My 6+ Year Claim Against HSBC

[Bovvered]

Of course not 0 but putting 1998 in brackets always seems to do that...I know it's the smiley code, and that I could separate the 8 from the bracket...but hey...you complaining? ( 8 8 )

heh heh, I knew that...

[j1mmyd]

For instance, up at the top of the unauthorised overdraft rate table are Yorkshire Bank at 31.37 per cent, Co-op at 32.92 per cent and Clydesdale with a whopping 33.51 per cent. Even the big names like to sting you if you forget to ask for that extra overdraft. Barclays charges 27.5 per cent, Lloyds TSB 29.8 per cent and Royal Bank of Scotland 29.84 per cent. Those are frighteningly chunky numbers The better unauthorised rates (if, indeed, they can be called “better”) come from HSBC at 14.8 per cent and NatWest at 17.81 per cent.

 

Best I can find

 

JD

[Spiceskull]

Hi Jimmy,

 

Thanks for that - I think, though, that your source has got the figure wrong for HSBC - 14.8% is the authorised rate, unless of course they apply the rate across the board. Still, it's a starting point...

[nickmack]

14.8% is the authorised rate, unless of course they apply the rate across the board. Still, it's a starting point...

 

I'm pretty sure, that 14.8% is for both authorised and unauthorised. You of course get the penalty charge 'overdraft review fee' if you go over the limit, so they still make their money. I'm sure a nice chap(ess) at HSBC will be able to let you know the definitive answer.

[Spiceskull]

Okey dokey - it seems that the consensus is that the rate applies to both authorised and unauthorised, so will make my calculations based on that figure...thanks guys.

[Spiceskull]

DPA request delivered this morning by recorded delivery - confirmed on Royal Mail Track and Trace...

[Spiceskull]

Very quick update: I was not intending to proceed with this claim until my parachute account had been opened. Clearly HSBC would see this claim as aggressively provocative, and would be likely to close my account.

 

However, proving my identity for openeing a new account is proving problematic. I appreciate the money laundering regs, but this is starting to become a joke.

 

Anyway, the update. Further to my DPA request, going back to 1982, this morning I received a response. As expected, they do not hold data going back further than six years. Furthermore, if they did, it would be held in a storage system not covered by the DPA. The same applies to my original contract.

 

Further guff about Ts&Cs, and how I have been updated periodically, but at the end of the day, the contract I signed with the bank is what counts. I have never signed updated Ts&Cs, and it cannot, therefore, be assumed that I agree with them, or even that I have received them...

 

Now the juicy bit, and this will be scanned for posterity:

Following a review of your account we have made a commercial decision to withdraw banking facilities. Blah...blah...clause 12.4 in our Ts&Cs. You have 30 days notice that we will be closing your current account...blah...blah. Despite not being willing to extend banking facilities beyond this date, we wish you well in your future endeavours.

Right...this is WAR!!!

 

They are not wriggling out of this, so I will be drafting a reply, and bringing forward my LBA. In a nutshell...

Notwithstanding your decision to close my account, and considering your response to my DPA request, I will be pursuing the bank for £K-VERYMANY in misappropriated funds that have been levied against my account...etc...

I am going to enjoy this so much...:mad::o:mad:

[overcharged_consumer]

Following a review of your account we have made a commercial decision to withdraw banking facilities. Blah...blah...clause 12.4 in our Ts&Cs. You have 30 days notice that we will be closing your current account...blah...blah. Despite not being willing to extend banking facilities beyond this date, we wish you well in your future endeavours.

 

Commercial Decision??? In orther words, they know you're not going to go away and they know that every time you incur a charge you are going to contest it. Therefore, not only are they NEVER going to make any money out of you, you are going to cost them each time a charge is applied because you are going to begin proceedings to recover the charge.

 

Commercial Decision - at least they're honest enough to say that although they clearly don't have the balls to admit what commercial reasons they are using. I'm expecting HSBC to close my account on the grounds of account misconduct. I will query why they have been happy enough for me to conduct my account in the way it is until now - could it be due to the fact that it's what makes them money? Yes, my account may not be conducted properly because I go overdrawn EVERY month (which will stop when I get my refund) but it also gets a substantial sum of money paid into it each month which is enough to cover the overdrawn amount several times over. Another thing - they seem happy to let me go overdrawn yet they won't allow me to have an authorised overdraft!? Hmmm, methinks they like making money out of me.

 

Good luck Mr Skull. For the stuff they have filed away that isn't covered by the DPA, can you not get a subject access request?

 

OC.

[overcharged_consumer]

LOL, one other thing - they wish you well with your future endeavours?! Your future endeavours are to get EVERY LAST PENNY back that they took from you. This is going to cause them serious headaches and possibly huge expense.

 

D'ya reckon they mean it?

 

OC

[bram stoker]

Fattie says just to put the boot in, go to First Direct to open your next account, being owned by HSBC... etc... lol.

[Spiceskull]

I did make a subject access request - the full letter states that they delete such information after six years. I now have this in writing, so I want to see how they can contest and disagree with my estimate...

 

Like you, they have made a fortune out of me, both legally and not so legally. But your analysis is right, I am now only likely to cost them money in the future.

