Advice Please On Starting A Claim For Bank Charges

[middenmess]

Opened First Direct Account in 1991 and have always had a £1000 agreed overdraft on it.

 

I have kept all of my statements from 1997 to date and have gone through them and have 35 charges over those years totalling c£1200 for exceeding the £1000 limit.

 

Whenever I've gone over my limit it has only ever been for a few days before I've returned it to below my agreed limit.

 

So my questions are..

 

Is it recommended that I just work out 8% interest on each of these fees from the dates [1997-2009] that they were charged to my account as I can't understand how compound interest would apply or be much more beneficial to my claim as sometimes the limit was only exceeded by a day.

 

I assume that I notify the bank that I wish to reclaim these charges together with a detailed schedule adding on the 8% [or do I omit the interest at this time?]

 

When the Bank responds quoting they are waiting on the OFT case to be decided,does that register my claim or do I then have to file my claim at court and receive official notice that it has been stayed.

 

Will going back to 1997 affect the way in which the claim is dealt with by the Bank--I'll rely on the fact that I've only just found out about my rights to reclaim these unlawful charges?

 

Anything else I should do?

[middenmess]

Reading through some of the threads on the FD forum it would appear that one of FD's spiteful responses to a request to pay back charges is to close down the account. [Charges I'd be claiming +8% would be more than double what my O/D is at present]

 

Should I be concerned by this possibility as I have my mortgage and a number of other payments set up on it with DD's and a much used debit card.

 

Should also mention that I pay them £10pm most months for the use of my account.

 

My credit rating was trashed by Barclays several years ago when I was a month late in clearing my business O/D when it was demanded back.[marked as 'satisfied' on credit report but they refuse to remove it, and by O2 for disputed £20 odd! ] so I might have problems opening a new account elsewhere.

[PaulR17]

Hi - me too?!

 

I'm probably being dumb, but can any one help us by pointing us to a dummies guide to starting the claim process please

[middenmess]

Hi - me too?!

 

I'm probably being dumb, but can any one help us by pointing us to a dummies guide to starting the claim process please

 

Hi Paul--it's looking unlikely as we appear to be on the 'Billy No Mates' forum here:)

 

But I can start you off although there are plenty of threads on the other bank forums that point you in the right direction.

 

 

If you've got all of your statements then you can make a start by identifying ,dating and listing all of the unlawful charges.

 

[if you haven't got the statements then make a Subject Access Request to the Bank together with the charge of £10 and within 40 days you should receive all the data that the bank holds on you including all your statements.]

 

Your list of charges will look prettier and more professional on one of the spreadsheets available from the Bank Templates Library.

 

There is also a template letter there which you send to the bank requesting them to repay your money back to you.

 

By the time you've done that there should be some advice from knowledgable caggers as to what the next step is.

[slick132]

Hi MM,

 

Looking in as asked.

 

Have you read the Interest Tutorial at Link No6 in my sig're below. This should deal with most Q's about interest.

 

Re the possibility of them closing the a/c, I can't comment on how likely this may be. However, see if you can set up another a/c elsewhere first, before you embark on the claiming process.

 

When you send off your Prelim Claim letter and LBA, hide the s.69 Int't figures on the SOC. You can only claim s.69 Int't when you file at court.

 

Re the test case, yes this will mean your case gets Stayed. However, you should file your claim as soon as the LBA's 14 days expires. As you have data going back beyond the normal 6 years, you'll rely upon s.32 Limitation Act 1980 to claim the older amounts.

 

I don't see the relevance of your paying £10 a month for your a/c (sometimes ).