Bank Charges Campaign Continues

[yourbank]

Which? have withdrawn their FSB amendment suggestion. ''too wide ranging'' and ''prefer a voluntary approach''

[determindator]

The Future of Banking Commission - Which? Campaigns

 

 

A link where you can participate.

Edited January 21, 2010 by determindator

[caro]

Which? have withdrawn their FSB amendment suggestion. ''too wide ranging'' and ''prefer a voluntary approach''

 

I think this is an indication of how difficult it is to pitch a campaign correctly for maximum impact.

 

I must say, I'm quite impressed at Billy Bragg's success in raising awareness on the issue of RBS bonuses.

 

The Future of Banking Commission - Which? Campaigns

 

 

A link where you can participate.

 

That's brilliant Termi. Thanks.

 

It would be good to go along and take part, but this is something that everyone can take part in, whatever their circumstances.

[caro]

BTW, had a letter from my MP today.

 

Thank you very much for your e-mail dated 11th January 2009 (was 2010 actually), on the subject of bank charges.

 

The Government has taken a look at the Supreme Court's ruling. We see that it has left open possible routes for dealing with the issue of bank charges. Some media reports suggested that the Supreme Court had closed off the opportunity for taking action. On the closer reading of the ruling it is clear that is not the case.

 

The Government does want action to be taken on the subject of bank charges and we have made that view clear. We are in discussion with some of the groups concerned about this and we would certainly be supportive of further action to try to tackle the problem.

 

Yours sincerely

 

James Plaskitt MP

[yourbank]

I think this is an indication of how difficult it is to pitch a campaign correctly for maximum impact.

 

I must say, I'm quite impressed at Billy Bragg's success in raising awareness on the issue of RBS bonuses.

 

 

 

That's brilliant Termi. Thanks.

 

It would be good to go along and take part, but this is something that everyone can take part in, whatever their circumstances.

 

Have you contacted Billy Bragg to see if he will take part in the celebrity endorsement thing since he has done something "financial services" type thing?

I'll find his agent for you.

 

Got it for you:

http://www.billybragg.co.uk/contacts/index.html

[AA99]

This is the headlines on the front page of The Times today;

 

"Obama takes on banks"

Is he big enough for CAG

[AA99]

On a much more serious note, I have just received an invite on my Facebook page from my local LibDem MP. Is there anything I can do or hand out while there???

 

Paddy Ashdown speaking in Thornbury

 

Come and hear the former Royal Marine, Lib Dem Leader and international diplomat speaking about his life and career

Type: Meetings -

Network: Global

Date: Thursday, 04 February 2010

Time: 20:00 - 21:30

Location: Thornbury Leisure Centre

 

Description

 

Paddy Ashdown is one of the twentieth century's most colourful politicians and will be speaking at a public meeting in Thornbury about his life and career.

 

He is well known for his 11 years as Lib Dem leader, but also for his four years running Bosnia on behalf of the United Nations. He also served in the special forces and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. He was knighted in 2000 and made a peer in 2001.

 

The event is FREE and open to all. Just click to accept this invitation if you want to come along.

 

 

 

[Desperate Daniella]

It would be good if we could get an officially designed CAG leaflet. Any designers out there?

 

Also, if we want to organize a protest, do we apply somewhere for the date? I haven't got a clue. Obviously to get a police presence, warn of blocked roads, and so on we need to do something like that.

 

I'd suggest we go for a date in April, after the clocks have gone forward and the evenings are lighter.

 

Would CAG as an organization make the necessary applications?

 

Then, once we have a date, we can write to our own MPs, post on facebook, contact celebrities and so on. The Election will be shortly after so it would be a great time to see where they stand when the electorate are watching.

[yourbank]

Daniella, who is the protest against?

What is the key message of the protest?

Will it be supported with a petition done by hand to the relevant department if it is against the government?

What is the key ingredient that will draw media attention(I feel like dragon's den here, ie key selling point)?

[Desperate Daniella]

Well, this is what we were discussing on the other thread and hadn't really reached a conclusion apart from the fact that we are totally sick of the whole system of unfair charges, including bank charges of course, but also things like late payment charges, unfair practices and so on.

 

Just two exampls: British Gas, and all the other utility companies for all I know, keep adding £14 to your bill if you don't pay on time. You haven't paid because you haven't got the money, so they add to the debt. I certainly never agreed to that in any contract with British Gas, so it is an unfair trading issue. Likewise, £4.50 on a bill if you don't pay by direct debit.

