AdZ vs HSBC

[adztec77]

Hi All,

 

Just thought I would post up a thread to keep track of my progress with a claim with HSBC.

 

Having been with this bank since I was 12 and moved to the area I have been slightly mad about all the charges and fees, and now know that I am right and these charges are unlawful I will be setting towards getting all fees back in FULL.

 

I am also helping my wife do the same with LloydsTSB.

 

Currently I have no idea how much I am owed but I have sent my Data protection letters (sar) in today 07/08/06 and will keep you posted on progress.

 

I sent HSBC letter to the Canada Square address and Lloyds to Customer Care in Birmingham.

 

Wish us luck! Will post up progress and how much I am owed and I hope to be posting the "Yay I got it all back" post within the next 6 weeks!

 

Thanks everyone for your efforts I have been enjoying reading everyone's stories.

 

Cheers!

[Dani]

Well good luck with your claim.

 

If you have internet banking with HSBC, you can get your statements online, and speed up the process a bit. Also gives you some pleasure realising how much you can get them for!!

[Zola]

Adz, download all your ones from the website, I sent my prelim letter out today as I could not be bothered to wait for them to post them to me. Good luck with the wifes claim. Will be claiming for my lazy other half, as they are far too busy on MSN!!! Ps say hi to the family !!!

[adztec77]

The online statements dont go back as far as August 1999 though do they?

 

I also cant be arsed to click through all that lot, i'll just wait for my statements stack, highlighter at the ready!

 

Old skool, but effective.

[angela1606]

can only claim for 6 years so you can only claim back as far as 2000 anyway

[adztec77]

Err, ah yeah. Hehe.

 

Maths is NOT my forte!

[adztec77]

So 7 days have passed since I sent my Subject Access Request and not a whisper from HSBC - is this normal?

 

The idea of checking statements online is starting to appeal.

 

I was expecting some kind of "thanks for your enquiry we are working on it" style message but nothing has arrived by post as of yet.

 

Oh well, I guess it's early days, they now have 33 days left to comply...

[angela1606]

they have 40 days to comply and yes it is v normal to not have something by now as there is so many claims going on at the moment there are some that havent even had them after the 40 days i got all mine from the online banking as if i had waited for the statements to come i would only just be starting my claim and i have just today issued my mcol and nearing the finishing line now why wait

[adztec77]

Yay I got a reply today, stating that they will start sending the statements etc in batches. I also got my £10 cheque back.

 

So the count begins. I started looking at statements online but it was so fiddly, almost deliberately fiddly, having to click through loads of pages and stuff so I quit. Gonna go through the paper version.

 

I'm patient!.........

[Mistermind]

HSBC sent my 72 monthly statements - twice, in 72 different envelopes each time, that's 144 firstclass stamps, plus their computer time and staff time, a cost to them well into three figures.

[adztec77]

They are crazy!

 

Must be making a fortune ripping off the good people of our country...

[adztec77]

Hi all!

 

Hurrah, my bank has started sending my statements, I got 17 envelopes today with the first 17 months in them. So far I am up to £1022.00 in charges. So I calculate that if I was stitched up and charged similarly for the other 5 years I will have a bumper payout in a few weeks time.

 

Its funny, when you go through the statements, you see a pattern, your bank will charge you a couple of days before your salary goes in DELIBERATELY so that they can charge you another months worth. It's really quite sickening and I am prepared to go all the way to get my money back.

[Jayney]

The online statements dont go back as far as August 1999 though do they?

 

I also cant be arsed to click through all that lot, i'll just wait for my statements stack, highlighter at the ready!

 

Old skool, but effective.

Hi, I was just wondering if HSBC sending a stack of statements was the normal procedure? Surely it must be simple for them to calculate how much they have charged me? Are they just trying to put me off claiming by sending me all these bits of paper??? Did everyone else get the same treatment?

 

Kind regards,

 

Jayne

[Mistermind]

I suspect their IT systems are already set up to send out back statements for any month in question, each monthly statement in a separate envelope. But because there has been no past demand for 72 months statements their IT systems have not been built to print off multiple months for the same account, to be inserted into one huge envelope.

 

All this hassle and expense will teach the opportunist shylocks not to sail close to the wind in future.

