New HSBC Claim - **WON**

[FinanceMuppet]

Hi All

 

This is my first posting. My wife and I were very excited when we discovered this action group. We have been with HSBC for a number of years and as such have wondered about our charges. We both met and got married after previous relationships so struggled to find a house and renovate it. This obviously was really expensive and at times we slipped on overdrafts. Each time we seemed to be charged about £125 but direct debits/standing orders never appeared to be refused.

 

We followed the instructions on this site and sent a Data Protection letter with a £10 fee. The bank responded stating they would be more than happy to supply the data and even returned our fee.

 

Today we receive 67 letters all containing multiple paged statements!

 

Now the fun starts...sorting through the statements and any advice from previous HSBC customer (or other bank customers) would be really appreciated.

 

Finance Muppet

[sarey331]

call me stupid but i sorted all my satements into month order, which was quite the task because someone had clearly shuffled them before posting them

however hsbc order their statements into sheet orders, ie sheet 36, sheet 37 etc etc.

so if you hadnt already picked that up then ive just saved you three hours of paper shuffling!

[TaylorMade]

I only had a couple of years worth (account closed in 2002) but 'slow and steady' are the watchwords. Use the spreadsheet in the templates area and put your figures in month by month.

 

I now know my figures (you're almost at that point ) but I'm holding off for my Credit Card statements to make it a single claim.

 

Good luck

[FinanceMuppet]

Hi sarey331 & TaylorMade

 

Thanks for the info. I posted my message just after retuning from work so have only opened a couple so far but these were from different years! So no order at all. Your advice will help greatly.

 

I will also follow your advice and go through 'slow and steady'. It is an amazing site seeing 67 letters stacked on the table. So much so that i have photographed it as I will never have this much mail again, (sad life eh?).

 

Just looks like a massive task at the moment but it will be worth it in the end.

 

Thanks again.

 

FinanceMuppet

[TaylorMade]

Just looks like a massive task at the moment but it will be worth it in the end.

I usually sort information on the computer, but I can handle the real world as well You need:-

 

1) An hour when you won't be interrupted

2) A living room floor (or whatever is the biggest floorspace in your house)

 

The rest is childsplay - open envelope, place in approx area, connect to any already in place, repeat until done.

 

Warning) Do not let any mad 4-footed beasts dash through the room during this hour (Ours is a Yorkshire Terrier) :D

[FinanceMuppet]

Thanks again for the valuable advice.

 

I rushed home tonight earlier than usual and we sat outside opening the mail and sorting it into sheet number. We had requested two accounts and found that they had both been posted so it was not such a big task after all. No four legged friends to contend with but the occasional breeze prompted us to run inside and grab any weights we could find.

 

Now comes the part of running through each sheet and entering them into the spreadsheet.

 

Any previous experience to share would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks again.

 

FinanceMuppet

[linchlosamkim]

Hi, I requested my last 5 years statements from HSBC but have only received the last 2 years. They have said that since prior to May 2004 all my past statements are held on microfiche and therefore do not apply to the DPA 1998. Has anyone else had this same problem and is it right that they dont have to send me them?

 

Lindsay

[FinanceMuppet]

Hi Lindsay

 

I do not claim to be an expert as I have only just started the process as you can see. However, in work I know that data protection requests are for 6 years and it does not matter what media it is on. I hope someone else out there can clarify this.

 

I sent the letter requesting 6 years on two accounts and they replied in one letter stating that they would be more than happy to oblige and even returned my £10. Then a couple of days ago 67 letters arrived with all our statements back to 2000.

 

FinanceMuppet

[barracad]

DPA requests are not restricted to 6 years - if requested, they have to send you all information recorded, no matter how old. However many companies do not keep records for longer than 6 years.

 

I am surprised HSBC have started using the microfiche argument as so far they have been sending out statement requests for the whole 6 years requested.

[FinanceMuppet]

Sorry intended to mention also, that our statements did change in format when we looked at them but these were very early (about 5 years ago) and they were still in sheet order. So I do not believe that they cannot supply the data.

