After reading lots of comments on here re unfair bank charges, I decided to write to my bank for a SAR request (template off here). During 2005 when I split from a partner I went over my overdraft and the charges I incurred were massive, but at the time I thought there was nothing I could do about it. I can remember getting one letter from them stating a £75 charge, this was one of many and I had to borrow some money off my brother to put in my account. From what I can remember in previous years I have been hit with some high charges. So I thought I would give it a go, so have sent the letter off today. I have been with this bank for over 20 years. Fingers crossed

My current income is made up of state pension & private pension amounts to £155 weekly, I live on my own in a furnished rented flat, letter arrive from HSBC today advising me of a further increase in int. rate, currently paying £125 pm minimum payment, was considering asking them to stop int. charges and to pay off the card at £50 pm which if accepted will take me over 8 years to clear it, can anyone guide me on this matter also would this show as a default on my credit file.

I am just wondering if I can still claim back bank charges applied to my HSBC credit card? DG solicitors which I understand is part of HSBC now deal with me so do I contact them or HSBC direct? If I can attempt to claim these back what is the time scale in there dealings thanks.

what does that mean ? I know it has been referred for further inspection , do you they have a look at your application and give you a answer ? , can they accept and reject it ? It's for debt consolidation and for a car

Hi I have two accounts with HSBC and filed a complaint/ claim for unfair bank charges back in 2009/ 2010. They filed claims with Northampton CC in Sept and Oct 2010 and I filed a defence, heard nothing back and I assume the claim was stayed as they did not respond. On 1st March 2012, I recieved the letter below (dated 14th feb) requesting a response by 2nd March. - I sent a letter back stating as it had only just beed recieved I needed time to consider - letter read. We refer to the above mentioned claims and in particular your defences, copies of which have been provided to us by the court. You maybe aware that the claims have thus far been stayedby which your position has not been prejudiced and we apologise for any delay on our part. The claim xxx relates to your business account overdraft and the claim xxxx relates to your advance bank account overdraft. You express your embarrassment by the particulars of the claim( herinafter the particulars) as you are of the opinion that they disclose no legal cause of action and fail to comply with civil procedure rules and in particular with practise direction 16 para 7.3. In each case, the particulars clearly state that HSBC bank plc are claiming the balance outstanding under a bank account overdraft and provide the amount claimed. Copies of the documents were not attached to the claim form as the forms were issused via Northampton County Court Bulk Centre. There is no requirement for the documents to be attached to the particulars of such claim forms. Nevertheless copies ofthe account statements and final demands are enclosed herewith for your information. At this stage we would like to advise that it is our clients intention to conclude these matters without further incurrence of unnecessary costs and therefore we are prepared to enter into a repayment arrangement whereby the sums outstanding would be payable by monthly instalments. The terms of the agreement would be contained within a Tomlin Order which you are required to sign and return to us. once recieved the same would be forwarded to the court for their file and we would provide you with a sealed copy of the order upon receipt. A tomlin order is a consensual agreement between the parties who commit to perform the terms set down in the schedule in order to facilitate a conclusion of the dispute in the alternative to a county court judgement, providing the terms of the agreement are adhered to. In addition it enables the parties to avoid incurring unnecessary legal costs and judicial time associated with the matter proceeding to trial. The letter goes on to suggest I complete a financial questionaire and seek legal advise from CAB. The final paragrapgh states that ' should you advise that you intend to continue with your defences or in the absence of a response by the date stated, we are instructed to apply to seek an order to Strike out your defences and request to enter judgements against you for the full amounts plus associated costs forethwith. Once judgements have been obtained we mat take enforement action against your assets to obtain payment. I then received a further letter dated 9th March.................... We refer to the above numbered claim and our previous correspondance to which we have not had the courtesy of a reply. We have already explained the accounts that the claims relate to etc.... You have not raised further issues with regards tothe claim which leads us to believe that the matter has been sufficiently clarified. In consideration of the above, we believe that your liability for the indebtness is irrefuatble and it is our view that your defence will not be upheld by the court. therefore, in an attempt to avoid unnecessary costs and judicial time, we invite you to withdraw your defence and enclose a letter of consent for your agreement, signature and return. At this stage, we wish to advise you that our client is prepared to consider an offer from you to repay judgement by installments if acceptable repayments can be agreed. This would also minimise further legal costs. Should you wish to discuss this further please telephone the writer on 0845 609 0529 quoting xxxxx Please confirm by no later than 4pm on 23rd March 2012 that yo wish to withdraw your defence signing and returning the letter of consent together with any proposals for repayments. you should note that any offer of repayment should be accompanied by a full breakdown of your household income and expenditure together with detail of the amounts owing to other creditors. should you advise that you intend to continue with your defences or in the absence of a response by the date stated, we are instructed to apply to seek an order to Strike out your defences and request to enter judgements against you for the full amounts plus associated costs forethwith. Once judgements have been obtained we mat take enforement action against your assets to obtain payment. I would be really grateful if any one could suggest whether I accept to repay this in monthly installments under a tomlin order or are HSBC threatening this as a means to gain repayment knowing that they are unable to get payment through court. I do not understand why it has taken them so long to respond to the claim they made over a year ago. A large proportion of the OD is from charges for the account. I do not want a CCJ against my name so if had to conceed would go down tomlin order route. To complicate matters our mortgage is with HSBC so I would not want them to obtain a charging order. Please help?

