mmmm, OK. But the size of my claim on my business account is £12K too large for the small claims and the only way I can see is a writ. The bank have already said no to the claim and see their charges as fair on this business account. So, on the business side of things, the only way I can see is through a solicitor and a writ. Would you agree ?

thanks, but is there not a difference between business accounts and personal account charges ?

On business accounts, if you have asked the bank to investigate their excessive charges, they should send you a letter saying that they have investigated with their results, either with an offer or more likely saying they have no case to answer, and if you are not happy you can refer it to the financial , banking ombudsman. Once you get this letter, go ahead and complain to the ombudsman about excessive charges. This is what I have done, no idea if I will be successful ! My solicitor has advised me to consider issuing a writ for excessive charges to my business account. I might just do it, as the charges amount to over £12K. If anyone has any success on business accounts please let me know

ConsumerLine: Home : Consumer advice, information, consumer rights, consumer legislation, consumer education, and help on customer care from the General Consumer Council for Northern Ireland Go to here and download all their information on bank charges. Very helpful - step by step guide. I was informed that all banks are settling these out of court, with the exception of Bank of Ireland, who are trying to delay.

I have had a number of issues with bank charges, on both my personal accounts and business accounts. On my personal account - my fees amounted to close to £4000. I was only able to take a small claims for £2000. Which I did, the bank settled in full in about 2 weeks. I have since issued a further small claims for the difference. In my opinion the banks are waiting until the last minute to settle. So hurry on through to the small claims, all the rest is just procedure of saying no. Interest, should be at least 8% above base min

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

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 !!

I'm now going for first trust and also ulster bank. First trust for my business account £12 K and Ulster bank for £3800. I'm determined to get them to account for the misery they brought on me and how they treated me when I was down. Now, I'm back and boy are they going to pay !!!!!!!

As a business owner, I used bank commerical finance, which factored by accounts. I know this is not part of the normal posting here. But might encourage some people. After I moved from them, I discovered I was missing £21K from my accounts. I eventually settled with them for £41K, took a bit of fighting though. Seven months to drag them to this offer. Afterwards you always think you could have got more. Banks give you an umbrella when the sun is shining and take it away when it is raining. They must be brought to account for the misery they have heaped on the poor, and how they have [EDIT] us !!!!

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