claiming bank charges back, is it worth it to claim back £100?

Question

the money would be handy but is it more costly and hassle than £100

I have been charged 100 over the years is it worth persuing??

Answer 1

I would say it is worth persuing, as £100 is not a small amount of money. There may also be other charges in the last 6 years, which you may not remember.

If the case goes to court, which it is most likely to (although it won't get to the hearing stage, or the bank won't turn up to the hearing), then you get 8% statutory interest on top.

You can claim back your charges from the last 6 years and the procedure is:

1) Write to the bank and ask them for a copy of your charges for the last 6 years, or alternatively a set of statements for the same period. You do this by making a "Subject Access Request" under the Data Protection Act, enclosing a cheque for £10 made out to the bank. This by passes the banks normal charges for statements which is normal a large amount for 6 years worth. The bank have 40 days to send you the data.

2) Write to the bank asking them to refund your charges, giving them 14 days to reply, attaching a "Schedule of Charges" (a list of the charges you are claiming for).

3) Send the bank a "Letter before Action" giving the bank one last chance to refund your charges before you take court action. They have 14 days to reply.

4) File a claim online using the Money Claim Online web site run by the UK Court Service. The claim is served on the bank 5 days after its submitted. The bank has 14 days to acknowledge the claim. If they don't you can request a "Judgement by Default" and you win the case, and get your charges, statutory interest at 8%, and your court fees.

If they do acknowledge the claim, they then have 14 days to submit a defence (making 28 days in total from the date the claim was served). If they don't then you can again request a "Judgement by Default", and get back your charges, interest and court fees as above.

If they file a defence, then you and the bank get an "Allocation Questionnaire" to fill in. Some judges dismiss the case at this stage, as the bank can't win, so again you win. If this doesn't happen, a hearing date is allocated. The bank will either back out before the hearing, or won't turn up in court. Again you win the case and get your charges, interest and fees.

Follow the correct procedures and you will get your charges back! Its important to send all letters to the bank and courts by recorded delivery, so you can prove they were received, and more importantly when they were received (which you can find from the tracking section of the Royal Mail web site).

Also make sure that you send all letters to the banks head office, and not your local branch. Don't phone the bank either, as this can delay things and you have no proof of whats been said.

Have a look at my site below which has detailed step by step guides to the whole process of claiming your charges back. It also has template letters you can put your details into and send to the bank, and forums for one to one advice. We also have a guide to filing your claim in court online, which is unique to the site.

Claiming your charges back is easy, and using the guides on my site you can get 100% of your charges back, plus 8% interest on top if the case goes to court (which it almost certainly will do). Don't be put off by the thought of going to court though, the banks will settle before the hearing, or won't turn up.

The site is completely free to use!

Answer 2

You can't claim bank charges at the moment but you definitely can claim credit card charges the figure is anything over £12, although the bank will tell you otherwise write twice and then if no joy report them to the financial ombudsman and they will adjudicate so all it will cost you is a couple of stamps good luck

Answer 3

Yes - but your MUST show you are determined ... use template letters from below and stick to the timescale ...

DO NOT play their game of delay delay delay .. they will 'loose' your letters & paperwork. They will ask meaningless and pointless questions. They will demand original paperwork you don't have (because they lost it) and try to tell you that replacement statements are charged 'at £5 per page' and they have no obligation to provide duplicates.. Thye will tell you they are 'processing your case' and that 'there is a back-log' and that 'if only you are patient', 'you will be paid next month' (yeah - just like 'free beer tomorrow' == 'next month' never comes)

They are hoping you will just give up and go away.

Stick like glue to the timescale - DON'T get diverted into playing their "questions & answer" game ...everything they do will be to attempt to avoid you going to court ..


Just stick to the process all the way to court .. in many cases Banks have responded to Court notices saying they will defend the case ... and then try to tell you it will cost you thousands in Solicitors fees in an effort to get you to drop the case ... not true .... they may take it right up to the deadline, perhaps even to the point of sending some-one with cash to pay you off just before the case is due to be held ...

Answer 4

Of course it is, it is your money after all, and unless you are very rich I think £100 would come in handy to a lot of us. I don't think it should cost anything to claim back the money and should be hassle free.

Answer 5

you can claim it back but you have to do it soon as it will all be changing , you have to pay to do it but when you claim you put the court costs on top of what they owe you so you get it all back and it don't take much time you just fill the form out on-line pay and then you receive a cheque in the post about 4-6 weeks later

Answer 6

One thing to watch out for. I seem to remember there was a story about Alliance and Leicester (I think), who, when people claimed back bank charges they paid up and then shut down their accounts as a sort of retribution.

Answer 7

Hell yes definatly, As a student i would go to great lengths to pursue this.. As that amount is half of one my pert time job wages.. You've read it in the papers that angry Customers are winning the fight to winning back these over priced charges.. so i think you should follow suite, go forth and claim back.

Answer 8

The costs of a couple of stamps and an hour of your time? The £100 is better in your pocket than in theirs, claim it back.

Answer 9

Definitely worth pursuing. It doesn't cost anything to claim the money back.

Answer 10

Deffinitely, it's your money!! You can claim back interest as well! I recently got charged £50 for going £1.87 into the red, how does that work?
Go for it get YOUR money back!!