had a credit card with HSBC years ago (opened it 2004) and over the years they were evil with their charges and there was also PPI on it. Last Jan when I sold my house I paid off the balance (it was with the lovely DG Solicitors by then) and closed it. I know I have so much reading to do but is it worth trying to reclaim the charges from them? I assume the PPI is a separate issue. Will I only be get back the passed 6 years on both? Please help, I'm stealing myself for the battle. They made my life a misery.

Back in early 2000 I took out a loan with hsbc and a couple of years later couldn't keep up payments and defaulted.... Am I right to think that hsbc's first route of collection of the debt would be passed on to metropolitan collection services? I can't remember that far back who was the first DCA to take it on... The debt is no longer with the first Dca and has to date been passed around a good few! Also if its MCS who was the first to be assigned and, as they did with me - fail to collect the debt would they of passed it back to hsbc or sold it on to another DCA?

Hello all , Im in a bit of a problem here, In november of last year i had £15 in my bank , i purchased a game on the xbox and thought nothing of it. Stupidly of me i purchased another game to see if it would go through (i regret it now) and it did. I have or never have had an overdraft. I went £45 overdrawn. I was going to pay 2 weeks later when i got paid , however upon checking my account 3 direct debits had been sent out and returned. At this stage i was £150 overdrawn due to the £25 charges they apply. I was also incurring £12.95 hsbc advance fee every month. I rang hsbc and told them i would pay the original charges of £45. They told me no and that i should handle my money better. my card and account was immediately withdrawn and now it just sits there in debt. Well the interesting part, Tomorrow I'm due money in there front he student loans company - £300 , hsbc have told me they will give me the remainder of it. The account is £180 overdrawn Im due to have a meeting with the bank manager tomorrow. I really need that student loan money to get my stuff for university. What should i do?

A few days ago I went into 'D' on my HSBC account. I have only ever went into this once before by 17p which was a complete accident and I covered it with my savings 2 days later. Anyway, this time my account is in debt by £149.82 and I have no savings to cover this, I lost this due to not realising how much was in my account. (PLEASE NOTE I HAVE NO OVERDRAFT FACILITY AS I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS TO HAPPEN). Anyway, I first went below £0.00 on the 7th feb and since then another 3 Direct Debit charges have came into my account (1 on the same day, 2 the following day). I get £235 into my account on the 16th of february, but I am wondering if there will be any extra charges to pay and if so how much?! Thankyou!!

So we have a business account, we go overdrawn by 3k. The bank decide to take the funds out of one of the directors personal bank account And then send the debt collectors to collect the rest Can I contest If so what would the result be?

Morning All, Just received notification from a new DCA that they have bought a debt from HSBC and they are now classed as owning the debt not HSBC. HSBC couldn't enforce as they admitted in writing that they did not have a signed credit agreement. They confirmed this in writing and defaulted the account in 2009. Now it has been sold on, does the 6 year clock continue from 2009 or has it now been reset to start from 2012? Thanks, Bel

