Claiming on a Business account? Lets join forces?

[Celicaman]

Hi everone,

I currently run a couple of small busnesses which i am going to claim back charges, However it is an old limited company i want to ask about.

The company was run by my wife & i as a limited company, in 2002 we were in financial troubles ( i had been in hospital for operation) and decided to close the business as we had no money to pay the creditors etc and no work coming in to keep the factory & staff etc.

We approached our bank HSBC and told manager about this and our intention to start again ( fortunatley we didnt owe the bank much) just the 2 of us with a couple of staff and our small retail unit, the bank happily agreed to set up a new business account in our partnership names and closed the LTD company bank account, We effectivley ceased trading as a limited company but were never wound up or put into receivership as there was no equity to take out of the business to pay any creditors, and those debts were just left ( We did pay off some of them out of our pocket over next couple years so we could still trade with them ).

Can we claim back charges relating to the Ltd company, as a lot of the charges helped to take us into that position.

Any help would be appreciated

[Celicaman]

Thanks BJ,

its just that i thought i had read somewhere that you couldnt claim on closed LTD company accounts, maybe that was if they had been wound up or something

[Celicaman]

Hi Dorisfluffy. The banks tell you that you need a business account but that is because they can get away with charging more on a business account. If you have probs opening business account with another bank, you could use a personal account to send cheques. the banks dont like it ( they miss charging you business rate ) and eventually they may recommend you open a business account ( it will depend on how many cheques you send as to whether they get suspicious about it) as well as running personal account, even then you could always then change personal account to another bank until they do same.

One other thing you can do is to get the bank account details of the people you need to pay and pay cash/cheque straight into their bank account (usually free if done at the same bank) just means a trip out.

[Celicaman]

Hi Herbs, I think there is a slight difference in the wording of the business claim, but you can probably put it right by using the Business LBA letter for your second request to them. (anybody Like to confirm please)

If your original letter stated (as it should) that you give them 14 days to respond with a return of your money, Send them the LBA letter as soon as 14 days are up , regardless of what they say in their letter saying they are looking at it, it is your timeline NOT theirs, stick to your timelimits or else they will drag it out forever. When your time limit expires on the LBA, start the legal process at court

 

Dont forget to attach copy of charges claimed etc with each letter

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/64975-business-claims-basic-guide.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/486-sample-letter-your-bank.html

 

Have a read and dont be afraid to ask, even when you make a mistake, we have all done that

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Hi Largo, just so you know people are out there, we are, well i am anyway. No really sometimes it takes a while for peeps to get round to your post,

Have alook at

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/64975-business-claims-basic-guide.html

for info on business claims

Have you sent them a business preliminary claim template letter ( first letter asking 4 money back) from the templates library ?

ok Rethink here

Whatever you have done its time to start your own thread and on that list/copy exactly what you have sent to the bank (omit name address rank serial number etc )

go to

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=10

to start thread

fill i in the title ' Largo vs HSBC business' or whatever you want to call thread, this is your story line

in next box fill in what you have done to date, ie copy of letters you have sent and replies received, dont type whole thing from them, just state basically what they said unless somebody asks exactly what they said(most is pre printed crap sent to all & we know it says S*d off, you get nowt ) we know what they r saying.

This will let people see what you have done and advise accordingly.

I dont know scottish law, so no advice.

If you have worded correctly, this s*d off letter is basis to go straight to MCOL, but check first

You have only stated you have asked for money back, not how, i appreciate this is back to basics but we cant tell what you have done or how you have worded it, so start the thread and fill in all the bits, i know you will get the best help around

CM

[Celicaman]

Hi GC

Is the £513.87 the actual amount you are asking / claiming for, or is this what they think. If they have offered that without a fight, i would reckon they owe you a lot more, Banks are never generous , except when it comes to taking your money LOL.

All sounds a bit strange to me, if its right,take the money !