 

With today's development, and with nothing at all to lose, I am going to push this claim to whatever court necessary to get either a full refund, or the bank's demonstration of their actual costs...

in this I can't lose...

[Movingon]

Good luck Mr Skull. For the stuff they have filed away that isn't covered by the DPA, can you not get a subject access request?

 

Not sure what you mean here; a Subject Access Request is a right provided under the Data Protection Act; so how does one get one for data which isn't covered by the act?

[Spiceskull]

Fattie says just to put the boot in, go to First Direct to open your next account, being owned by HSBC... etc... lol.

I might just do that out of spite...wonder how they will check my account history with other banks - after all, banks are not meant to share personal details...

[Spiceskull]

Notice: Any HSBC Staff Following This Thread, Having Made A Connection Between This User Name And My Account - I Fully Intend To Pursue Not Only My Claim, But Also All Available Options Through The DPA. I Consider The Closure Of My Account An Act Of Spite, And Assure You That Even Though The Account Is To Be Closed, My Claims Against The Bank Are Not...

[overcharged_consumer]

Watch out HSBC - Mr Skull is spitting blood!

 

TBH, I wouldn't say it's an act of spite though. I suspect it genuinely is a commercial decision. I'm not saying I agree with them, far from it, but it's important to remember that it's nothing personal. If you look at it as a personal vendetta against you then it could just end up cracking you up.

 

I'm watching your progress with much interest and fully expect to see you in the press in the not too distant future

 

OC.

[Spiceskull]

As part of my letter to the bank, requesting refund for charges back to 1982, I had considered asking for more details about this 'commercial decision.'

 

However, since discussing it with Vamp, I am now going to make a further 'full disclosure' request under the DPA, for ALL notes regarding this decision, as well as ALL notes regarding all decisions made since I started claiming.

 

In the first instance they cannot claim that nothing exists, and in the second instance, this is going to make VERY interesting reading...I look forward to seeing the notes about 'request denied' followed by 'full settlement made'...

[norvernrob]

Good luck SS. I am really looking forward to following this thread, I genuinely think they will pay you out a large sum of money rather than the alternative - go to court and prove their costs!

 

It is also for personal reasons that i'll be watching - I am waiting for DPA material from Yorkshire bank, they closed my account 5 years ago but i'll be going after them for every penny they ever charged me. (estimated of course)

[Spiceskull]

As I say, I was hoping to delay this until my parachute account was operational. However, they have forced my hand, so all that remains is for me to take control back again...I must confess to feeling nervous. Not for the amount, and certainly not for the fight...I just wanted a little more time to compose myself...still, I'm sure I'll manage...

[maverik1979]

go get em ss 8-)

[Spiceskull]

Update - being sent recorded delivery today:

Dear Sir/Madam

SORT CODE: XX XX XX

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXX

Further to your letter of 25th May, indicating HSBC’s decision to close my account, I am requesting a complete disclosure of all notes applied to my account since Jan 1st 2006.

Specifically, I require details and notes pertaining to the following:

• The ‘commercial decision’ to withdraw banking facilities from me, including the reasons, figures and decision makers involved
  
• The bank’s refusal to refund ‘penalty charges pending’ to my account on request, and the subsequent decisions leading to those charges being refunded, notwithstanding the bank’s assertion that the charges are fair, transparent and lawful
  
• The bank’s refusal to refund ‘penalty charges’ applied, since March 2000, to my account on request. After raising the matter in court, and notwithstanding the bank’s assertion that the charges are fair, transparent, lawful and would be defended in full, the subsequent decisions leading to those charges being refunded

Furthermore, I am making this request as a Subject Access Request, subject to the Data Protection Act (1998), and duly authorise you to debit the requisite £10 maximum allowable fee from my account.

May I remind you that you are obliged under the Data Protection Act (1998) to furnish me with this information within 40 days of receipt of the request. You therefore have 40 days in which to comply with this request.

Please also note, I intend to apply for a temporary injunction, to prevent my account from being closed on 26th June. Once I have received the above-mentioned notes and details, I will be in a position to decide whether or not to apply for a permanent injunction preventing account closure.

[neilloffhagen]

That letter looks good to me, but then I'm not lawyer

 

Been following your thread. Once my first claim with HSBC is over with will look at going back previous to the 6 years, as you have.

[Spiceskull]

The cool thing is I have 3 refunds behind me as a precedent, so any other refunds are purely academic...

 

Just got back from Whizz's hearing, so have not had a chance to follow up on the deliveries etc...I've a few hours catching up to do...

[gordonhall]

I've seen reference to injunctions on the closing of accounts on other threads, but has anyone actually applied for one yet? (And if so how far along have they gone).

[bram stoker]

I've seen reference to injunctions on the closing of accounts on other threads, but has anyone actually applied for one yet? (And if so how far along have they gone).

I don't think so. I think this is a fairly new issue we're dealing with. This site only started in January (correct me if I'm wrong, team), and all the time the banks throw new stalling tactics and ploys at us. They've never been up against such an amazing bunch of people, actually wanting to stand up to bullies before now.

 

Go on Spiceskull, you can do it. Go give them that injuction.

[norvernrob]

Great stuff SS, they seem determined to make things as difficult as possible for us, it's about time we did the same to them. I think they are now realising we aren't just going to lie down and let them shaft us anymore!

 

Keep at it!