Hi Guys, Firstly, let me give you a little background. HSBC, being the nice company they are increased my overdraft limit to £1500 about 3 years ago, which was great, a nice increase and a little extra security, or so I thought. My circumstances drastically changed, I was forced to move out of my parental home and start paying my own way, and, considering the salary I was on, I would need to start relying on my overdraft. For a long time I was hitting the £1000 mark on my overdraft limit every month and my salary was paying for me to get back into the black (by on £100 or so). On top of rent, I was also paying bills (elec, water, council tax etc), car insurance and I had to start paying the credit due on my car which previously my parents were paying (£200pm). This left me now hitting the £1500 mark on my overdraft, and, due to a couple of payments which hit my account late and HSBC taking money earlier than they should, I found a nice charge on my account (around £35/40) I rang and complained and got this taken off as it was through no fault of my own. Anyway fast forward to about May/June last year, I decided to open a new fresh account with Natwest, move over all my direct debits and operate from this account. My HSBC account was again just under the limit, but, as I had again gone over my limit slightly the previous month I was going to be charge in excess of £50, which was more than what I had gone over. Due to my circumstances I cannot afford to pay anything into the HSBC account, I have not spent anything on it, I no longer have the debit card and I dont wish to use it anymore, but, I received a nice letter in the post a couple of days ago saying I am £1000+ over my overdraft limit and would I like to have a conversation about how to fix this. The fact is, due to HSBC charging me every month for the past 10/11 months, I am so badly overdrawn. My Natwest account is perfectly manageable and has never once been in the red due to my strict budget, but this means there has never been any room for maneuver when it comes to paying anything into the HSBC account. I have worked out that from April on-wards I will be able to pay £100pm into the account, but it will take at least 15/18 months to clear the charges, more for the overdraft! Is there anyway I could write or contact HSBC to ask them to stop charges or to reimburse on some of the charges if I tell them my circumstances and that I plan on starting to make payments into the account from April on-wards?? I think its unlikely they will but I just wanted to ask on here before I bothered to contact them! Thanks

My bank charges case was stayed thanks to the supreme court judgment a couple of years ago. I now have a letter from DG asking me to discontinue my claim or otherwise be liable for costs. I assume there is no chance of me getting my charges back now since the judgment, so is it recommended that I apply for a notice of discontinuance? Am I liable for their costs? Thanks

In 2005 I was awarded a small business loan which had PPI on it. I paid this loan for almost 2 years at £251 per month. I made a decision where I put all my eggs in the one basket on credible advice and things went downhill shortly after that. I had a spell where I had a cash flow problem and approached HSBC Business Manager to see if there was something that could happen to help me out.... The only solution they had was for me to consolidate all my business (sole trader!) debt into one "managed loan" at a higher rate of interest over a longer period of time. This was a short term problem but I had no alternative but to take one of their "managed loans" as that was my only choice. This effectively gave me a higher debt with a higher monthly payment....almost £100 per more per month over a longer period of time - with no PPI. The PPI was mis-sold to me as they did not ask about any health conditions I had, gave me no idea that it could be bought elsewhere and I didn't get the terms and conditions until after I had signed on the dotted line. The "consolidation" took into account the PPI premium that had been paid up front and monthly payments for almost 2 years. The settlement figure on a loan of £15,000 after paying £250 per month was over £16,000. The term was 90 months. I have never paid a penny towards this Managed Loan as I believe that (1) I wasn't treated fairly and there was indeed more that the bank could have done for my short term problem and (2) the paperwork showed 3 different interest rates (3) the figure at the bottom which I thought was the total amount due was actually the interest....nowhere on the document did it show the total amount that I would have to pay over the period. They calculated the loan would be for just over £20,000 plus £23,000+ interest. I thought the figure of £23,000+ was the total I would have to pay over the term. I questioned all this with HSBC and got a response from their solicitors which does not answer any of the questions I asked. It does however give me a redemption figure on the small business loan, the figure they used as my overdraft. So at least now I have exact figures. I believe this could fall under the new "fair" regulations. Effectively they did not treat me fairly and did not explain the consequences of taking this loan. My business was effectively finished. Since that time I have really struggled financially as it had a knock on effect with everything else in my life. I need to claim the PPI but I thought at the same time I could do something about HSBC and the way they treat their customers - by forcing them down a route that effectively makes them worse off. These are people who are experiencing financial difficulty when they approach the bank. Any thoughts from anybody on here as to what I should do. Thank you for your help. Gemspan

