£35 unpaid item charge

[chris600uk]

This was my first letter, after the first bank charge that I can remember for a very long time:

 

 

 

 

 

Roll number: xxxxxxxxx

Sort code: xx-xx-xx

Account number: xxxxxxxx

 

 

Dear Sir/madam,

 

Thank you for your letter dated xxxxxxxxx informing me of a failed direct debit.

 

This was an oversight and when we became aware of it we added funds to the account.

Your charge of £35 is excessive, it doesn’t reflect the cost of a computer operated transaction or sending a computer generated letter, and that makes it a penalty charge which is in any event unlawful. Please cancel this charge on our account.

 

 

 

Yours faithfully,

Edited April 1, 2009 by chris600uk
italics look nicer

[chris600uk]

And this was their reply:

 

Thank you for your communication, we acknowledge receipt of your complaint about unarranged overdraft bank fees. We believe that your complaint concerns the level, fairness or lawfulness of the fees. If it concerns something else, such as an administrative error, please let us know.

 

We believe that fees are fair, transparent and lawful. Please be advised the bank (along with a number of other banks) has now become involved in legal proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in relation to unarranged overdraft bank fees which we believe will resolve the legal issues regarding the fairness and legality of your unarranged overdraft bank fees.

 

It would be our normal approach to resolve your complaint through our internal complaints process as quickly as possible. However, until the determination of the legal issues in the above proceedings, we have asked the Financial Services Authority to suspend the normal timetable for dealing with unarranged overdraft bank fee complaints, and the FSA has agreed to this request subject to conditions that protect your rights.

 

We can assure you we have registered and stored your complaint. Please retain your bank records, as this will make it easier for you to support your complaint on resolution of the test case.

 

Once the legal proceedings between the OFT and the banks finish, we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible.

 

We are sorry that we have not been able to respond in full to your complaint now, but we, together with the FSA and OFT think that it is necessary to resolve the key legal issues before we decide how we should respond to your complaint.

 

Obviously exactly what will happen next will depend upon the courts. We do not know how long the case will take, we have promised to proceed as quickly as possible but inevitably given the importance of the issues being considered this may take many months to finally resolve. We can assure you that once the legal proceedings are completed we will resolve your complaint as quickly as possible. If at that stage you do not agree with our conclusions you will of course be able to refer your case to the Financial Ombudsman Service or to the courts.

 

Given this court case we have asked the Financial Ombudsman Service not to proceed with any other case they are hearing until the test case is resolved. FOS has indicated that as a general proposition it will indeed not proceed with cases which rely on the legal issues being considered in the test case.

 

Similarly, you should be aware that if you choose to issue a claim in the courts, the bank will immediately apply to the court for an order to stay your action until resolution of the bank's proceedings with the Office of Fair Trading.

 

Thank you for your patience.

 

So what do you think about that, I am being hit with a whole bunch of these charges.

 

Any comments, anyone?

[yourbank]

Firstly there is no penalties in law argument because the first part of the OFT case so far has been that this argument was thrown out. However, the letter is totally standard and FSA compliant with regards to the FSA Waiver on bank charges.