Eades Vs HSBC

[aceades]

Hi Everyone,

So glad to have found this site via another great site (MoneySavingExpert) have always though these charges to be so unfair, so after finding the site yesterday I had a marathon read and sent my information request for bank account charges to the data commissioner and request for credit card statements off this morning.

I am 25 and have been with HSBC since I was a kid, I have also had a credit card since 2003, and I have always struggled with money living on my own private renting and only earning a small wage so I am a prime candidate for HSBC to rip off. Occasionally I have spent time on the phone and pleaded with them to let me off charges which often made my life very hard, £30 can buy a lot of food!

I think I have been charged an average of once a month and know that on more than one occasion I received the full £125 charge so I am hoping to get this money back - if I do get it first thing I will do if I can is get rid of my account and credit card with HSBC and leave them, that would make me happy!

Anyway lets see how it goes I will keep you all posted, as soon as I get my charge data my letter will be in the post next day - just hope it doesn't take 40 days, oh what it will be like to be able to pay bills on time.

This site is the best news all year, thanks again guys!

[me_n_my_kids]

good luck and welcome to the site! ive not been here long, sent my prelim letter a few days ago. cant wait to be rid of hsbc!!

[aceades]

Just been having a further read and its seems it may be possible to claim for charges before 6 years ago, i'm quite sure that i have been paying charges for at least 7 years if not longer.

 

Can i get the further charges refunded too , can anyone advise me ?

 

Cheers !

[boXXer]

good luck mate. I think if you want to claim over 6 years, you have to do a seperate claim of the money. not too sur ethough.

[deev]

Welcome to the site & good luck! I found this site very helpful indeed - the whole process for me from start to finish was exactly one month so it's well worth the effort! Like you I have been with HSBC since I was a kid, but have decided to stay with them because I figured that if they ever do charge me illegally again I am more likely to get it back because they know that I mean business......but I would say that it's worth getting a bank account set up in the interim just in case things go pear shaped with HSBC.

 

 

Prelim letter sent 04/09/06 (ignored)

LBA sent 19/09/06 (90% offered - declined to accept offer)

FULL payment of £730.50 accepted 04/10/06 !!!!

[aceades]

Request on its way i am a bit nervous but thinking of lots of questions, first thing is that i have had a credit card with HSBC for about 4 years aswell and again have suffered many charges, i notice all or most of the claims on here are for current accounts is the procedure any different for credit cards ?

 

Cheers Guys

[aceades]

Hi, here is my next update

 

I recieved yesterday a letter and a envelope the letter was the nicest letter i have ever had form a bank, saying thank you for requesting data and like others they returned my cheque for £10 saying 'they are hapy to cover the costs' and proving it doesn't cost them much to manually re-print and send out 6 years statements, let alone an automated letter.

 

Anyway what had arrived in the large envelope was 4 of the six years statements (as described in the letter) with 2 more to follow, I went through the statements and counted the charges which totalled £1181 which is either good or bad depending on how you look at it but i had a smile on my face (especially as i am about to move from temp to perm at my job which would have left me without a paypacket for 8 weeks, which in turn spanned chritmas and my girlfriends birthday).

 

I will now wait for the final 2 years statements and get my letter and spreadsheet sent off asap, all is looking good and i hav'nt even got round to calculating interest yet.

 

Will let you all know how it goes:grin:

 

One final thing though, i requested my bank account statements via the 'Data Request' but i got my credit card statements by just phoning up the card line and asking fr them to be sent, they were sent quickly but were all photocopies that were almost illegible and what really confused me is that the dates were not in order and i could not find any charges and what statements had been provided(even though i never paid on time, always went over the limit and remember being charged, do you think i should do the 'data request' for that information as well ? perhaps it will be more complete / accurate

 

anyway, cheers again CAG

 

cant wait until i need to post here again wit the next stage!

[aceades]

Hi, i have now received all of my 6 years stements and added the charges totalling £1593 with automatically calculated interest of £320.46 to the simple spreadsheet and i am ready to send of my prelim, however i am confused as the spreadsheet has the interest column on (titled 8%) and the prelim letter is worded to include interest

 

'I calculate that you have taken £1,593 plus £320.46 which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £1,913.46 . '

Though underneath the letter in the templates library it says DO NOT INCLUDE THE 8%.

Can someone clarify, do i need to take the interest statement out of th prelim ? if so why is it there if you dont specify interest at this stage.

Can anyone clarify this for me ? Also i did at one point find a thorough step by step guide (the oone with the contents menu down the right hand side).

I would appreciate if someone could advise me asap so i can get this claim in and get my money asap, i need it so badly right now

[Guest bong]

Hello eades, the letter is designed to include overdraft interest on the penalty charges at this stage. For that you would need to use the advanced spreadsheet. If you're not claiming any then delete that wording from the letter.

 

The 8% interest is county court interest and you calculate that when you're filing your claim at court.

 

is this what you were looking for http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/38807-newcomer-heres-user-guide.html#post304769 ?

