).

Good luck

Good for you! Don't forget to keep the forum posted on your progress.

For future reference, the SAR applies to the person so you only needed 2.

Hiya Caro and thanks for your responce. I know what you are saying is right, but, after reading quite a few threads on this fantastic site, and hearing how many people have struggled getting joint information, including myself, out of the banks (mostly delay tactics i might add) I just thought I would hit them with all 3 accounts separated. I suppose I was just trying to cover all bases from the off.

Thanks

Although I see your point, they have a legal obligation to comply, and I think it is better to make sure that they meet that obligation, rather than letting them keep control. As long as you make sure that you do everything by the book, you can safely expect them to do the same.

Don't let them bully you before you start. You are taking control of the situation now on your terms.

Yuppers good luck, you will probably find they will send you a letter saying they destroyed the third cheque. Let us know.