Hi everyone here's my dilemma:

I'm banking with RBS, and I do not have an agreed overdraft facility. I'm currently overdrawn by around £1000, and my account has been overdrawn for roughly 11 months. I get charged around £15-£22 every month, according to how overdrawn my account is. I also have been charged once or twice for unpaid direct debits. Can I claim any charges back, or am I out of luck as I never agreed an overdraft interest rate?

I have answered your previous post in the welcome forum.

I understand that I can get the unpaid DD charges back, but what of the unauthorised overdraft charges?

Read this Ash

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/15518-charges-description-statements-please.html

Leech

Thanks for the info Leech, it looks like I can claim the charges back, but still not 100% sure if I'm in the right. Here's my situation in a bit more detail:

I've had the account for 7 years now, Never used the overdraft until i was made unemployed. I went into the minus figures, and I immediately began to be charged interest on the overdraft (29.8% annual rate). I had never had spoken with the bank about an overdraft facility, so I was somewhat surprised that I was allowed to withdraw money even though there was none in the account.

Interesting thing to note is that RBS changed my account type without my permission two years ago (before I was overdrawn). It was a student account which had an interest-free overdraft, then my account was changed to a standard current account. Obviously the current account doesn't have an interest free overdraft.

Do you think that i somehow "agreed" to overdraft interest rates when I opened my account 7 years ago? Or are these unlawful charges which I can dispute?

Ash, you are looking in to this in too much detail - although the change in account without signing anything might be of interest to the mods.....lively???

Anyways, it doesn't really matter what you have or haven't agreed to, you are well within your rights to claim back any charge that is not AGREED by you or does not provide a service to you. This includes (but is not limited to) fees for:

unpaid direct debits / standing orders / cheqes

referrals

unauthorised overdrafts

card misuse

There's not anything else you need to worry about - leech has already pointed you in the direction of a thread explaining this.

All the fees you can claim from RBS have been listed by lively here and any furhter information you need with regards to sorting out your RBS charges, you can read through from the link in my signature (stuck with RBS charges?).

I think you are overcomplicating this issue and it might be worth your while reading through the FAQ forum, most notably the Guide in there ensuring you understand the process a bit more fully first because you seem to be a little confused if I'm honest.

Do post back any questions if you're unsure but do try to help yourself first

Well put T4FF.

Ash use the spreadsheet here

http://www.zen122856.zen.co.uk/CompoundSheet_v1.9.xls

Put in the interest every month, the spready will work out what proportion is applicable.

Leech

Hi, sorry about the big delay, had lots of things happening which took me away from all this, but now I'm back on track.

Completed the really useful spreadsheet, looks like the total charges using statutory interest is around £357, while contractual is £397. But that's not taking into account may's charge which will be £15.63- the cheeky buggers tell you in advance how much they will (unlawfully) take out. It's not that big an amount TBH, but I'm in dire financial straits right now, so every penny counts.

Was wondering what the next step would be- and how much roughly would I pay in court fees etc. Also I would like to know what other charges I can reclaim and/or costs I can add, which RBS would have to give me. Thanks everyone.

Was wondering what the next step would be- and how much roughly would I pay in court fees etc. Also I would like to know what other charges I can reclaim and/or costs I can add, which RBS would have to give me. Thanks everyone.

All these things and more are answered in great detail in the rest of the forum.

May I suggest the FAQ section would be the first place to start?

Agreed - I think the FAQ section would be the next step...

Thanks mr hamster & t4ff, had a look in the FAQ section, and the step-by-step example thread answered the majority of my questions. Just three things I'm unclear on:

1) On the spreadsheet's first tab, it says "total owed before interest". This is the amount I can reclaim while I send my prelim letter, correct? Am I right in saying that the 8% can only be added once matters have proceeded further (LBA)?

2) Where a "schedule" of charges is mentioned, what would be acceptable? An A4 sheet with all my charges + dates incurred, or a printout of the spreadsheet, or photocopied bank statements? Actually after reading the prelim letter template, I assume it's a photocopy of the spreadsheet, but it's best to make sure.

3) Could someone please tell me what the mysterious £28.00 charge is that has appeared twice on my statements? I think it's for going over a overdraft limit that was never agreed to! Could somebody confirm this?

Thanks mr hamster & t4ff, had a look in the FAQ section, and the step-by-step example thread answered the majority of my questions. Just three things I'm unclear on:

 

1) On the spreadsheet's first tab, it says "total owed before interest". This is the amount I can reclaim while I send my prelim letter, correct? Am I right in saying that the 8% can only be added once matters have proceeded further (LBA)?

The statutory 8% can only be added after you have commenced court proceedings. I would suggest in your LBA that you just refer to it rather than actually give a total figure.

2) Where a "schedule" of charges is mentioned, what would be acceptable? An A4 sheet with all my charges + dates incurred, or a printout of the spreadsheet, or photocopied bank statements? Actually after reading the prelim letter template, I assume it's a photocopy of the spreadsheet, but it's best to make sure.

You seem to have a propensity for over-complicating things.

1. Fill in spreadsheet

2. Print spreadsheet.

3) Could someone please tell me what the mysterious £28.00 charge is that has appeared twice on my statements? I think it's for going over a overdraft limit that was never agreed to! Could somebody confirm this?

What's it described as on your statement?

What's it described as on your statement?

EDIT: The £28 is for "unauthorised borrowing – maintenance charge", as I suspected. Also I've been charged £38 twice for unpaid direct debits. One was for a mobile phone bill where the mobile phone operator ALSO charged me £20 for the unpaid direct debit. I will see what can be done about that particular situation.

The 28 pound is a maintenance charge relating to overdraft and is claimable. Anything that is not a service is claimable.

If you need any further information have a read of this

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/royal-bank-scotland-bank/42749-bit-help-you-rbos.html

Hello everyone, I'm still here, just would like to know what the current situation is regarding reclaiming bank charges. I've heard about courts "staying" claims until the test case is resolved. Will this affect my claim if I put it in now? Has anything changed in the 5 months regarding claims? Are RBOS putting up a fight, or do I have a good chance of claiming?

Hi, You should get your claim in. Have a look at this........

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/107550-oft-test-claim-what.html

Also read this.........

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/royal-bank-scotland/110553-urgent-all-mcol-claims.html

Regards.

Scott.