Charges reclaimed, no court, no ombudsman, no hassle, just a bit of haggling

[Munchkin 1]

I Reclaimed a reasonable amount of charges from Lloyds today. It took 3 letters and 8 weeks.I didn't fancy the hassle of the courts or the long wait with the ombudsman so I decided I would push to get as much as I could and was prepared to be reasonable and patient. Initially they offered a goodwill gesture of £90 and paid it into my account. (That was funny) I then gave Lloyds a reasonable goodwill gesture and final offer for them to retain £12 for each of the charges and to pay me back the rest. I wanted £750 paid back to me in total which included 8% interest. Today they paid me another £660 to make the final settlement.

 

I know most people want the full costs back, on principal, so I hope no-one thinks I'm a traitor. I'm pleased with the result, and pleased I didn't have too much hassle or worry.

 

If any one would like to know what I wrote in my third letter, the one that nailed it, I'd be quite happy to post it and help out.

[nicsussex]

Oh no - not another one!

[frankiepfc]

Hi Munchkin...congratulations.

Yes please post a copy of your letter ...we would all be interested

[nicsussex]

Together with the full details of what you could have claimed

[gizmo111]

So they paid you around half of what they owed you. I'm pleased your happy with the result, but thanks all the same I will decline your offer of the letter you used.

[jshtr3]

Propper pleased for you munchkin, Congrats:D . Unfortunately the reality for the vast majority is at least a 4 month process and a court claim. I have a friend who thinks like you did and Barclays have been ignoring the hell out of him since christmas. I would be interested to see the letter though. If it's something that can work for hundreds of thousands of people then I'm sure it will be a welcome addition;)

[Munchkin 1]

Thank you for your letter dated 21st June 2007.

 

I respectfully decline your £90 'gesture of goodwill' as a settlement to my claim, though I am prepared to temporarily accept the sum offered as partial settlement.

 

The charges banks levy on their customers can only be for administration, not penalty charges, and should only be in proportion to their loss.

 

A report by a Professor of Banking tasked with the job estimated the real cost, even being generous, to be only between £2.50 and £4.50.

 

I consider your bank charges unlawful and you had no right to just take such amounts of money from me. Your charges are not proportionate therefore your Terms and conditions are irrelevant.

 

In April 2006, The office of fair trading opined that Credit Card charges were too high and should be reduced to £12, though many feel it is still too high and disproportionate. Many Credit Cards have dropped their penalty charges from £30 to £12 in response to The Office of Fair Trading's demands. This is still too high a figure as the true cost of administration would not be more than a couple of pounds. Interestingly, Lloyds have reduced their Credit Card charges to £12.

 

I am fully aware that Lloyds are dragging their heels in returning charges, only doing so at the eleventh hour before the court date. I see it as unfair towaste court time and money in preparing for a court hearing only for you to settle the day before, as in most cases. It would also be wasteful of Lloyds Bank time and money on a case that we could easily settle between ourselves.

 

As a reasonable gesture of goodwill, I am prepared for you to retain £(amount) ( x amount X £12.00) of the charges shown on my calculations, and return the remaining £amount plus £amount (interest to date) to my account, on the condition that the total sum of £amount is returned to my account within 10 days.

 

(Show charges calculations here)

£20 (32 - £12) date interest total

 

etc etc

 

Totals

 

 

This is my final offer of acceptance. If you do not accept this, or you do not respond within 10 days, the £90 that you transferred to my account should not be viewed as my acceptance and I hereby authorise you to remove this sum accordingly.

 

If we cannot come to this reasonable agreement within 10 days I will be forced to take legal action against you for full recovery plus costs

 

I trust this clarifies my position.

 

Yours faithfully

[Munchkin 1]

Just for the record, I allowed them to retain £192. 16 x £12. I reclaimed £750. I'm a fair and reasonable person.

[nicsussex]

Unfortunately LTSB will count this as a victory - you really should be reclaiming all of it!

