One down - four to go ...

[brett48]

Congratulations to Halifax bank who are first past the post in my reclaim charges sweepstake!

 

At the letter 2 stage, a very nice man from customer relations offered me a partial settlement of £2500 which was met with a swift response of thanks but no thanks from myself. After a quick consultation with higher authorities, he was able to give me a little eXtra and came back with the full settlement of £4200. I have yet to see the colour of their cheque but have been assured that it is in the post.

 

That leaves Halifax credit card, MBNA, Lloyds TSB bank and Lloyds TSB credit card jostling for position to be the next runner home.

 

I am optimistic that Halifax credit card will soon follow with a positive result. This claim is still at the letter 1 stage but I think it is highly likely that the credit card guys will be singing from the same mangled 70s songsheet as their banking brothers.

 

MBNA looks promising too for maybe third place. Again, at letter 1 stage, I am encouraged by the fact that my son recently received a full settlement of £500 in a swift response to letter 2 with no questions asked.

 

So that leaves the dark horse duo of LLoyds TSB bank and Lloyds TSB credit card bringing up the rear at a canter.

The former is currently on Letter 3 and looks set to go to the wire, based on the experiences of similar claimants. The upside of course is that I will be able to whack on meaty interest charges to my charges claim of £2800 as the majority of the charges relate to five and six years ago.

The latter is still on letter 1 and I have a feeling that it will progress in the same manner as the bank charges with stubborn (and ultimately futile) resistance to the end. Perseverance is the watch word!

 

Some general points :

 

Both Halifax and Lloyds TSB bank accounts are closed. This does not seem to have affected the Halifax claim but Lloyds might take the view that as I am no longer a paid up customer, goodwill gestures may go out the window.

 

On Lloyds TSB bank and all of the credit cards, I am on a goodwill repayment plan arranged through a third party charity.

These arrangements have not been affected as yet but it is possible that in the future some of the companies could retaliate by terminating the arrangement and passing my account to a debt collection agency.

 

There has been a good deal of interest in the media recently over the reclaim of bank and credit card charges.

My view is that on the positive side, the banks and credit card companies may be more inclined to settle early when they are swamped with new claims without the required infrastructure in place deal with them all. On the negative side, the processing of existing claims could be subject to significant delays.

 

Another negative aspect, I recently noticed the first advertisement by a company offering to do the claim process for you with a lucrative cut of 25% of the settlement figure - let's hope this does not mirror the endowment claims scenario with unscrupulous companies jumping on the bandwagon for a fast buck.

 

And finally, let's hear it for my new bank, NatWest, who despite being given numerous opportunities to bounce direct debits etc and slap on associated charges, have so far resisted the temptation to do so.

Whether this reticence stems from the premium grade of my account where they hit me with a monthly fee for a host of dubious benefits I am never likely to take up, or they have wised up to the fact that I could claim the charges straight back, or maybe it is some computer malfunction.

Whatever the reason, it is a pleasant change from my previous banking experiences.

 

Watch this space for progress updates ......

[Josamolly]

well done you seem to have it all sorted. If you need any help at the later stages, especially court stage, just shout by posting in the relevent bank forum..

 

Jos

[brett48]

Thanks Jos, I'll bear your offer of help in mind if I hit a sticky patch - so far so good ...