As i only keep statements going back 12 months, i called MBNA to ask about charges to my account over the past 6 years. They said to me that the only way to get this information was to pat £2.50 per statement!!!! When i asked if this information was available if a went through the Data Protection Act, they told me that under the Data Protection Act they only had to disclose information that had never been previously supplied to me, and that as previous charges would have been supplied in statement form they wouldnt be included. This isnt how i understood things, i thought that the DPA forced them to disclose all information. Are they right?

Hi I just tried speaking to the friendly lot at American Express regarding a £29 late payment charge in June 2006 (due to a AmEx mistake with the direct debit). They assure me that they are exempt from this ruling about unfair bank charges as they are not actually a bank. The card in question is a Corporate charge card(which i am repsponsible for) and they tell me that late payment charges are entirley fair and will under no circumstances be refunded. Is this true, or are they just trying to warn me off?

Hi all Just wanted to say hi and thanks for the great advise. I've had nowhere near as much as £19000 of bank charges over the past 6 years, its actually more like £200. But still, its MY £200 so im going to follow your advise and get it back!!! I'll post my results as and when they happen. Thanks again Mal p.s. So far i have spoken to 4 different establishments about the charges, and none of these were willing to give me the information about how much they had charged me over the past 6 years. All of them only had records going back 12 months(apparently)....until i asked them if it would be better for me to formally request them using the Data Protection Act. They all agreed to send me the info through the post straight away!!!!!! Banks eh, who'd have em?