2006-06-11 20:51:58 · 8 answers · asked by stewart a 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Personal Finance
Depends on why the bank has made the charge in the first place. If it is in their terms and conditions then it is legal, sorry. If they have acted outside of their terms and conditions or where you feel they have "unfairly" charged you (for example the bank has reduced your overdraft facility without telling you and then charged you for for using the facility that you thought you had) then you can appeal to the bank (do so in writing as the UK banks have to account for each written complaint to their head office, while phone calls and emails aren't monitored) then if you don't get satisfaction go to the ombudsman, or even the consumer credit agency to discuss the complaint (they won't take you seriously unless you have had a dialogue with the bank first, and keep all the evidence like letters sent from the bank and copies of letters you have sent the bank). You can get information on the UK ombudsman and consumer credit agency from your local citizens advice bureau.
2006-06-11 21:01:11 · answer #1 · answered by break 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I asked a similar question and I got some really helpful sites to visit, The best site was WHICH and they had download-able letters, filled in my details and spoke to the bank manager a couple of hours ago and I have been offered £800 refund because of illegal charges over the last six years
The WHICH site is here
http://www.which.net/campaigns/personalf...
And another interesting forum for advice is this,
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/
The office of fair trading has said that banks are not allowed to charge more money then what it cost to deal with the issue, they are not allowed to make a profit from charges. As long as the charge they make against you is more then what they stood to lose then that is considered an unfair charge. Example is a person that goes over an overdraft and gets charged Interest for the full amount + a charge that then sends them further into debt that they then make another charge for, this has happened with people only going £2 - £10 over for less the 24 hours and then being charged over £50+ for the illegal charges.
The banks are not going to give you this information you are going to have to fight for the truth from them, people that have tried to claim have been theatened, messed around and treated badly, that includes being told to close their account (the Office of fair Trading has said they can't do that, but they do). If you have the time and the energy to do it then it will be worth it for the majority of people that have made a miss-calculation and gone over the limit for a very short period of time, but don't say you are going to do something to your bank until you have fully looked in to it and are completely willing to go the full course.
Good luck, the banks deserve to have there illgotten gains taken away from them.
2006-06-11 23:34:05 · answer #2 · answered by citalopraming 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can fight it. You can take it to a small claims court. There is precedent for it. It has been done before. See this link.
http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=19615
I know that bank charges for going over your limit in the UK are the highest in the world. If a direct debit took you £10 over your limit, you would be charged £30 on average. If were longer than a week overdrawn, you could incur the same again. In Germany, for instance, you could be overdrawn for about two weeks at the cost of around about 50p.
It really is ridiculous. But read the article. And do like he does. You never know...
2006-06-11 21:02:45 · answer #3 · answered by Bapboy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Banks are the largest legal rip-off in the world. But here in South Africa things are beginning to change - they are under investigation from the government/ competition commission to explain why a transaction costing a rand or two, is charged to customers for more than ten, up to thirty rand.
Go boys go!!!
2006-06-11 21:36:38 · answer #4 · answered by Piet Strydom 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it should be illegal because it has been know to put people in financial difficulty. not so long ago i read an article about a man in this position, he took the bank to court and won. got all his money back and more.
2006-06-11 21:05:05 · answer #5 · answered by squeek6662001 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is not enough information to answer your questions.
How much are those exorbitant charges, exactly?
What bank is charging you those exorbitant charges?
How many exorbitant charges, exactly and what kind?
I also suggest you to post an image of your contract.
2006-06-11 20:59:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you live in the UK, give this website a whirl:
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk
And this recent article on Fool.co.uk that helped me find it:
http://www.fool.co.uk/news/comment/2006/c060602f.htm?ref=foolwatch
2006-06-11 21:12:04 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
why don't you pull a heist?
2006-06-11 20:53:14 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