[aceades]

Thanks for the rapid responce Bong , should i be claiming overdraft interest on my penalty charges ?

 

i would sure like too, is there anything stopping me doing this ?

 

i just have to fill on the advanced spreadsheet right ? do i need any more info to do that ?

 

Cheers

[Guest bong]

should i be claiming overdraft interest on my penalty charges ?

 

yes I would, but some can't be bothered to do the extra spreadsheet work

 

i would sure like too, is there anything stopping me doing this ?

 

no

 

i just have to fill on the advanced spreadsheet right ? do i need any more info to do that ?

 

only your statements

[aceades]

Cool, i have added the data to the advanced spreadsheet but need to fill in th esecond half , (interest rates / dates of interest charges etc) is there a guide on doing this accurately as it is a little confusing.

 

How do i know what the interest rate was at that time ?

 

Is the 'Interest Free Overdraft' column optional ?- as my OD was not interest free

 

The rest i think i can manage just means an extra day, does this mean that i may be able to claim the 'interest on penalty charges' and the 8% aswell , can you tell me what the difference between these to interest charges is ?

 

Thanks for all your help Bong !

[Guest bong]

you don't need to know the interest rates - not for the advanced excel s/s anyway.

 

if you had no interest free o/d then leave this column blank

 

the difference between them is that this is the overdraft interest that you wouldn't have been charged if the penalties hadn't been applied. It's your claim.

 

When you begin your court claim the county courts act says you can claim interest on your claim at 8% p.a.

[aceades]

Just to confirm the interest chrges that i include on the spreadsheet are the debits (DR) from my account marked on my stements, the date been the date they were applied to my account, and the balance once the interest has been applied.

 

Say for example i had debit interest of £13.50 debited on 26 April 2002 leaving the balance of my account £865 Overdrawn

 

I would then enter £13.50 in the first column 26/04/02 in the second and -£865 in the third.

 

If so i think i have got it

[aceades]

And one final query, how can i make an accurate estimate of charges previous to 6 years and am i likely to get these back ?

 

Does this complicate things ?

[Guest bong]

Just to confirm the interest chrges that i include on the spreadsheet are the debits (DR) from my account marked on my stements, the date been the date they were applied to my account, and the balance once the interest has been applied.

 

Say for example i had debit interest of £13.50 debited on 26 April 2002 leaving the balance of my account £865 Overdrawn

 

I would then enter £13.50 in the first column 26/04/02 in the second and -£865 in the third.

 

If so i think i have got it

 

yes except I think the date goes in the first column, then the interest amount then the account balance.

[Guest bong]

And one final query, how can i make an accurate estimate of charges previous to 6 years and am i likely to get these back ?

 

Does this complicate things ?

 

what that estimated figure does is it allows you to get back a larger proportion of the overdraft interest than you would otherwise, because its saying that more of the overdraft happened as a result of charges.

 

What it doesn't do is add the estimated charges into the total of charges you are claiming back.

 

If you have older statements total up the charges on them and use that as your estimate of previous charges figure

 

And lastly if you want to claim back more than 6 years worth of charges you have quite a bit of reading to do because it will not be a straightforward claim and there are legal arguments against it. Some people are going for it but I don't know if anyone's been successful yet.

[aceades]

Thanks so much Bong, very glad i got that sorted - it will be in the post very soon ! !

[Guest bong]

good luck

[aceades]

HI,

 

I have just completed my spreadsheet (complex version) and i am unsure if it is correct as lots of the entries in the 'interest charged' column come out the same in the 'interest on penalties' column. Would anyone be able to tell me if this is normal ?

 

 

Obviously i want to get it correct first time i send it off, can you help me ?

 

Also as always i am due more charges which HSBC has alerted me to on my internet banking account, can i add these after they have happened or do i need to include all with my first letter ?

 

Cheers

[Guest bong]

The spreadsheet looks fine. It lists the full amount of the interest where the overdraft balance was equal to or less than the penalty charges. So for example in line 2, as at 14/2/05, your penalty charges cumulative total should be higher than £879.68.

 

Don't include charges which haven't been debited yet. It's fine to add them in later after they have been charged.

[aceades]

Cheers again, Bong ! - Can anyone confirm where the prelim should be sent ? Is it

 

Data Controller

HSBC BANK PLC

8 CANADA SQUARE

LONDON

E14 5HQ

As I sent the DAR ?

Thanks !

[Guest bong]

I used the Leeds address. try the HSBC contact info thread if you're not sure.

[aceades]

I've seen other sending to Ian Shepard @ a Coventry address, and in the contact thread it has David Lewis The Head Of Customer Relations.

 

And you used a Leeds addy, which i have never seen

 

Thsi is confusing I'm not sure who to send it to ?? I would guess head office is the best, you dont agree ?

[Guest bong]

Colin Langdale

HSBC Bank plc

Service Quality Team

Arlington Business Centre

Millshaw park Lane

Leeds LS11 0PP

 

Its in the contact info thread. I think if you wrote to the reg office it would get passed to Leeds anyway.