Sarah v HSBC Bank - ***SETTLED***

[Sarahlou1973]

Hi, I'm just about to start making my claim against HSBC. Initial estimates are that I am owed around 1200 pounds plus interest. Whilst I am shocked that this amount has been taken off me over the years , it is also good to know that I can get it back .

 

I've set up a new bank account, and as soon as it is up and running, I'll be sending my preliminary letter to the bank, along with my summary of charges. Can someone please confirm that I don't include the 8% interest at this stage? I know that it's unlikely that the bank will pay up after the forst letter, but if they do, will I have lost this interest??

 

Any useful hints on how to deal with the Highly Suspicious Bank Charges would be much appreciated!! Has anyone actually got as far as going to court??

 

Am looking forward to this - BRING IT ON!!!

 

Sarah

[Spiceskull]

As you are making a preliminary request for repayment you do NOT include the s.69 8% interest at this point. That happens when you raise your claim in the courts.

 

However, if you are feeling brave, you can claim the contractual rate of interest on the money that should have been available to you, but wasn't because the bank took it as a penalty instead...if you wish to try this approach then you DO need to include it in your initial request.

 

Whichever path you choose, you need to send a particularised schedule of the charges with your letter, which in simple terms is a printout of the spreadsheet, indicating the charges you are claiming, when they were taken and what they were for...

[Sarahlou1973]

Thanks for the response. I have just filled in the spreadsheet for the schedule of charges to include the interest on the penalties, which has lead me to another question....if I was not charged penalties in a particular month, do I still include the interest I was charged in that month? Common sense tells me 'no', but I don't want to lose out on something that I am entitled to....

 

Thanks for your support and for a great website!

 

Sarah

[Spiceskull]

That is a tough one, and one for which there is no hard and fast answer.

 

In simple terms, if you had no penalty charges in a given monthly cycle, but were charged interest, then this interest is completely down to the state of any overdraft you may have. Technically speaking the bank is entitled to charge this interest, as it is interest on money you have 'borrowed.'

 

Now here is the argument: supposing that in 2004 you had a £500 overdraft, and no penalty charges. By all reasonable accounts the bank is entitled to charge you interest on this 'borrowed' money.

 

Now consider that in 2001, 2002 and 2003 the bank applied unlawful penalty charges of £250 a year. This means that in 2004 you would actually be in credit by £250, and therefore the bank should not be charging you interest at all, as you have not 'borrowed' any money at all.

 

As most claims are for periods up to six years it is safe to assume that 'older' accounts will have a 'carry-through borrowing liability' from previously applied unlawful penalty charges, and that therefore there is no tangible legitimate overdraft to have interest charged against.

 

The logic of the argument is far stronger than the actual figures involved, and you need to consider how much of your overdraft is due to the cumulative effect of unlawful penalty charges over the years.

 

If you feel that you have had charges applied and carried through for many years you could just claim all the interest that appears on your statements. If your account is 'young,' then it would be more prudent to make a pro-rata estimate of which part of the interest is legitimate, and then only claim for the remainder of the interest charged.

 

Hope that all makes sense...

[Sarahlou1973]

Thanks for that. It does make sense when you think about it logically. I think I'll go back through my statements and work out whether the charges paid previously have resulted in me still being overdrawn, and to what extent, and weigh this up against the interest paid. It might not be worth it if it's only a few pounds...Bearing in mind that my current overdraft is almost the same as the amount I have paid in charges and will be claiming back, it could be argued that I wouldn't be overdrawn today if I hadn't been charged previously....

[Spiceskull]

Bearing in mind that my current overdraft is almost the same as the amount I have paid in charges and will be claiming back, it could be argued that I wouldn't be overdrawn today if I hadn't been charged previously....

That's the spirit...

[Sarahlou1973]

Thanks!! Good to know there are people on my side

 

Just one other question, the charegesd are listed on my statements as 'total charges' and are not broken down or itemised...does this matter

 

Thanks

 

Sarah

[Spiceskull]

You need to be a little bit careful. Usually with HSBC you get a 'total charges' entry, and this is different to any other charges listed on the account. For example, you may have five charges of £25 in any one month, or a single total charge of £125, but very rarely both.

 

Just make sure you keep an eye on your statements, and anything that is glaringly obvious, when filling in the spreadsheet, but from my own experience you should enter every charge that appears.

[Sarahlou1973]

Thanks again for your quick resonse!! There is only one charge showing up on the statements, so this is what I have added...

 

Sarah

[Sarahlou1973]

Have today sent my Preliminary letter to my HSBC branch manager by recorded delivery. Included with this was my Schedule of charges & interest amounting to £1571 in charges plus £110.40 overdraft interest...

