If you hold more than one account with the same bank and one has sufficient funds would it be that difficult in this age of technology to transfer funds over to service cheques, dds and so,s to prevent the other account going overdrawn?

I have recently been ill and unable to sort out my account, resulting in 3 cheques taking me over my limit. I did as suggested on this site and wrote to explain the situation, and said that because of my illness I had lower income and these charges would cause undue hardship. I got a call saying they were prepared to waiver one charge as goodwill but the other £39 and £28 unauthorised overdraft fee still stand. I think these amounts are extortionate as the last cheque only took me over £30 until the following morning, and would love to take the same stand as the others on the site. The problem I have is that I have my mortgage and car loan with the Halifax and just wondered if you know if I took court action it would affect these? Thank you.

my ex, myself and my daughter have both had RBS accounts and been stung with excess charges. We have since moved elsewhere for this reason. It does seem that there aren't many posts about them on here though.

and income support

Hi. Have read on the small claims court that people on certain benefits/tax credits are exempt from the initial charges to go to small claims court. Am I right in assuming that this would apply to these cases? I think this would help a lot of the most vulnerable people be able to follow this course of action where only fthe financial outlay is stopping them.

Hi. Do you know that people on certain benefits are exempt from the small claims charges? Maybe she could sue without it costing her anything. My daughter is in similar situation and we have just sent the first letter to First Direct. If she has to go to court we will apply for exemption as she is on income support.

no probs dave. picked it up and altered it. Just thankful for all your help.

Where can I get info on case law please? Has anyone got any experience of claiming charges from a business account before?

Can charges be recovered from a business account or only a personal account please?

Hi. Here's the letter adjusted from your template that my daughter is sending to first direct tomorrow. Will keep you informed of the progress.

Customer Relations Manager

FIRST DIRECT

40 Wakefield Road

Leeds

LS98 1FD

Monday, 13 February 2006

WITHOUT PREDJUDICE

Dear Sir,

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxx

I have held the above mentioned current account with your bank for the past 16 months. During this time I have incurred charges of £xxxx for exceeding my overdraft limit due to cheques being cleared at unfortunate times, unauthorized overdraft fees, direct debits and standing orders being dishonoured (and in some cases honoured) 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 Leisureplay (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 of £xxxx made on this account in the last 16 months plus £xx being 8% APR as allowed by the County Courts Act (1984), within 14 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. This money would be used in some way to clear my overdraft on this account.

Yours faithfully,

thanks. excess od fee was £25, od fee £30 and so/dd £37.50. The only query is that I thought I read on this site that an od fee was a legitimate charge?

Thanks for that information, stephen.

Can charges be claimed from accounts that have been closed, or do they have to be active? Thanks.

I have gone through my statements from first direct and have 3 types of charges, excess od fee, od fee and recall so/dd. Before I write the letter can someone confirm that all these can be reclaimed, and if not, which can't. Thanks for the help.

First Direct are asking £2.50 per statement.

thanks Dave. All sorted now. Brilliant site, by the way. Thanks.