How to reclaim your bank charges.
Until the result of the test case, the regulator, the FSA has put a hold on reclaiming. Yet it’s crucial to start a reclaim now, as you can only go back six years (five in Scotland), and delaying may mean you lose the ability to get the money for old charges back. To start your reclaim please complete our paperwork so that we can lodge your claim.
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Bank Claims Update
Following the events of the test case it is worth reflecting on what has happened to date.
1) April 2007 - The OFT begins a study into the fairness of bank charges.
2) 27th July 2007 - All claims are put on hold as the OFT and banks begin a test case to assess the validity and fairness of bank charges.
3) January – February 2008 - Test Case takes place.
4) April 24th - Judgement handed down to confirm that the OFT have the right to assess bank charges as to whether they are fair.
5) May 22nd - 23rd ;-
i) The judge allows the banks to appeal the decision of the 24th April.
ii) The judge demands the OFT provide information regarding whether bank charges were unfair, where they confirm the information will be available in July.
iii) The banks were informed that the legal process could not be used to delay the conclusion of the fairness of bank charges.
Next Key Date
July 7th - 8th Court Hearing.
And the rest of July!
Court Hearing
The banks after insistence by the judge have accepted that historic terms and charges are to be viewed as his judgement of the 24th April a situation which is to be confirmed at this hearing. At the next court hearing it is expected that the green light will be given to the OFT to establish whether both historic and current terms are fair.
The judge is determined not to allow the legal process to be abused unnecessarily. His stance to date does show this determination where after the hearing in February the judge, Mr Justice Andrew Smith confirmed that his ruling should help the conclusion of claims. He ruled in April that the OFT have the legal right to determine whether the charges are fair and with the information that the judge was insistent upon receiving that being the report on charges by the OFT which is now due in July, this will at this time leave him in a position to authorise the conclusion of the claims process.
In addition the FSA has a waiver in place protecting the banks from having to conclude claims at present although this is due to expire on the 26th of July.
What now?
Yes claims are still on hold but the question is for how much longer?
The judge is determined to say the least, to not allow the legal process to be used by the banks or OFT to slow the progress of the legal process which will bring about the conclusion of bank charge claims. This will not have gone unnoticed by the banks advisors who are no doubt addressing the strategy of how to manage their way out of this problem.
Risk and Reward
Banks deal with all situations in one way, by assessing the ‘Risk and Reward’, this is how they run their business on a day to day basis. When the Test case was announced the banks agreed that they would become involved as there was no risk and potentially a huge reward. Up to that point banks were refunding charges albeit slowly and causing problems, however, the test case announcement meant this stopped. This allowed the banks to take stock and if they lost the court case the worst position that they would find themselves in is the same position as before the test case was announced. Indeed they have received considerable income by still charging penalty charges in the meantime. The reward would have been that the judge could have found in the banks favour. This position has low risk for the bank and potentially a huge reward. Good Bankers risk!
However, the judge has ruled against the banks, so if this legal process reaches a final legal ruling to determine the fair level of charges the risk to the banks would be enormous. Bank customers would be legally able to recover considerable sums from the bank in addition to charges, to compensate for financial losses caused by the charges. The reward would again be good but as the banks charges structures are changing the banks have already made a decision that these charges will now be considerably lower so the reward is not high but only fair to good. This situation is high risk with a fair to good reward. This is not a situation that the banks want to put themselves in as the risk is too great where they have no actual control over the conclusion. Bad Bankers risk!
Opinion
It is difficult to know what is going to happen exactly. The banks have control of the situation for the next 6 weeks until the next court hearing as they have the right to appeal. However, this control could be removed in July by the judge who could state that claims could be resolved following his ruling and the report from the OFT. In addition the FSA could remove its protective waiver or certainly not renew it due to the judgement.
Barclays have just announced that from August their charges are to reduce to £8. The other banks are expected to soon follow. Whilst this is not an admittance that their charges were unfair, I can’t imagine this stance is going to help them in the test case process. The fact that the banks have argued in court that their charges are fair and reflect their costs is undermined by the action of Barclays and the other banks which are sure to follow Barclays lead.
The question is will the banks use these next few weeks before the hearing in July to begin the process of resolving claims?