 

I'll give them a day or two to get the letter and send letter number two on the 27th September 2006 if I have not had a satisfactory response

 

I'll keep you posted with any developments as and when they happen!

 

Sarah x

[Spiceskull]

Good luck...

[espire]

Hi all

 

HSBC had sent me statements covering the period of SIX years, of which I made a claim for bank charges.

I've sent the step 1. letter wait 40days, then I sent the step 2.letter. waited 14days, I've also sent the letter before action and waited a further 14days.

 

I've not heard a thing from them, is this normal..? how do I know they've received the letters, as I'm about to move on with step 3. Moneyclaim Court System.

 

Mark

 

I'm about to

[Spiceskull]

Issue your claim. They are not obliged to acknowledge your letters, but they will soon respond to a claim from the courts...good luck.

 

Also, could you keep all queries about your claim in your own thread. That will enable people to find your questions, and provide help and advice, a lot easier...

[Sarahlou1973]

I'm still waiting for a response from the HSBC in relation to my preliminary letter. 14 days from the date of receipt will be up on Tuesday 26th, so watch this space!!

 

Sarah

[Sarahlou1973]

Well, not surprisingly, I had no response to my prelim letter, so have sent my LBA recorded delivery today. Let's see if this wakes them up .

 

I am also due to pay another £100 in charges on the 4th October - if I am not mistaken, I can add this to the court claim if it gets to that stage. Would someone be kind enough to confirm this, please? What about if ( and this is a very big 'if') they do settle the full amount in the next 14 days .

 

Thanks for reading my thread.

 

Sarah

[Guest bong]

Hi Sarahlou, you can add the extra £100 charges into your claim.

 

If they settle the full amount in next 14 days then just write and ask them to do the same with the £100 and any future charges for that matter!

[Sarahlou1973]

Thanks Bong!!

[Sarahlou1973]

Hi All,

 

I'm now getting worried. It is nearly 14 days (time will be up on Thursday 12th) since I sent my LBA to the HSBC and I have not heard a peep from them. I sent both my letters to the branch manager and am assuming that these would have been passed on to the relevant person/department if this is incorrect, but I have not even had an acknowledgement... I know both letters were received as the Royal Mail track & trace told me so.... are they ignoring me and hoping I will go away, or are they waiting until I put the claim in before making an offer?:-|

 

I don't want to go to court, but obviously I will if I have to...

 

Any information regarding previous experiences gratefully received!!

 

Thanks Sarah x

[espire]

Hi All, Espire here!

I've a question for you: At what time do I find out what the court date is, as the Courts have issued me with a claim number, D&G have also responded to me asking for more details about the amount, how shall I respond to this. If I have to go to court, what do I take along as ammo, were can I locate any legal 'blurb' should I need.

[Guest bong]

sarahlou I think they are probably waiting for you to put your court claim in because they get a lot of people threatening to take court action who do not follow through. It's good news in one respect though - atleast you get the chance to add 8% interest to your claim!

 

espire you need to start your own thread, you've asked a lot of questions here and if we post answers here it will make following sarahlou's thread difficult. At the top of the HSBC forum click on the box marked New Thread.

[Sarahlou1973]

Hi Bong,

 

Thanks for that. I thought that would probably be the case. I'll get the claim prepared and ready to send at the end of the week.

 

Sarah x

[Sexy_Em]

good luck!

[Sarahlou1973]

Hi all,

 

Today's the day I start preparing my claim, but I have a couple of questions, that I would be very grateful to get some feedback on....

1. Which is the best method to make the claim - MCOL or to the court directly?
   
2. If I use MCOL, will my costs (£120) be refunded if (when!!) I win?
   
3. I understand that I would not have to pay if I went directly through the County Court - is this correct?
   
4. How do I find out where my local court is?

Sorry, I know that's more than a couple of questions, and I'm sure they have already been asked 100s of times, but I want to make sure I do everything right...

 

I look forward to reading some of your input - thanks in advance for your help

 

 

Sarahx

[Guest bong]

Hi again!

 

The main difference between going to your local court and using MCOL is that with the n1 form you get a lot more space to set out the details of your claim and you can supply documents in support of it at the time of lodging it, whereas with MCOL you get a really limited amount of space to enter the claim details and can't attach your docs. These can be supplied by post afterwards though to the court and the defendant. With MCOL you need to be able to pay the court fee with a debit or credit card.

 

MCOL costs are treated exactly the same as the other method and you get them back if (when) you win.

 

You may be eligible for exemption from court fees according to your circumstances but if you are, you can't use MCOL.

 

To find your local court have a look on the courts website or in your local area phone book.

[Guest bong]

for a list of courts look here Her Majesty's Courts Service - Home