Will friend have to pay back overdraft?

[helennn]

Can anybody advise me. I am going to try to get the unlawful bank charges back on behalf of a friend just going through a messy divorce.

 

She tried to close her Joint Barclays current account down when she split with her husband, they said they needed both signatures, her husband wouldn't sign so it stayed open. He carried on putting dd's through but wouldn't pay any money in and refuses to tell her or the bank his address. The account became overdrawn with charges incurred. Eventually the bank allowed my friend to close the account, (strange that!!), but she has to pay back £20 per month to pay off the balance.

 

If she tries to re-claim her bank charges are they able to demand she pays all the overdraft, (about £2000), immediately. She would be unable to do this so it is putting her off trying to get these fees back. She has already opened a parachute account.

 

 

Many thanks

[dar£n]

if they required both signatures to close the account it may have been set up that to RELEASE money required TWO signatures.. find out if both parties had to sign cheques, if they did,,, hurdles to cross.. if only one needed then its okay.

 

The fact of it is she is paying £20 for something she no longer has, so surely it would make sense to recover the charges to clear the debt which immediately makes her £20 better off plus any extra that is claimed.

 

As the account is in an overdrawn state thenn YES the could request the payment in full,

 

I suggest your friend continues for now, purely to see how much they would get back. see if it is profitable even if they DO reclaim the debt.

 

have a look here also:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/42170-right-appropriation-stop-bank.html

[helennn]

Many thanks for your reply. As far as I am aware only one signature was required to sign cheques. I am unaware at this stage how much of the debt is actual direct debit amounts and how much is charges. Her worry is if, for example, £1500 is actual dd amounts and £500 is charges, even if they offered her the full £500 back could they call in the full amount. She would be unable to find the remaining £1500.

 

Afraid this is all new to me, so please excuse my ignorange but I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean by, "As the account is in an overdrawn state thenn YES the could request the payment in full". Do you mean she could have a cheque, rather than it going straight to paying off the debt? or am I misunderstanding you.

 

Many thanks again

[dar£n]

First of all, your friend needs to get access to her past statements,

SAR:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/516-1-data-protection-act.html doesnt have to be limited to 6yrs, go back as far as you can.

highlight every charge they have made

these will be listed as

UNPAIDS OUT

UNAUTH O/D FEE

PAID REFERRAL FEES

 

ranging from £20 to £35

 

enter each charge into the spreadsheet here:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/182-6-interest-calculation-spreadsheets.html

 

 

Then a prelim letter sent requesting the charges are repaid:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/671-2-letter-preliminary-approach.html

 

Ref the debt I was referring to Barckays being able to demand the payment in full, thats why I included the link with Right of Appropriation Letter

 

dont worry about asking 6 million questions, we are here to try and help each other through this confusing, complicated process.

 

[helennn]

Many thanks - I have already prepared to SAR and ready to fire it off. However, I thought it was only limited to the last 6 years.

 

I understand now that thanks to the right of appropriation she can choose where the money is "put", this is not a problem. What she is worried about is if giving the fees back will annoy the bank and they will renege on their agreement to allow her to pay the O/D back at £20pcm. Would they give her the option to accept refund of charges or not, or are they allowed to just pull the plug on their agreement? She is working all hours at the moment just to keep her head above water so I don't want her to end up getting say £500 charges back but having to pay £2000 O/D back.

 

Many thanks

[dar£n]

If she only gets £500 back at the very worst they can do is reduce the debt by £500.

If she is struggling to pay £20 they wont be able to get any more than that,

 

I think when you see how much she will get back + interest she will be pleasantly surprised.

 

One thing to be aware of. if ex hubby gets wind.....he may be able to claim his share

[helennn]

Thanks - let's go for it!!! (I hope she agrees) I have also read the similar threads suggested below so understand they are not supposed to penalise her for reclaiming these fees, I am sure this will reassure her.

 

She has been kept in the dark for years by her ex-husband, (not allowing her to look at bank statements), so think she may be very pleasantly surprised/or shocked!! I would be amazed if ex hubby got wind of it - if he hadn't been so hopeless with money she wouldn't be in this mess - but thanks for the reminder.