 

CM

[Celicaman]

GC, Sounds like just the charges from 2000, easy way to check what interest they have given, just copy & paste figures from 2000 into a new spreadsheet ( i use Mitzias spreadsheet).

 

Remember in your reply, no expletives and get stuffed you SOB does not constitute a suitable reply although would be more apt

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Im busy putting couple of business claims together, one going back to 1990 and the other 1996 and am going to go for the overdraft fees & compound interest as well. So will follow your thread,see how you get on although its different banks

 

CM

[Celicaman]

No not yet, xtill working on pre lim letter, been busy other stuff, will try to start tommorrow

Got personal one at court, but no date or anything at all from DG

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Hi DD, Compound interest is what the banks charge us, thats why it ends up costing us a fortune.

If you put a claim in for charges to the court, they will award a statute 8% flat IE £8 per £100 per year, so after 1 year you get £8 and 2 years £16 etc

Compound interest is at the banks rate and is charged daily and each day interest is added onto the balance and then charged again.

So ( see if i get this right ) you are £1000 overdrawn, the overdrawn interest rate is 18.3% pa. that equates to i think 1.41% per month so after 1 month it is £14.10 so add to £1000 now same interest on £1014 and so on, except they do it daily ( not doing it correctly the interest is £180 PA plus compounding)

As an example a claim for charges for £550 from 1996 with courts 8%, you get £390 ish back, total £940 if you go compound its worth £2500 all in, plus if you have all the figures,theres also the overdraft interest on the charges to claim back and then the compound interest interest on those which equates to about £188 interest and £500 plus with the compound interest so total claim becomes on the lines of £3250, so thats the basics of it.(based on my claim ) It does depend on how old the charges are of course, and also it does not mean a court will/ would award those charges, which is why on court claim you say you will accept 8% flat if court says so., however the aim is not to get to court, but to get the bank to pay back at the same rate they hammered you with in their settlement.without going to court and proving their charges. You have to understand it and be able to stand in front of a judge in the off chance he asks , it prob never get there BUT you need to know it, just in case. I wasnt going to try and was advised not to unless i put in the time to learn it, i did the calcs in Mitzias spreadsheet and when i saw the figures, found out it is worth spending the time to learn it.(see figs above LOL)

 

have a read of these, they are the ones to follow

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/lloydstsb-successes/26172-mindzai-lucid-lloyds-tsb.html

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/33005-bong-hsbc-contractual-interest.html

 

iF you have already asked for your charges back, you will have to send revised / amended claim to the bank ( see Bongs thread ) if you past MCOL stage , i dont think you could do it unless you file amendment with court, but that would knock claim back a while as you have to tell bank first

check the rest of the forums on CI , Read , Learn, prepare and dont be afraid to ask

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Anybody got ant T & C's for business accounts. Im Hoping My father in law may have some for about ten years ago, but he away on hols till after bank hol monday.

Ive seen that we are doing well on T & C's for persoanal but not business, i will start a thread for that now as well.

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Hi Karen, as Nevos says, you have plenty of time, up to 5 years to claim from now. Have a read up on Contratual interest, its amazing how a £1000 claim can be worth £3000 and more depending on how many years you can go back.

Try Using Mitzias spreadsheet to workout what the claim is worth at statute interest and it show CI as well, it also works out the interest on the charges, and then the CI interest you were charged on that.

I would then decide which way to go, i did same and got one heck of a shock. ( I Doubt if claims companies will go for CI anyway, they like the easy approach)

Cant advise on scottish claims, use the search box & type in scottish business claims or similar and see what threads come up.

Good luck on your pregnancy and if we dont hear from you for a while, we Know Why.

Dont be afraid to ask any questions ( not about pregnancy, although im sure a few would offer advise ) and take time to understand it all.

 

CM

[Celicaman]

I Suggest that you ring the court and ask them about this. Ask whether it would be appropriate for you to send directly a copy of your claim with the amendments and schedule of charges to the Solicitors

I don't see why not ?