[Munchkin 1]

Propper pleased for you munchkin, Congrats:D . Unfortunately the reality for the vast majority is at least a 4 month process and a court claim. I have a friend who thinks like you did and Barclays have been ignoring the hell out of him since christmas. I would be interested to see the letter though. If it's something that can work for hundreds of thousands of people then I'm sure it will be a welcome addition;)

 

Thank you for your kind reply

[Munchkin 1]

Unfortunately LTSB will count this as a victory - you really should be reclaiming all of it!

 

I know what your saying.

[nicsussex]

Just for the record, I allowed them to retain £192. 16 x £12. I reclaimed £750. I'm a fair and reasonable person.

 

I see from your other thread that you were originally cliaming almost £900 - so you have effectively allowed them to keep £150 of your own money - they will be delighted!

[Munchkin 1]

Propper pleased for you munchkin, Congrats:D . Unfortunately the reality for the vast majority is at least a 4 month process and a court claim. I have a friend who thinks like you did and Barclays have been ignoring the hell out of him since christmas. I would be interested to see the letter though. If it's something that can work for hundreds of thousands of people then I'm sure it will be a welcome addition;)

 

Thank you for your kind reply.

 

Not all of us have the time to battle on for ages and I could forsee getting despondent and even irate with the delays. I wanted to stay happy. Also, obviously the banks delay as long as possible to make people give up. I wouldn't have given up. If Lloyds hadn't have met my request believe me I would have gone all the way to court and asked for costs for time wasting too. I would have been driven there by angst. I'm happy with the result because I haven't had to go to the place of sheer annoyance and rambled on about it, and I wanted the money now.

 

I do hope I can help others reclaim in the same way, if like me, they can't be doing with time wasting and frustration.

 

I hope your friend is successfull.

[jshtr3]

I have to agree with Nic on this one. Don't get me wrong, if the offer works for you and your happy with it then as I said before I really am happy for you. However I and lots of others here don't think it's acceptable to be given go away money. I can't afford the luxury!! The best analogy I have seen here is, if someone robbed your house and then threw 80% of what they had taken back on your front lawn years later, would you ring the police and say "it's ok, I got most of my stuff back.

[Munchkin 1]

I see from your other thread that you were originally cliaming almost £900 - so you have effectively allowed them to keep £150 of your own money - they will be delighted!

 

 

I'm not worried how they feel. I'm happy with what I accieved in a short time and thats all that matters to me.

 

You sound just how I didn't want to. No offence.

[jshtr3]

I hope your friend is successfull

So does he but they are doing an extremely good job of ignoring him

[Munchkin 1]

I have to agree with Nic on this one. Don't get me wrong, if the offer works for you and your happy with it then as I said before I really am happy for you. However I and lots of others here don't think it's acceptable to be given go away money. I can't afford the luxury!! The best analogy I have seen here is, if someone robbed your house and then threw 80% of what they had taken back on your front lawn years later, would you ring the police and say "it's ok, I got most of my stuff back.

 

 

No lol! I know what your saying and I respect what you believe in. Its how I am at the moment. I just have so much going on at the moment I couldn't really cope with all the court business and not sure I would find the spare cash to stump up the fees.I can cut my losses and move on. We are all different.

[nicsussex]

No offence.

 

None taken - however it is important to state that ALL of this money could have been reclaimed - and really very easily. You have effectively settled for there standard goodwill gesture figure anyway. If you had held out you would have got all of your money back (plus 8% statutory interest if you had issued a claim). The LTSB strategy in dealing with these claims is designed to stop you persuing the claim to a different level at each and everys stage and once again i reiterate they will feel that your case has been a victory for them and their strategy.

[Munchkin 1]

So does he but they are doing an extremely good job of ignoring him

 

Well, maybe he might like to try something similar to me. Something is better that nothing. Good luck.

[jshtr3]

We are all different.

That we are, and circumstance motivates actions. Do me a favour though. When you tell others about your experience. Make sure you tell them they can have it all back if they are prepared to fight for what is theirs. That way they can make informed decisions. Enjoy the money

[Munchkin 1]

That we are, and circumstance motivates actions. Do me a favour though. When you tell others about your experience. Make sure you tell them they can have it all back if they are prepared to fight for what is theirs. That way they can make informed decisions. Enjoy the money

 

Will do.

[jubaxt]

bump