Has anyone else had overdraft charges and ppi added to their bank loan with HSBC?

Question

I was told that I had to have PPI on my loan when I took it out 4 years ago with HSBC, and the cost of the PPI on top of the loan is over £8000 plus interest - I have insurance cover and told them I didn't want ppi. Then, without telling me, they reduced my overdraft limit and I went over my limit without realising, and my outgoings were more because I was paying them back, they started to charge me fees like £120. They just took the money out of my account without written notification. I reckon they have taken over £1500 plus interest out of my account since , I'm worried I won't get this back because of the current court drama and charges being put on hold.
I've asked in person for a complete list of all charges, and have asked them to refund the ppi - but I have never done this in writing. They keep fobbing me off, and staff told me I should open a new bank account elsewhere, as they can close my account. I have done this, but am nervous of finances now. What can I do?

Answer 1

What's said on the phone is irrelevant .. you may have told some-one 'no PPI', however chances are some-one else sent you paperwork with PPI write in as one of the 'conditions' ..

Before returning the paperwork you should have 'struck out' all references to PPI (and photo-copied anything you send back to them) ..

Even if you did all that, they might still have charged PPI - and the first month they did so, you should have written to them protesting ..

After 4 years they are going to claim you agreed to it all ...

HOWEVER if you are not 'financially aware' you might be able to claim ignorance .. i.e. you claim you only just realised that they are charging you for ...

So you need to WRITE to them (recorded delivery = it's amazing how easy it is to 'loose' unwanted paperwork and pretend it never arrived) ASAP making at least 2 claims - one for return of unwanted PPI premiums, other for excessive overdraft charges ...

.... don't allow them to continue to 'fob you off' on the phone (even if you RECORD a phone call of some-one promising to 'sort it out', they can claim that the person on the other end of the line is a 'call centre' girl with no authority to make any promises what-so-ever)

Hopefully you can get them to process the PPI refund claim as a seperate 'case' = all Bank CHARGE reclaims are on hold whilst the Ombudsman's case is processed, so you will not be able to take them to Court just yet ..