Can anyone help please. I am on income support and a single mum, and unfortunately couldn't pay a couple of direct debits a few years ago. The bank charged me £25 for each direct debit going overdrawn, which meant the following month I was £50 short. The following month when My next income support was paid in, there was not enough money to pay the direct debits, therefore I went overdrawn again, and thus more charges. This situation has just continued and now I have paid over a £1000 worth of charges I have had suicidal thoughts and am on depression tablets.. the only thing that keeps me going is my little boy. A friend has written to the bank, and explained that she thought they were not allowed to take money for charges out of Income support monies, but they have said they are acting within the law and won't give any money back. However, my friend spoke to somene at the job centre, and she said they are not allowed to take charges out of benefits money. Someone else said bank charges are illegal anyway - I am so confused and wondered if ayone out there knew the right answers, and should my friend write another letter. Thank you so much for your time in reading this thread. Love Maddy

I took out mortgage protection with HSBC on a decreasing term model 7 years ago, for 18 years at £85 a month to cover a mortgage of £80,000 for my wife who smoked (49) and myself then 51 non-smoker. I think the charge excessive. I paid it because I thought it was compulsory. I want to make a complaint about the cost (no critical injury involved). Any views?

Hi, I was joint owner of a business between 1999 and 2003 with 1 business partner. During that time we banked with HSBC and in 2001 we signed personal guarantees of £15,000 (joint and several) to cover a £10,000 overdraft. I left the business in 2003 in acrimonious circumstances and failed to get the PG renegotiated (I was young, dumb and clearly not business minded). Anyway, in June this year, HSBC got in touch wanting repayment of the £10,000 overdraft as the account had laid dormant since the start of the year. I got in touch with my ex-business partner and he assured me he would deal with it. As no longer connected with the business in question, it was difficult obtaining information but before the debt was passed on to MCS, my ex-business partner has sent a letter to HSBC telling them that he took sole responsibility for the debt as well as saying this in voice conversations. I also have numerous emails saying the same thing. I received a letter from MCS on Thursday and talked to them the same day, explaining that I had been assured that my ex-business partner would deal with the debt so I was leaving it to them. The account has been put on hold for 7 days and I have contacted my ex-business partner to send me a signed letter absolving me of any liability as well as call them to confirm that. MCS suggested this course of action on the phone so that the debt could be assumed by my ex-business partner. Anyway, I am hoping this will all be done this week but as my ex-business partner is not very reliable (hence my departure in 2003), what do I do if he doesn't come through. He's assured me he will but the proof will be in the pudding I guess. I have numerous emails from him that say that he takes responsibility for the debt and I know from talking to HSBC before the account was passed on to MCS that he told them and wrote this to them so they have this on account already. Should I enlist external help, solicitors, PG specialists or anybody else? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I know the guarantees are binding but I have had no involvement for over 7 years and my ex-business partner has been on record has willing to assume the debt so I wonder how I might be able to put this behind me. I am in full-time employment but do not own my own home (earning circa £16,000/year) and the debt stands at £10,000. He has paid £200 before the debt was passed on and he was willing to pay that amount every month but HSBC wanted 10% of the debt paid before considering it, which he doesn't have. Please, help or advice anyone?

Hi all, hopefully someone can give me some advice. My wife had an account with HSBC which she closed in December 2007. Unbeknownst to us, they did not cancel a SO to her loan account, which then duly debited an account with no funds in it (as it should have been closed). They duly applied charges to this account without issuing any correspondence or telephoning her. The first inkling we had of this was when we applied for a mortgage, this debt was shown to be outstanding. Upon investigation we discovered what had happened and made a complaint to no avail. My wife then made a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, who started to investigate (and advised us to pay the loan amount which we duly did, only to discover later that it had been already been paid that month from her new account), HSBC agreeing to freeze the account whilst this was happening (approx £650). This has dragged on ever since, with people leaving the Ombudsman and new people taking over the case. A few days ago we received a letter from Buchanan Clark and Wells Debt Agency (BCW Group Ltd), stating that we owed £2500. Again upon investigation, we discovered that the Ombudsman ruled in favour of the bank, stating that there was not enough evidence for the claim (they had basically lost all the paperwork). Again, we have not received any paperwork from HSBC or the Ombudsman to confirm this, nor can we clarify when this took place. I struggle to work out how they have come to this new figure, or how the Ombudsman can justify there is not enough evidence. My question is mainly this; BCW state that they have been instructed by HSBC to collect this amount. Is this true, or have they bought the debt and trying to add more funds to it? If this is so, what can I do about it? Any advice would be gratefully received. Dave

