Kashie V Barclays - what do I do now????

[kashie]

Hello,

 

Had this letter from Barclays this morning -

 

Bank Charges Complaint

 

We refer to your complaint relating to bank charges which was previously stayed under the terms of the Finacial Services Authority (FSA) Waiver. We consider your original complaint to have been about a level, and accordingly the fairness or lwafulness, of these charges. The Waiver has now lapsed and we are therefore writing to you to respond to your complaint as we indicated we would do when we made you a goodwill payment to assist you with your financial difficulties.

 

As you will be aware from when we last wrote to you about your original complaint, we (and several other banks) enterd into agreed legal proceedings witht Office of Fair Trading in relation to bank charges on 27 July 2007 in order to determine their legality.

 

Following the Supreme Court decision on 25 November 2009, there is now a final outcome for these legal proceedings which means that the bank charges you have complained about do not amount to penalties at common law and that their level cannot be assessed for fairness under the Unfair Terms Consumer Contract Regulations (UTCCRs). We do not believe that there is any legal basis on which the amount of the charges can be challenged and we are satisfied that the bank charges you seek to reclaim were properly charged. The final outcome of the legal proceedings confirms our position.

 

We are therefore not upholding your complaint and we will not be refunding the bank charges you have complained about.

 

If your complaint relates to an issue other than the level of charges or you wish to discuss this matter further, please do not hesitate to contact us on the number above. You may also find the following link to our website useful in answering any questions you may have www.barclays.co.uk.

 

Our aim is to resolve all complaints internally, although we recognise this may not always be possible. If we are unable to agree a way forward you may be able to ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to review your complaint and we will help you if you would like to do this. Before you decide whether or not to take your complaint to FOS, you may find it helpful to consider the information about this subject on their website FAQs complaints about bank charges.

 

If we do not hear from you within the next 8 weeks I will consider your complaint to be resolved and accordingly I will close our file.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Neil Henderson

Retail Banking Customer Relations Director

 

 

 

 

 

Ok so this is the letter -- what do I do now - I have no intention of letting this go yet as there is supposedly still hope of reclaiming.

 

Are there any template letter that I can use to reply???

And is there any hope of getting my money back.

 

I must add that I did get part settlement for financial difficulties back in May of this year.

 

Any help greatly appreciated - Thanks

[smutley]

I need to watch this thread as no doubt my letter is on its way to me and no doubt many of us will be in the same boat!

[kashie]

Yes, I read that template letters are not available until late January (MSE) and that will only leave 4 weeks for me to reply. Dont know what to do.

[Paul84]

I've also had exactly the same letter today and will be keeping an eye on your thread.

[slick132]

Hi Kashie (and others).

 

The Site is working on the best way to push bank charge claims forward and you should watch for Site announcements concerning this.

 

See here - The Consumer Forums - Announcements in Forum : Barclaycard

 

You need not respond just now to Barclays, but watch the 8 week deadline.

 

If you start to get too close to it and the new documents (POC, letters, etc) are not yet ready, then you can send the bank a simple holding letter confirming that, despite the OFT test case result, you consider the banks charges to be unfair and challengeable, and will write to them further shortly.

 

[crippla2k]

hi slick i cant seem to access the announcement, im in exactly the same situation, do you have another link to it?

[slick132]

The announcements have been removed as they are regularly updated.

 

See here for discussion about the consequences of the OFT test case ruling - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/oft-test-case-updates/139905-h-o-l-test.html

[kashie]

8 week deadline due up in a week - any further advice please??????

[slick132]

Hi Kashie,

 

I'm afraid the mass reclaiming of bank charges using site templates, etc is no longer viable.

 

See here for Bankfodder's comments on another thread - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/246382-new-template-claiming.html