It is not priviliged in any way, and they would be getting it all fromthe court soon anyway.

 

Lets us know what happens.

 

Best regards

 

Photo, I thought that you had to serve amendment papers on DG yourself, and that the court send them all back to you, not sent direct from the court, or am i thinking something else.

 

Seems like DG bully tactics anyway, telling DF only 7 days to reply when its the court that are behind>

 

i think you are right, ring court and tell them exactly what DG have said, and how you are worried, they will advise im Sure

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Just trying to remember is get stuffed one f or 2 f 's

 

CM

[Celicaman]

:-x Hi Celicaman seem to be following you about the site hows things?

 

It looks like its my last bugger off letter from them, I will file N1 on monday...GC

 

 

Hey GC, just watching & learning

Got a hearing date 11th July so hope its sorted

by then.

After that i think i will go for the same account going back to 1990 including recent 'charges' and go for CI and overdraft charges. Trying to decide if its worth trying to work the spreadsheet, so year 1 (1990) work on apr of say 30% + depending on what it was that year and then the next year at what ever it was and so on,

 

Anybody think that would would work.

Only fill in one years worth at the the chosen APR, then copy paste into spreadsheet, then keep doing it for each year. Its closer than just a base CI spreadsheet that works on one APR, after all in 1990, the mortgage rates wers something like 15% so what were the bank charge APR's

 

 

should make for an interesting end result, Lets see oh i reckon £25k lol, tell you what tell the bank to just cough up a straight 20K and we call it quits

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Hi,

 

where can I find the templates for the business letters as I started my claims against Lloyds and HSBC with the personal letters as I din't know they had to be done differently:confused:

 

Thanks

 

Lou

 

Hi Lou, try this

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/64975-business-claims-basic-guide.html

 

How far back are you going and are you going for CI on the claim

 

CM

[Celicaman]

I have spent all weekend reading this site and having completed prelim and lba stage I then went onto POC and filled out N1. Was going to issue at court this week but having read all these posts I have a couple of questions. I hadn't realized you could include contractual interest, we don't actually have an OD facility but could we still claim this and if so would I need to start process again?

 

Ermie

 

Hi & welcome to CAG

Firstly you can claim unlawful charges back. ( not including true services & charges for cheques, DD, SO & Credits)

2. You can try to claim the interest back that was charged on the charges.( only applies if you were always in OD, as if you were not, then they were not charging you interest on the charges, so how can you claim it back.

 

3. You can try to claim CI on the actual charges. (If you won in court you may/may not get this, but would be awarded Statute 8% interest by the court). It is worth reading up on as recent event (in the last week) on CI claim has put a hold on this cause of action being pursued. Advise read up on it before deciding.

 

4. You can try to claim CI on the overdraft interest charges. Again this does not apply if you were not OD all the time.

 

Hope that helps, i want to go CI as well but await further advice on CAG as to claiming it due to a recent case.

 

Celicaman

[Celicaman]

Bump, bump, it's time for me to file on MCOL for my husband's business but I do not know whether I put him down as an individual or an organisation. It's a Partnership - just him and me - so do I put this down as an organisation. It's not a limited company. Please could someone advise.

Thanks.

 

You put it down as an individual, The bank is an organisation.

Either put your name or his down, its no difference, you are partners

 

Celicaman

[Celicaman]

Hi, completely new to this forum. We are a limited company trying to claim back our charges. Does anyone know where i can get a step by step guide on how to claim back charges? These guides are everywhere for personal accounts and are so simple. Really appreciate any help or advice.

 

Hi and wewlcome to cag, all you need to know is available on here somewhere.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/64975-business-claims-basic-guide.html

 

Also click on the thread at the bottom of here, it takes you to the templates Library where you will find basic template letters for all you need

 

Celicaman

[Celicaman]

Ah slight mistake, it only comes up if post is a long worded post, try this

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/site-questions-suggestions/53182-cant-find-what-youre.html

 

Dont for get to bookmark pages so you can find them again

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Notice as well you have not started a thread of your own.