 

I read that after Which Magazine ran a campaign on reclaiming unlawful charges, 30,000 of their readers started action. I can only assume Which did not tip off their readers about this admirable site, so that as yet fewer than 2,000 claimants have reported success, 4 months after 5th April 2006.

 

I suggest the banks and cards are working on the psychological angle. They insinuate that victims of unlawful charges brought their misfortune upon themselves, i.e. for being poor, forgetful, impunctual, for dishonouring cheques etc. That such miscreants should not complain when punished. They also drive a wedge between those victimised by charges and those not victimised. So much guilt trip has been laid on the victims that many are a little embarassed to reclaim their own money. Embarassed, ashamed and apologetic that they got into trouble in the first place. Successful reclamation is trumpeted on this forum, but perhaps not in all social situations, not in front of total strangers, in case they sneer why were you so disorganised to get into trouble in the first place?

 

I suggest this is the reason why, out of possibly ten million cards and bank accounts eligible for charges refund, only thousands have claimed -- as yet. This psychological battle needs to be won, the bloodsuckers still have the upper hand -- as yet.

[adztec77]

Jayney, They WONT do that, they want you to work for it. Keep plugging!

 

Thanks Mistermind, I love to find out about the inner workings.

[adztec77]

Can anyone help?

 

I have had confirmation and the first batch of statements from HSBC for my claim but LloydsTSB are taking their time, its been 16 days since the original letter. Is there a subject access request FOLLOW UP letter I can use?

 

Or should I use this one that I wrote myself? I have searched high and low through the threads and have not found what I need.

 

Is this ok:

 

=========================

 

Further to my original request, sent to you on 7th August I am surprised that I have not received a receipt of my request and/or confirmation that my letter has been received, nor have I received the information I have asked for. The original letter was sent via First Class recorded delivery and I enclose a copy for your records.

I requested a full set of transactions and charges relating to my account – in short, a list of charges with dates and amounts – alternatively, a complete set of account statements would be acceptable. This should be easily retrievable from your accounting systems, and easy for you to produce. I will accept a computer print out of these transactions.

 

This letter has been sent by first class recorded delivery, and therefore should have reached you by 25th August 2006 – as you are aware, as of this date you have just 22 days in which to comply with my original request. As stated above, a complete set of account statements for the period in question will be acceptable; however, I expect this to be provided within the time period allotted for Data Protection Act compliance.

 

Should there be any further attempts to delay compliance, I will be left with no alternative but to escalate this matter into an official complaint to the Information Commissioner and/or the County Court under s.7 and/or s.13 DataProtection Act. If you have already sent the remainder of the information requested (covering 7 August 2000 to Date) then please disregard this letter.

 

 

=========================

[adztec77]

Well, well got my statements all back today from HSBC a grand total of 43 envelopes - the fools!

 

Totalled it all up so tomorrow I will be sending the first letter however I am a bit stuck on this whole interest stuff. So can anyone explain?

 

I am totalling up the interest and I get stuff like:

 

18/08/01

Interest

to 27Jul

 

£1.99 debit

 

So I track back to the 27 Jul and if my account is all overdrawn due to charges at this time I am adding it to the list.

 

If I am within my overdraft limit and there have been no charges I am missing these out.

 

Am I doing the right thing?

[gbzstro]

Get all the TOTAL CHARGES as well as SO or DD returns ..

[adztec77]

Yeah will do, its just this interest thing, I have having trouble figuring out which overdraft interest charges to factor in with the claim.

[Mistermind]

Interest accruing from overdraft (your borrowings) is legitimate interest not recclaimable.

 

Interest accruing from unlawful charges only ought in my view be reclaimable (at least I am trying to), for the same reason that the charges are reclaimed. Ignore the interest listed by the bank. Simiply take note of the unlawful charges levied each month, and in the following month multiply the previous month's unlawful charges by the monthly interest rate your bank used for debit interest at the time. Unlawful charges to date plus unlawful interest to date add up to form the unlawful balance carried forward.

 

The following month multiply the unlawful balance brought forward from last month by the monthly interest rate to derive the new interest this month, and so on. In other words, compound interest, interest growing from interest. Amazing how fast the pile grows.

 

Compound interest grows 3 times faster than simple interest.