Ruth Goalby v HSBC

[RG001]

Actually, I have a couple of questions.

 

1. I have seperate charges for things such as card misuse, reversal of transaction etc, then I have a 'total charge' applied to my account too. Is this 'Total charge' a combined total of all the charges? I assume not, as the ' Total charge' is the same each month, whereas the 'other' charges vary.

 

2. When writing the letter, do you state the actual full amount of charges? ie I have ecrued 2909.50 in charges in the last 3.5 years (thats adding up 'total charges' and all 'other' charges). Will the bank work out how much should have been charged to me on my account, or will I have to work it out?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Ruth

[RG001]

Sorry, that last question doesn't make sense. What I meant to say was will the bank deduct what they are lawfully allowed to charge me, or do I have to work that out myself?

[storm]

Think the total charges may be for defaulting on their credit cards

 

They are certainly separate charges

[RG001]

Don't have a credit card, the card misuse charge is for using my switch/maestro card when I don't have the funds in my account.

 

Thanks anyway

[storm]

Are these charges in blocks of £18?

 

We were looking at these last night and thought they might be credit card charges although we were not sure

 

These are all from about 3 years ago when we were getting so many charges we lost track

[PAUL CARSON]

Hi Ruth,

 

The 'Total Charges' on your statement is in reference to the amount of Overdraft review fees (£25 each upto a max of £125 a month) which will be levied from your next statement. They are levied in addition to the card misuse and unpaid fees.

 

The bank is not legally entitled to claim the actual costs (if any) it incurred on the occasions it levied the charges, and it would not do so anyway.

 

I would advise you to start the ball rolling and write to the bank's head office customer complaints. There are template letters in the library, also here is a link to a copy of the letter I used to get my £700 back from HSBC if you want to use it: http://www.bankactiongroup.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1213

 

Good luck with your claim and I would advice you to pursue the full amount owed to you - start a court claim if you have to and dont settle for any partial offer they may make to you.

[RG001]

Thanks for your help everyone. With reference to the overdraft fees, are these not a set amount by the bank, who can charge what they like for providing that service? If so, I don't think I will be able to claim these back, will I?

[RG001]

Storm, no they are not in blocks of 18. They range from 27.50 initially, and are now 100 every month. (sorry about the lack of pound sign, it doesn't work in this computer)

[Spiceskull]

ALT+156 will give you the pound sign 8) It could prove useful when drafting all your letters... 8)

[RG001]

£ aha, so it does! I do have the pound sign on MS word, have to go through the symbol function.

[Spiceskull]

ALT+156 so much easier - and believe me, you will need to use it frequently.

 

But the obvious question is why your £ sign doesn't work. My first port of call would be:

 

Start Menu

Settings

Control Panel

Regional & Language Options

Set to English(UK)

 

This does depend on your version of Windows and that this is, indeed, the problem. Let me know how you get on.

[PAUL CARSON]

The overdraft review fees are incorproated into the T&C's as being payable in respect of the contract being breached. The law regarding penalties would therefore apply to them. If the bank claims it was providing you with a further service when you exceeded your overdraft limit, then it cannot establish any entitlement to the charges it levied.

 

Charges for providing further credit under an exisiting credit agreement could only be levied if they were incorporated into the overdraft agreement (in writing) prior to the agreement being concluded. This is the requirement of the OFT in its determination promulgated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and is the law regarding the proper execution of overdraft agreements. The overdraft review, card misuse and unpaid fees were all incorporated into the agreement as being payable in respect of the contract being breached and, not varied.

 

All this is not really not relevant as all you need to do is send off you letter claiming back ALL the charges and to start a court claim if this becomes neccessary.

 

Good luck in getting your money back.

[RG001]

I have recently applied to look at my credit file. I haven't received it yet, but I strongly suspect I have default notices on there from other agencies that I hadn't been able to keep up the payments to. My question is can I apply to have these removed? HSBC have taken over 3K in charges from me, had they not taken those charges I would have been able to keep up my payments. Where do I stand on this?

Just to clarify, I suspect I have notices on there from HSBC, but also ones not applied by HSBC, but by others (for example I couldn't pay my car insurance a few months ago, a default notice was issued.)

 

Hope this is clear!!

[Spiceskull]

Whilst you should be able to get defaults lodged by HSBC removed, they will probably argue that they are not responsible for notices applied by third parties. To get these others removed you will have to apply to the organisations concerned, and if you can prove that your arrears were caused by HSBC's penalties they MAY be sympathetic...but more than likely they won't be.

[RG001]

Thanks Phoenix, I thought as much!

[Spiceskull]

Good luck though...

[RG001]

Thanks. I am really feeling bogged down by it all now, I've got three other credit cards to get sorted to, just feels like too much.

[RG001]

ALso, why is it so important to know about manual interventions on the account?

[Kazzy77]

I think its because if it ever goes to court....they could say that had to do lots of intervention on your account, therefore making their charges more justified.

 

What u need id ur file that shows all these charges wer automated and therefore did not cost them the stupid amounts they claim.

 

Anyone better informed could answer more confidently but Im pretty sure thats at least part of the reason

 

its best to be prepared.

 

good luck!

 

xx

[RG001]

Thanks Kazzy! I did mention it in my first letter to them, but they didn't confirm whether they did or didn't.

 

It just frazzles my brain :0(

[Kazzy77]

also, its only really going to take a matter of weeks to claim and once u get ur money back...u will feel anything BUT bogged down. You'll be thrilled at the prospect of getting charges back from other accounts so please dont be put off.

 

stick to your guns...its YOUR money and its not gonna be long before u are clutching a cheque from the people who stole it.

[Spiceskull]

What u need id ur file that shows all these charges wer automated and therefore did not cost them the stupid amounts they claim.

That's about right - in asking for evidence of manual intervention you are really asking them to state, by omission, that the whole charging process is an automated one...

[RG001]

Thanks both! I've since emailed HSBC about any manual intervention, but they've only acknowledged my email, but not got back to me yet.

 

Thanks

[RG001]

Also, have there ever been any cases where it has been proved that there was a lot of manual intervention on their account, and thus they have not been able to reclaim the charges?

[RG001]

Another question, sorry!

 

Im getting my MCOL ready to submit. In the particulars of the claim what should I put. I'm sorry its a really thick question, but I have a really nasty habit of these things turning round and biting me on the bum ;0)