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Reclaiming Excessive Bank Fees

Posted on | December 27, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Reclaiming Unfair Bank Charges has been in the news a lot of late and there are a lot of people are reported to be being very successful with their claims. But are you entitled to claim? Do you need a solicitor?

If your claim isn’t going to be complicated then there’s probably no need to get a solicitor involved when you are reclaiming bank charges. At the very worst, most of the claim can be dealt with through the small claims courts and probably from your own home if the banks play ball.

But if your claim is complex or you know you just won’t bother reclaiming yourself without help, then the cost is possibly worth it. But look for a no-win no-fee solicitor and check what their charges will be.

Whether you go it alone or appoint a solicitor, or start off yourself and seek professional help if the bank uses delaying tactics on your case, remember that it is important to continue your claim. If you stop, lose interest or just forget to continue to the next step, then the bank has won. If this is going to be you, write down the steps in your diary or contact a solicitor who advertises support for reclaiming bank charges.

During a 2006 ruling that credit cards should charge no more then a £12 annual fee the Office of Fair Trading declared that some bank charges were unlawful as well as being unfair. This opened the opportunity for people to reclaim unfair bank charges, charged within the previous 6 years.

A penalty clause is not permitted in British Law. This means that charges incurred for going overdrawn etc must be directly propotional to what it has cost the bank to deal with the situation. So if it costs £2.50 to send a computer generated letter, then the charges must not exceed £2.50.

Yet when customers go overdrawn in the past, banks have automatically sent customers a standard letter telling them they are overdrawn whilst imposing charges from £20 upwards. This is usually in addition to the interest charges imposed for unauthorised overdrafts or being overdrawn.

There are other unlawful bank charges and these are being successfully challenged by customers with banks refunding these unlawful charges. These unfair charges include:

• Returned Cheques
• Unpaid Cheque
• Account Misuse
• Fee For Exceeding Authorised Overdraft Limit
• Overdrafts
• Unarranged Borrowing
• Unpaid Standing Orders
• Unpaid Direct Debits
• Card Misuse
• Late Payment Of Credit Cards
• Late Payment Of Store Cards
• Late Payment Of Catalogue Purchases

If you are incurring these fees unfairly, then do yourself a favor and take action. 

Category: Personal Finances

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