A simple lesson in bank charges refunds when in hardship

[MARTIN3030]

A friend of mine was in despair following Santander not only charging him for a failed direct debit,but then continued to add further daily charges.

He informed me that he had called them and emailed them,explaining that the charges were punitive since his only income is Jobseekers allowance.

The fees stood at £55 and were rising.

He asked me if I could help,and duly wrote him a letter.

I was finding it hard to understand,how a bank like Santander,were openly flouting their obligations.

My friend had pleaded with them and explained his situation.

Santander of course could see from the account too-that he was in reciept of benefits since they were paid into this account.

No excuses then...lets get to work.

 

 

 

 

 

Account number xxxxxxxxxxx Sort Code xx xx xx

 

 

 

 

letter before action

 

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

 

I am very disappointed in your response to my complaints which were made to you today, and that you have chosen to ignore my request for hardship, I therefore have no alternative but to seek recourse through the county court system. I believe that Santander have treated me unfairly under the following BCOB rules of which Santander should be compliant with,since Santander is a firm regulated by the FSA.

 

Rule 5.1.1 R states “A firm must provide a service in relation to a retail banking service which is prompt, efficient and fair to a banking customer and which has regard to any communications or financial promotion made by the firm to the banking customer from time to time.”

 

Rule 5.1.4 G “Principle 6 requires a firm to pay due regard to the interests of its customers and to treat them fairly. In particular, a firm should deal fairly with a banking customer whom it has reason to believe is in financial difficulty.”

 

Santandar have been informed that I am in reciept of state benefits and that I need these to cover essential living costs including food and heat/lighting.

 

Santander have not at any point acknowledged that this is a hardship case despite me notifying you.You have levied charges of £55 in recent days,and have refused to refund these in your return call to me on 6th.June. For these grounds I feel that I have been treated unfairly.

 

In order for this claim to be settled without the need for court action I require that the full amount taken of £55 returned to me by way of a credit to my account.

 

 

If I have not received a satisfactory response within 14 days then court action will be commenced without further notice and further costs will be incurred.

A judgment for a breach of BCOBS is very serious and the FSA would be empowered to act.

 

 

Yours Faithfully

 

 

Mr V. Upset

 

 

 

 

Would the recipients of his email to Santander actually know what the letter was about ?

 

You bet they did!

 

 

He got a reply quite swiftly...in fact in the space of 30 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Message:

Good Afternoon Mr V. Upset Thank you for your email.

I am happy to reverse the amount of £55, which have been waived due to exceptional circumstances.

To ensure no further charges are incurred on your accounts, we would ask you to monitor your accounts throughout the month. This can be completed through Online Banking, Local Branch and Telephone Banking.

I hope this information is useful and if you have any other queries, please do not hesitate to contact me via Secure Messaging or my colleagues on 0845 9724724.

Kind Regards,

 

The nice man (who knows his BCOBs from his bankcharges)

 

Santander Customer Services

 

 

So the message to all those who believe they have been treated unfairly,is to give them a taste of their own famous words when they fob you off with sorry we cant refund the charges..... "This may not be the reply you wanted"

[jdes26]

Well done

 

I am in similar situation and sent a very familiar letter without the court threat on the 21st may recorded delivery

Heard nothing back so I will b sending a second letter back soon

Basically I'm off work and a severly bad SIATICA leg!

Not earning and as self employed no benefits

[MARTIN3030]

Ok,but remember,if you are going to send a LBA threatening Court action,you must be prepared to follow it through,and go the distance if needs be.

I am sure that the banks get letters before action daily in big numbers.

The proportion of those who DO follow things through,are very small,the banks know this,and so do we.

Just like we saw with bank charges claims between 2006 and 2008,there are some instances which it will probably take a claim to be filed and on the table before they take it seriously and pay up before any proceedings.

But it is unthinkable that any bank or credit card issuer,would contemplate defending in light of the consequences of losing a claim based on breaches under BCOBs

[jdes26]

To be honest

This has been kicking me in the teeth for far too long

I've had this account for 26 years there's 1000£

Worth of charges and over 10k in interest being off work is the final straw

I done an SAR and there's manuscripts and emails saying I'm a bad customer and basically telling me I'm out of my debt level with a 4k OD

I offered a FF of £1500 which was refused and I asked for a repayment plan which they won't reply too

Im just fed up with this debt and it's time to make a stand once and for all

When I did my SAR I asked for

1. All facility letters since account opened- never received

2. The origional agreement- never received

3. All statement from 1986- never recieved (2001 up to present received)

I want to sort this and I need CAG help

I'm prepared to fight just need guidance

[MARTIN3030]

Good.

Which bank is it ?

We have a good database showing what banks ARE capable of producing in terms of pre 6.

Maybe we can get something moving for you.

Was this / is this a business account ?

[jdes26]

Bank ---lloyds--- the worlds worst

Account- gold account--- they call it gold because they fleece you £12.95 a month just to have it

Age of account--- 26 years started the account in 1986

OD- £4000

Present balance £4077 with this months interest and £80 charges

Income At the moment £0

Do lloyds care- probably not!!!

[jdes26]

Do I care---- not anymore NO

[MARTIN3030]

Strange as the guy I was helping with the Santander charges,also had a claim with Lloyds,was an old credit card.

The SAR which was sent was very comprehensive indeed,but the dragged their feet only furnishing what they wanted.

A non compliance letter was sent and they had the cheek to ask for another tenner.

I helped the guy to file an application to the CC for Lloyds compliance and disclosure.They acknowledged the claim and even sent a defence,but once at allocation stage they caved in and sent everything.