Heres the starter place where you can find the forums relating to your bank. When you find the correct forum for you, click on the start thread button and start your own thread. That way people in the same position as you and from the same bank can keep an eye on what you are doing and offer advice where needed, or asked for.

There are also thread started by others that may relate to parts of claiming that you can post questions on, but try to keep your progress of claim on your own thread so peeps can see what you have done so far and advise correctly

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

 

Best advice is to read as much as you can before you start, dont be afraid to ask questions, we were all beginners, not that long ago

Good luck

 

Celicaman

[Celicaman]

thx celicaman,

 

i have had a look through the pages that you recomended. the one thing i havent got is the statements for the account. i did try sending them the letter template for the personal account. they declined the info. is there a request for information form somewheere for limited companies. thanks for your help.

 

 

Ok

Q1. You are a business and you dont have the bank statements, can i ask how, as this is a legal requirement for tax purposes and have to keep all books for at least 6 years, so you should have them ?

 

Q2. Are you claiming back past 6 years?

 

Try this for asking for the charges summary/statements. THis is a subject access request, which they MUST comply with within 40 Days !

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html

 

Use that template.You will need to send that with a cheque for £10 as per data request ( you may get cheque back, not all cash it ).

 

Q3.Which bank are you claiming from. ?

 

Only drawback with statements is:

 

HSBC statements only show charges as a whole on the statement and can include lawfull charges as well as unlawfull ones. So with them you need the summary of charges sheet which gives a breakdown of the actual charges from which you pick the ones you can claim back.

 

Some statements show the charges for OD fee & charges as item, and to claim correctly you need to be able to claim back the right things, However i know of one claimant who has just had offer today for business claim that he had put claim in for all the charges on statement as the bank did not supply the breakdown. ( He only just got the breakdowns after much badgering) and before he could even amend his claim, they have offered him pretty much what the ammended amount would have been but not the original amount of claim (which was double), so it seems they picked out the charges he could claim & offered them back, with interest as it was at court stage. Good luck or good managenent, who knows ?

 

All banks are different, so best to do it correctly as other banks could have got same claim to court and asked for claim to be thrown out as it was incorrect.

 

Keep reading & Learning.

 

Not being funny above but to advise correctly, peeps need all the info.

Again thats why your own thread is required, put in all your info of how and what (without personal details ) its your story of your claim, and all in one place is easy to follow:

Also others who are new can also follow it and learn what happens.

 

CM

[Celicaman]

Hi photo man - Can u help please. I have aksed for monies to be returned to me from Nat west. I am a small sole trader and had a Nat west business account and I am claiming bank charges of nearly £1,000.It's been done using all the templates from this site. They've send me a letter saying it will be 6 to 8 weeks before they can deal with my request for the money. Is this still viable or are they putting me off an I can I now take it further onto the next stage.Thnaks any help appreciated

 

Hi whirlyturtle,

If you have used the sites business prelim and LBA letters for your claim, you have now given them 28 days in total.

The letter is a standard Fob off letter. Its your claim and you control the timelines.

The next letter you get will probably be offer of part payment of your claim, with the usual your not entitled to this but as a gesture of good will we will give you so much.

File your claim, you gave them long enough, and they only say no anyway so why wait. ( this way as well you get to include the stat interest as part of your settlement figure )

keep reading up and good luck

 

Dont forget to update your own thread as to what you have sent and received, that way your progress is all in one thread. Its easy reading then for peeps to read and advise.

 

Celicaman

[Celicaman]

Congratulations

 

Well done, another one in the bag

 

Enjoy

 

 

:) :)

Celicaman

[Celicaman]

Thankyou who ever it was that gave me a reputation point.

DS

 

Must have been something you said LOL