Sorry to do the whole bank charge thing again. Both myself and my wife reclaimed ours two years ago. However since then had a situation where my wife was overdrawn by a couple of pounds and was not charged. Curiosly we called to ask why we were not charged and were informed that there was a (HBOS) (Phantom) limit of £5, that if you did not go over this then you would not be charged. As there was no charge we were happy and accepted that explanation. Now however, we are confused again and would appreciate any feedback on this latest issue. I do not have a bank account but my wife has two with the HBOS. We are both PAYG customers with T-Mobile. Both our phones are registered in my wife's name so that we can top up through the interactive option on each handset. T-Mobile will only allow one handset per bank account so my wife has her phone activated to one of her accounts and I have mine activated to her other HBOS account. Simple as it sounds! This has been the situation for around two years and there have been many occasions when I have tried to top up my phone using the interactive menu on my phone. Without knowing the balance in my wife's account I have received a message detailing that the top up has been refused and that I should contact the bank (HBOS). However, in the pat few months I have been able to top up my phone without the funds being available in the bank account (not knowing that the funds were not there) top up has been successful but a few days later we receive the usual e-mail saying that we are being charged £35 quid as there was insufficint funds in the account?????? Does anyone know if things have changed, or why can the HBOS LET!!!!!! you go overdrawn in order to CHARGE you?

Hi Advoc8, I know what you mean but do you really think that they are charged? I would doubt it very much. The banks are making their money from Joe Bloggs, so to speak on the streets.

Should have checked first!! There is already a petition at 10 Downing street to force the banks to repay unlawful bank charges. Maybe the reason there has been no action is the fact that the petition has only gathered 554 signatures and expires in May! I have signed. Get signing and e-mailing!

Hi all, didn't notice jonni2bad had gone offline. Does anyone else agree with my comments?

hi jonni2bad, I understand what you are saying that there is a proven method to get your cash and that it is documented. However, how many people are going to have to go through the court system to get their own cash? Surely the courts will end up clogged up like the Ombudsman service. Why are folk having to fight for THEIR money either through the court or Ombudsman service if the OFT have already ruled the charges as unlawful? Surely one win is as good as 1000 or 10000. How many people will it take before there is and end to the whole fiasco? If a government body has made this rule that the charges are unlawful then surely there is someone above the OFT and the FOS who could make sure that companies comply to the government rulings. Maybe someone should start a petition at number 10! Lets face it the whole issue has been well documented in the media and I for one would be surprised if there was anyone left out there who didn't know about it. My point is that it shouldn't take the whole country to sort this out one by one. The government should step in and do it for everyone. After all they started it!

The FSA also give the banks 8 weeks to give a final response but as they have proved in my case the banks dont have to follow this if they choose not to. They then just refer you to the Ombudsman who has quoted "months" to resolve my complaint. Maybe they just give you the worst senario first. Hope mine is resolved as quickly as yours.

Hi jamesrap. How long did your claim take to be resolved through the ombudsman service.

Hi T4FF, The BOS have told me that they have 8 weeks as per the FSA to respond to my LBA, in which I did give them the 14 days to reply. The Ombudsman also says they have 8 weeks to reply.

Hi Roryroo, Wouldn't hold your breath waiting on a response on the 7th of March! Got a letter from BOS this morning saying that I now have the right to go to the Ombudsman so they are obviously not that bothered. This is a good one too! Was told yesterday that the hold up is due to the BOS ordering more of my statements from, wait for it...... THE BOS! Would be intererting to know if anyone has gone for ordinary action though as the £750 and £1500 limits seem like a lot of hassle after waiting this long already (5mths). If no-one has lost in the small claims or summary cause then dont see how you could lose with ordinary action.

Hi all, Called the BOS today to check progress. They ahd until Thursday to give their final response as per the 8 weeks set out by the FSA. Was told today that they are too busy and wont be responding within the 8 weeks. Called the Ombudsman, who has received my complaint but he said it could take 3-4 mths to resolve. Has anyone gone for ordinary action through the courts. Ant ideas of the cost a lawyer would charge to do this and would the bank have to pay the lawyers fees if the bank lost?

Being in Scotland though it is a little off putting to have to go through the court several times to get the cash back if your claim is over the £1500 summary cause limit. I have lettered the ombudsman over the time it has taken the BOS to deal with my complaint. I originally spoke to a branch manager in September who advised me to put my complaint in writing in the form of a DPA, which I did. Got my statements along with a letter stating how my "complaint" would be dealt with. Hand delivered another letter to the branch in November asking for the charges to be refunded. Got no reply so phoned the branch in November, who said they had no record of the complaint. Sent LBA to Customer Relations on the 12th of December. Received reply saying that complaint would be dealt with certainly no later than 4 weeks from the date of the letter. However the bank are now saying they have until 15th Feb to reply as per the 8 week guidelines set out by the FSA. Also the original letter was found and logged as a complaint in September (found this out yesterday) but was advised that it was going to be deleted as it was only a DPA request. If they dont see a DPA request as a complaint then why do they answer it as one? Maybe it was due to the conversation with the branch manager as he was made fully aware of what the DPA request was going to result in. Has anyone else had this problem. DOnt see how they can just delete an original complaint reference and replace it with another to buy more time.

Hi all, Can anyone tell me why folk are having to go through the courts to reclaim their charges. Cant the Ombudsman make the decisions?

Hi T4FF, I was just wondering why folk are having to go through the courts to claim back charges. Cant the Ombudsman resolve peoples claims?

Hi Jossamolly, I was wondering if you could tell me why people are having to go to the courts. Cant the ombudsman resolve the issues?

Hi all, Look forward to yoyr replies. Has anyone gone through this procedure with a protected trusr deed and won?

Thanks for the reply. I am also checking our using an English adress as I have relatives there. Is this legal and what if the bank or court find out. Can they do anything about it?

Hi, Posted a message in MSE regarding the £750 limit in Scotland and was directed here. I have prepared my interest and total charges, which total £4086. Then I read with dissapointment today that I can only claim £750. However I read something about splitting the claim. Is this possible?