Ever had an unfair bank charge?

Interesting info..

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632

Related site which I've just started: Debt Management UK..

Might be worth a try.

i think banks often do all this for you now if you switch

Thats the thing, they know court action would look bad. Alot of banks will offer at least 50% of the charges back before the court date.

I wouldn't turn 50% down

Download that form and get it sent off! They'll probably offer you some sort of "goodwill" gesture straight away

EDIT Here's the template:

[your address]

[bank address]

Request for repayment of charges

Dear Sir/Madam,

ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxx

My request
I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last xx years.
I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations.

Your responsibilities
I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

I am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

What I require
I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum which you have taken. Total £XXXXX
***Additionally you have entered a default notice against my credit record. This default occurred merely in respect of unlawful charges levied by you or was the result of impecuniosities caused directly by the taking by you of penalty charges which you had applied unlawfully to my account.

In addition to full payment of the sum mentioned above I require that you remove the default entry from the register. Please note that mere correction or amendment to the entry will not be acceptable. ***

My targets to resolve this matter
I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and leaflets.

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

If you do not respond or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter before action giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

After that will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiry of the second deadline.

Yours faithfully,

[your name]

NovernRob, How did you work out the total fees so quickly?

Do you need to know in advance how much you're claiming back ?

I've no idea how much they have charged me, but it's a lot.

On your statements it will state usually on the summary page what the charges are for that month. Think I have around £100 of charges from Abbey National.

Got raped once for going £1.20 over my overdraft. C'unts

HSBC let me do it now, they have never ever stopped a cheque, a direct debit or me taking any money out just because there isn't any in. Maybe i should take more notice, but when you've got a mortgage, bills etc all coming out, which add up to about £1100 a month it's easy to forget something occasionally.

I'll take 10% purplease

Am happy you got that! You accepting the settlement (of course you fucking are!!)

I got charged £70 in fines last month, two £20 fines for going over my limit twice in a week, then one £30 for them paying an amount i didnt have in my account at the time.