rbos and terrified

[royalinfirmarynurse]

Hi and thanks for reading. i applied for my old statements, got charged the £10 and received them.

i added up my charges from my 2 accounts and they came to over £5000.

send the branch a registered post letter asking for them back.

received a letter back

"Dear blah blah,

thank you for your letter of 01 march 2006. and i apologise for any dissatisfaction or upset caused by the application of charges to your account.

We believe that our charges are fair and reasonable and transparent. we consider that the amounts debited to yor account have been applid strictly in accordance with your agreement with us. we are also committed to ensuring the transparency of the information that we give our customers about the operation of our products.

however, if you disagree, please let us know the dates and amounts of any items that you dispute. we will be pleased to re investigate

unless we hear from you in this regard, the charges debited to your account must stand. whilst i am sure that this is not the answer you might have hoped to receive, nonetheless i am grateful to you for bringing this to our notice,

yours sincerley

branch manager"

 

ok so now im really confused. i have read and reread all the faq's and i read that in scotland i can only claim back £750.00???? can somebody please advise me on where i stand and what i do now

thanks

[Bookworm]

 

I'm not hot on the whole Scottish claims thing, but I'm sure someone will be along who is.

 

While you're waiting, you might try a search for "scotland", see what's coming up, I know it has been discussed before.

[rozramsay]

The general advice that seems to be going around re the scottish claims is that you sperate it in to several claims under £750, but do one after the other (Never at the same time otherwise they may want to condense the claims, in which case you may be liable for their court costs etc.). For instance you could claim back for say just a six month period or a year. Once you get it back put in another claim for say £700. and carry on until they get the picture and pay it all back or until you get it all back by claiming.

[royalinfirmarynurse]

many thanks i'm off to send another letter

regards

[royalinfirmarynurse]

an update!!!!

i sent my other letter and got this reply

"thank you for your letter addressed to the manager of your branch, about the application of charges to your account. i have been asked to reply as i am responsible for customer service throughout the RBOS. the manager of your branch supplied me with the background details of your complaint and copies of your previous correspondence, and ther does seem to be little more that i can add to what has already been said.

we believe that our charges are fair, reasonable and transparent. we consider that the amounts debited to your account have been applied strictly in accordance with your agreement with us and our published tariff, which we are satisfied complies with all applicible laws and regulations. we are also committed to ensuring the transparency of the information that we give to our customers aboutr the operation of our products.

against that background, the bank must differ with the views expressed in your letter and, therefore the charges that have been applied to your account must stand.

i think that it is apporopriate that i tell you that this is the bank's final response to you on this matter. you may now wish to seed the opinion of the FOS and the enclosed leaflet which is produced by the FOS tells you more about the scheme and how to contact them. you should write to the FOS and should provide them with a copy of this letter within six months that you receive it. you should also send copies of any documentation that you feel supports your case"

 

What Now????

regards

[Falkirk1298]

Now you reply to them something along the lines of:

 

"Dear Customer Services Manager for the Whole of RBS,

 

I refer to your recent letter.

 

I am saddened that you feel this will be the bank's last word on the matter and, since you are not inclined to discuss it any further, you leave me no option but lodge a Small Claims action against the bank in respect of these charges:

 

[Pick a couple of hunded pounds worth of recent ones]

 

deducted from my account over the following dates:

 

[stick in the dates]

 

at Auchenshoogle Sherrif Court.

 

Please be aware that it is my intention to recover every last penny of unlawful charges levied on this account over the last 5 years. Further, since you claim your charges are transparent, I will insist the bank details to the court exactly how it's charges are calculated in order to qualify as liquidated damages rather than the penalty charges I beleive them to be.

 

Finally, I am happy to acknowledge that the charges are as detailed in your Terms and Conditions, but you may not overlook the fact that these Terms and Conditions are in turn bound by Scottish Civil Law.

 

I remain,

 

Yours etc"

 

BUT: You have to be prepared to take the court action, don't make idle threats.

[malkyson]

You could also check out Govan Law Centre

http://www.govanlc.com/

and follow the links at the bottom of the page for "bank charges". They have put up a series of template letters as well. Looks like "Step 2 - Refused a refund?" would be just the kind of format you're looking for.

 

Best of luck and keep the faith.

[thegoodsamaritan]

 

Please be aware that it is my intention to recover every last penny of unlawful charges levied on this account over the last 5 years.

 

I wouldn't mention this as the bank may use this as an excuse to try and accumulate all your charges into one claim, meaning you can't go thru the small claims court.

 

Otherwise go for it!

[royalinfirmarynurse]

Well the RBS have done it this time they have replied to all my letters enclosing a leaflet from the FOS i have filled in my sheriff court thing and im off to hand it in tomorrow hopefully this will be the best £39 i spent this week i will keep you all posted of any developments. and special thanks to scotia for all the help and support

regards

[royalinfirmarynurse]

hiya all i have had my papers in the car for the sherrif court for over a week now im just so scared of handing them in etc. i have a fairly large loan with rbos and a huge overdraft i am terrifed that they will call these in if my case goes to court.HELP PLEASE

[Mairi]

Hi there,

It's taken me a couple of weeks to even fill out my court papers as i'm worried I'm doing it all wrong. Ive read so much on 3 or 4 different sites that my head is exploding.

In your case as far as I,ve read they are not allowed to close your account without 1 mths notice, and even at that there is a chance that it's against the banking code for them to do this.

Phone the financial ombudsman to confirm if no one else in the know answers you.

Wish you loads of luck WHEN you hand in your claim.