oh yes and thats not all they should be fined for in my opinion Story here

Hi, I am looking for some advice. I am currently in the process of buying my first property and am looking to submit my mortgage application towards the end of this month (I have a valid mortgage in principle currently). This is quite an exciting time for my partner and I as we have been saving hard for the past two years to come up with the 20% deposit we need. Here is the snag! I have just received a letter from Moorcroft Group PLC regarding an outstanding overdraft balance of close to £1800. The balance relates to an old student account, I have moved house twice since I last had contact with HSBC and I have been burying my head in the sand since. The letter explains that they have been provided with linked address via a CRA and asked me to contact them to 'confirm the position and make the appropriate arrangements'. I have done nothing yet. I fully accept that I am at fault and I intend to pay the requested balance in full, now. I have access to my credit report through Experian and there are no defaults recorded however, I am worried that if I contact either HSBC or Moorcroft with a view to settling the debt that the defult (which I assume HSBC has filed but has not yet been linked to my history?) will show on my record and prevent me from even entertaining the notion of a mortgage. How do I settle the debt without it potentially destroying my credit score. I feel like I'm in a catch 22 situation, help!

An Italian lady I know sent me the following email: I logged in to my Hsbc account and found the unplesant surprise of my accounts (credit card, debit card and saving account) closed without notice from Hsbc. My account was not in debt. It has never been in debt. I called customer service, they refused to give infos about their decision. I had money on all my accounts..All money just disappeared with the accounts. They have not replyed 2 e-mails so I have decided to call them but, they won`t give details about their decision and refused to give infos about my money...What can I do? What advice would you give her? Thanks in advance. Jeff

hi everyone, I hope some one can help me here. I upgraded to an hsbc advance account in april. I then went to nationwide to open a mortgage account and they asked me to transfer my current account over to them - after consideration I decided the nationwide account was the best option for me, and set about transferring. ive now asked them to close my account and they are refusing to do this as they say I have a contract with them for the advance account for 12months. they have said i cannot cancel my contract nor can i buy my way out of it. is this right? is there anything i can do to to force them to close this account. they have been extremely uncooperative since they learned of me switching accounts.

Hi to anyone who will read this - I hope I am in the correct forum. There is too much information to digest in this website and I really don't know where to start. I have recently realised that I am paying more and more in the minimum monthly credit card payments; I went back to statements in 2007-8 and while my HSBC Gold credit card started of with some 15%APR, it went up to a massive 25.9% in only a couple of years. So what I would like is some guidance/ template letters on how to first write to them to complain about the interest rate increase (for example, is the rate increase supposed to be something I sign up to or can it be just announced to me through statement letters they send? I am set up for direct debit payments and obviously rarely look at my statements - until now!) In addition, I have had it with the overdraft charges. I asked for a breakdown of overdraft charges in last 12 months together with an explanation of what transaction prompted each, but all I got was a letter with "here's your charges for last 12m - total of £350". In July alone I had £150 of "pre-notified fees" and in my statement it just showed as £150 and not as individual charges. Should I combine my credit card complaint with the overdraft charges or keep them separately? Finally is there an upper limit for overdraft charges per month? Are banks charging customers £25 for EACH transaction they perform over their overdraft limit or for each day they are overdraft? Just for the history of it, I had a charges claim 8months ago, HSBC agreed to settle if I signed their letter and sent it back, which I forgot to do (it was only £90 back then) so they never refunded me - hope they will not use against me now. Also, at the time I told them that I did not want overdraft facilities and that while charges are "pre-notified" only when you're about to withdraw funds at an ATM (the notification is shown on the screen" when using your debit card at a Point of Sale, there is no notification so how is the charge pre-notified? Saying that I am supposed to know how much money I have in the account every single day is ridiculous with all direct debits set up! I don't want to be charged £25 for a £2 transaction in the supermarket, how is this TCF? I told them to set up my card so it is rejected if no funds in the account and if their systems are not set up to do it to then let me know so I can pay a one-off overdraft facility for £25 and be done with it. They never answered on that, just keep charging me against TCF principles. Anyway, rumbling here. Sorry if I confused you. Hope someone can point me to some nice templates/advice. Jen:wink:

Just looking for advice if I can claim any HSBC fees back? Had a gambling addiction and HSBC continually let me go over my overdraft limit - At worst I had a £750 'agreed' overdraft and managed to go around £500 above this! Recently they have made it so I have my £750 overdraft and if I exceed that I can go overdrawn £50.00 max however even when I do this they're charging me when I'm sure I read somewhere they have a '£50 charge free' buffer? Basically anything I can claim back would be great as it helps clear my debt!