 

Did you use the dataprotection letter from this site?

 

I hope this helps.

 

FinanceMuppet

[TaylorMade]

Message for Lindsay - I've just had confirmation the my Credit Card statements from HSBC are on micro-fisch, but they certainly have not used that as an argument not to produce them.

 

They did say that it is a minimum of 10-working-days to get the job done.

 

Hope that helps More information on my own thread.

[FinanceMuppet]

Finally after so many interruptions we have entered all of our charges onto the spreadsheet. All of the charges were defined as 'Total Charges' and no refused direct debit, etc. so I hope I have picked up the right charges.

 

Also the charges started at £27.50 then progressed to £125 over the years and I cannot seem to work out why. I have entered all into the spreadsheet for the six year period. What is considered a reasonable charge? Should I claim for all of these?

 

FinanceMuppet

[angela1606]

yes claim them all its the same with me went up from 27.50 to 125.00 my god what are they charging us for then

[FinanceMuppet]

Thanks Angela

 

Have you been successful yet?

 

This is one of two accounts that we are looking at but I think that it will be have the most charges, about £2,500.

 

The charges only state 'total charges' and are for going over the overdraft limit for any amount.

 

FinanceMuppet

[angela1606]

no not yet started my claim on 18th sending lba on monday if no joy im not expecting any im willing to go all the way they will be silly if they let it go to that stage as ive calculated that it will be another 770 as of todays date it goes up each day (lov it)

[FinanceMuppet]

Hi All

 

I have calculated our charges on the spreadsheet and it equates to £2,456.50 (£2,919.90 with 8%) for one account and £1,496.50 (£1,706.93 with 8%) for the second account.

 

I now need to send this data to the HSBC. I have downloaded the Letter - Priliminary approach for repayment and it states, "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 .

I enclose a schedule of the charges which I am claiming with this letter"

 

It includes overdraft interest in this statement and I have not included it as I thought that the interest was their legal payment but the charges was the illegal part.

 

Can anyone please confirm this?

 

Many thanks

 

Finance Muppet

[angela1606]

most people havent bothered with the debt interest as you can only claim part of it and its alot of work for a small amount of money i havent also dont forget when you send spreadsheet with prelim dont add the 8% colum that only comes into play when you get to moneyclaim stage

[FinanceMuppet]

Thanks Angela

 

So do you just modify the letter to state that the charges ar £xxx and leave out the overdraft interest?

 

Also do you just print the spread sheet and send it with the letter?

 

And, do you send it to the same person as the initial letter?

 

Thanks,

 

FinanceMuppet

[angela1606]

yes i just cut the interest part out of letter yes to sending spreadsheet with letter and yes again to last one hehe

[FinanceMuppet]

Angela

 

Thanks again

 

One last question though, did you send you letter recorded?

 

Finance Muppet

 

PS Can you direct me to the best set of instructions for the claim process?

[angela1606]

i did send recorded so i had proof someone there signed for it there is a step by step in faqs or i think its rdm or someone like that on this hsbc thread got a good one will try and find it

[angela1606]

here it is http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/hsbc-bank/20211-newcomer-then-please-feel.html

[FinanceMuppet]

Angela

 

What can I say but thank you once again.

 

I am sending our preliminary letter tomorrow. I will let you know how it progresses.

 

Finance Muppet

[angela1606]

good luck not that you need it xx

[FinanceMuppet]

Well, I sent in the Preliminary Approach for Payment letter a couple of weeks ago and have been away on a camping holiday. Arrived at home last night and went through the post eagerly, but no reply from the HSBC. However, this morning a letter has arrived from Colin Langdale stating that the bank does not agree with my claims and to contact the Financial Ombudsman if I wish to appeal.

 

So here goes..now printing off the Letter Before Action letter and getting down to the post office to send it to Mr Langdale.

 

May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped us throughout the process and especially to the Consumer Action Group for this amazing site. I will keep the thread up-to-date as the process continues.

 

Finance Muppet