Mairi

[Robertxc]

Hello royalinfirmarynurse,

 

I can understand that you're nervous about taking the last step and commiting yourself. You may be concerned that they'll summarily close your account and demand all their cash back. There is some debater about whether or not they're actually allowed to do this, with most of the Moderators and Administrators taking the view that they can't. In any case, there are very few, if any, cases where the bank has actually done it. Bear in mind that it's them who are flouting the law, not you, and so they will be being somewhat circumspect about appearing to carry out 'tortuous acts' (legal term, not literal). Bear in mind that your loan and overdraft is covered by a contract, which you will not be breaching by going after them for your charges back. Also, even if they do demand their cash back, you will be sitting with a ready made counterclaim for the rest of your charges, and you won't be hampered by small claims limits...

 

There are many many people on the forum who have gone after their cash and got it back without any further ado. I can see no reason why you should be any different. There is, of course, the possibility that you might be the 'chosen one' who is picked by the bank to try to make a defence stand up in court. Again, the feeling of most of the people who spend a lot of time on the forum is that if the banks had a defence, they would certainly have used it by now. There are examples of people on the forum successfully recovering £8,000+.

 

Good luck, and please feel free to PM me if you'd like any further advice.

[johncam1967]

Hi,

I'm new to the site and am interested by your case. I have had nearly £1000 of charges to my clydesdale bank account over the last 6 months, due to my Dad passing away and changing jobs to be nearer my mother my salary halved, the bank were very unsympathetic. I have went in and asked if they would refund them but got much the same response as yourself until yesterday when they offered me £120!!! I am now researching all of the steps I need to take to get things moving. Could you please advise were to start? do I write to the bank or could you tell me where I find the relevant forms to fill in.

 

cheers,

John.

 

[email protected]

[Robertxc]

Hello John, welcome to the forum. Two things to do:

 

Spend a good day or two reading the FAQs for the forum, which will tell you everything you need to know to get your cash back. Once you've done this, start a new thread so that you don't end up hijacking someone elses.

 

Good luck

[manolo]

try not to worry, go file the papers, if they decide to take your loan etc off you, just tell them how much you can afford to pay it back at, if they dont accept that and take you to court a judge will not order you to pay back any more than you can afford. I think from what i have read from other posts. file the papers, its your money, Good luck.

[Jamboray]

Hiya Royalinfirmarynurse, It is a worry but it is the only way to get this money back. They wont be able to punish you with other accounts you hold as this will be harrassment.

I went to the courts and won and still have my account (at zero balance) the banks are hoping you will not go to court and will hold out until they recieve the summons. I'm assuming you are from Edinburgh? Go to the CAB Office on the 2nd floor of the Sheriff Court and ask for Rosalind she will keep you right and go over your paperwork.

If you want a copy of my summons paper I could send it to you on word? You will only then need to put in your info. (PM Me)

Keep me posted on your progress!!

[royalinfirmarynurse]

An update

well i have been and done it handed in the papers paid the £39.

received the letter from the sherriff court this morning they served the summons to RBoS yesterday the return date is 31st July so i guess i just have to keep holding my nerve until then. All support gratefully received

thanks in advance

mods do i need to do anything else???

[sazz]

All you need to do now is make sure that you know why you are claiming these unlawful charges back, should it go to court.

 

To be quite honest, however, just think about how you're going to spend it! I am, as you can see by my signature... It may give you some confidence to know it's RBS as well

[Jamboray]

Thats good news RIN, I'm sure they will be in touch with you to offer settlement:p

[royalinfirmarynurse]

just an update to let you all know that im still here and still waiting on a response from the bank nothing as yet but will keep you all informed

regards

[JMio]

Good luck, stick to your guns & you'll get your money back!

 

When is your Court hearing date?

[royalinfirmarynurse]

hi

the return date is 31st July

regards

[babybenz]

Hi

 

Well done- I thought I'd just let you know that RBoS contacted me the week before the return date with an offer to settle so you might have a few weeks yet I imagine!

 

They might forget to include the interest element WHEN they make their offer to settled:D and need reminding- Good Luck.

[royalinfirmarynurse]

hi folks a quick update,

the bank telephoned me last night, i wasnt in they said they would phone me again today not heard anything yet, any way whilst checking accounts online this morning i noticed they took £5 from my account for historical statement fee. fair enough as i have 2 accounts that i will be claiming for and they only took £5 when i requested the statements weeks ago.

im having a bit of a wobble just now as i cant think why they want to speak to me the claim is joint with my hubby so if it was regarding my claim they could have spoken to him, part of me is terrified its something to do with the claim as the return date is 31st july anyone got any advice for me as im having a panic attack at the thought of having to go to court over this.

regards

[JMio]

They could very well be looking to settle out of court. Just take a deep breath & think of it this way.

 

If this was a shop that had over-charged you for something, you'd have no qualms about taking whatever steps neccessary to reclaim what IS RIGHTFULLY YOURS!

 

They DO NOT want this to go as far as Court, so THEY WILL try to settle it before it gets to that stage. And even if it does get to court, there IS help here if / when you need it. The absolute worst that can happen to you is that you go to court, they win & you lose your £39.00 fee.

 

That's it! End of.

 

However, repeat after me...

 

"It does not cost the Bank the amount of money that they took off me, to rectify my account whenever I went Overdrawn/Bounced a DD Payment etc, therefore, they are both unfair & unlawful, and I WANT THEM BACK!!!"

 

The law on this is simple, they are only allowed to charge you (in the form of a Penalty Charge) what it costs them to rectify the situation. NOT the over-inflated £25-40 a time that they have been doing.