About Bank Charges
Bank penalty charges have been well publicised and are potentially unlawful charges levied on bank clients. There has been a tremendous amount of resentment concerning these charges, which range from excess fees through to returned cheque fees and unauthorised borrowing interest.
Approximately 50,000 searches a month are made on the Internet for the search string ‘bank charges’. There are a number of websites, which have been set up offering clients advice and copying correspondence to them to forward to the banks to begin the recovery process. Whilst this is an option it offers clients little protection. Unfortunately, the banks are now taking a harder line regarding the refund of these charges and are now forcing clients to take them to court.
The banks charge approximately £3billion to £5billion per annum by way of penalty charges. In order to successfully recover the charges a professional approach must be adopted. An approach that we have a proven track record of providing that maximises the client's ability to recover these charges as well as offering professional advice on how to address any problems that the bank may cause as a result of the claim progressing during any claim.
Bank Complaints Offers:
A wealth of experience in dealing with a wide variety of banking disputes.
A broad banking background.
A proven track record in the recovery of bank ‘Penalty Charges’.
Personal, business or limited companies can reclaim these charges.
Reclaim your bank charges
Bank 'penalty charges' are excessive. Whilst this is not a fact there is certainly a very good argument to suggest that this is the case. The question that must simply be asked is does it cost £35 to send a letter when an overdraft facility is exceeded?
Technically our argument revolves around the fact that if a client of the bank exceeds a facility they are in breach of contract. As such the client should have to pay damages which do not exceed the cost of this breach. In other words, the banks can only impose a charge which is proportionate to their cost.
If the bank charges a figure higher than this 'A penalty charge' then the law of contract allows the recovery of this cost. Of course these fees are part of the terms and conditions yet these charges are still legally challengeable.
The Office of Fair Trading.
The office of fair trading is likely to suggest to the banks that their charges are capped at a fixed rate. However, there will be a section in their report that suggests that whilst the banks should adhere to their recommendations all fees can be challenged through the legal system.
We have considerable experience of the banking system through our banking background and as such we are able to adapt quickly to the changes that the banks impose in relation to dealing with these claims. We can also persistently pursue the bank to recover the relevant information providing a strong argument backed with our background in banking and providing expert witness statements in court to suggest to the banks that resolving the situation positively and in a timely fashion through ourselves for our clients benefit.
Bank 'Penalty Charges'
As a company we are recovering substantial sums of money for individual clients and for all clients as a whole. We understand the banking system and the way that the banks operate in not only charging those fees but also the recovery of them.
In other words you can of course recover your charges in the same way that you can install the boiler into your home. In the same way if you do incorrectly plumb in your boiler it can like the banks and the recovery of your charges blow up in your face if it is installed incorrectly. In addition it can take a considerable amount of time to prepare paperwork submit and of course go through the rigours of dealing with a bank which is fully aware of how to deal with these complaints and successfully deflect recoveries so that they pay out an absolute minimum.
Recovering your bank charges yourself. The DIY approach
Like anything in life you are of course able to pursue your bank to recover your bank charges. Recovering the information, prepare a response (providing you understand the contents of correspondence that you forward to the bank) and ultimately prepare paperwork to submit a small claims application through your local county court.
We appreciate that there are templated letters detailing how your bank charges can be recovered. However be wary of these as you must know and understand the contents of any letter that is signed as you may well be questioned if the complaint continues to the small claims court by the judge or the bank's solicitors.
How to recover your bank charges.
At Bank Complaints Ltd we believe in our ability to recover your account charges. Working purely on a no win no fee basis. Should we successfully recover your bank penalty charges to a level which you are satisfied, our fee is 25% including VAT.
To begin this process you will need to complete your information as detailed on our adjoining bank charges page, where you can either print our paperwork to sign and return to the address detailed or submit your details so that we may forward the paperwork by post to you.
The process of recovering your bank charges can vary greatly but as a general rule the average recovery period is approximately 3 months.
We have a good relationship with the banks which enables the conclusion of these claims with the least inconvenience to you as a client. We have been operating in the bank complaints arena for over seven years and have considerable experience in dealing with these financial institutions. Having provided many interviews for the media in relation to the recovery of charges where we are respected as the leading recoverer of bank charges in the United Kingdom.