 

Neither of the above charges can possibly reflect the cost to the supplier.

 

It does not cost £4.50 to process a cheque.

 

It does not cost £14 to send out a totally automated letter.

 

The banks' charges don't reflect their costs. The Barclays Reserve is sheer usury, as are the new Halifax charges. I use my Reserve because I have to, not because I want to. No-one in their right mind would want to and because I have had the need for an overdraft of maybe less than £10 for one day in a week, I get charged £22 for using the facility for a week. It has cost me almost £800 over the past 15 months because they won't give me an overdraft for the same amount as my reserve. This is not fair. I can have the money if pay pay xxxx% or whatever for it.

 

All of the above and more are targeted at people who are struggling already. Those in the middle (who don't get paid megabucks for their work and the feckless who appear to get money thrown at them) are the ones who are bearing the brunt of all of this.

 

The whole system of all of it is rotten and we have been allowing it to drip, drip, drip into our lives for far too long.

 

So, everything about who we are protesting against is open to discussion.

 

I think we should have a petition based on what we decide the message of the protest is.

 

I don't see why the Petition can't have more than one thing listed because I think people who would sign it would be against the lot, but obviously it couldn't be too long.

 

Key ingredient is the sheer number of people taking to the streets protesting. I know a large number of people who are not on CAG who would come out on the streets to support this, and I am sure most people on CAG do so too.

 

Then of course we have been coming up with a number of celebrities who I hope would support us.

 

We would be speaking out for an enormous percentage of the population who are directly affected by all of the above, and absolutely sick and tired of it.

[AA99]

Daniella, who is the protest against?

 

The current government, the judges, the bankers, for starters.......

 

What is the key message of the protest?

 

If MP's take a hold of the aforementioned, they'll get the consumers' votes

 

Will it be supported with a petition done by hand to the relevant department if it is against the government?

 

Could be arranged

 

What is the key ingredient that will draw media attention(I feel like dragon's den here, ie key selling point)?

 

LOTS OF PEOPLE

 

And Daniella, agree with you 110%

[Desperate Daniella]

Thank you.

 

I'm sure we can do something if we work together. It just needs us all to put in our ideas and get something workable.

 

I mean, honestly, about half of what British Gas are billing me for gas and electricity is for their late charges. I know I'm not alone here. Thousands of people are being/have been charged these £14s and their shareholders are laughing while the rest of us are suffering.

[yourbank]

 

And Daniella, agree with you 110%

 

AA, with respect you have got to be specific, ie The OFT, The Supreme Court, Number 10, etc,etc,.

 

Organising a protest with police may take time.

 

AA, if you have no idea who you are protesting against or what then saying to the media Large people will turn out and 200 turn up, is not really a story. I know a journalist and have tried to suggest stories but there line is that unique selling point and currently you need a focal point to demonstrate and as discussed earlier, you need a celebrity endorsement(which is a selling point).

[AA99]

Likewise, yourbank, even suicide doesn't seem to be enough though does it?!

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/228805-yet-another-suicide-through.html

[yourbank]

Likewise, yourbank, even suicide doesn't seem to be enough though does it?!

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt-issues/228805-yet-another-suicide-through.html

 

AA99, not every single person who has debt takes their life and similarly not everyone who takes their life has debts.

However, if you go with an angle of parents of children/spouses of someone who has killed themselves and can show clearly that the financial institutions that they dealt with let them down then you might have something but what that is will be difficult to quantify.

If the message is not mass market and the protest not targetted then what you have is a small insignificant demonstration that no one will see or view unless they are registered on here. You need people and a message and celebrity endorsement, is IMHO a great idea if you can get the right message. If you see what CARO has said above re RBS bonuses, Billy Bragg has got publicity for it. You need that kind of thing.

[renegotiation]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general/243968-way-forward.html

 

Any contributions appreciated. Please don't reply on this thread.

[sweetjane]

Billy Bragg is going to be giving a speech at Speakers Corner about Bank Bonuses on Sunday - as many of us who can should go along to support him. see links: Bragg steps up RBS bonuses campaign | UK news | guardian.co.uk; NoBonus4RBS | Facebook

 

Time:Sunday, 31 January 2010 13:00

Location:Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, London

 

SJ

[AA99]

Billy Bragg is going to be giving a speech at Speakers Corner about Bank Bonuses on Sunday - as many of us who can should go along to support him. see links: Bragg steps up RBS bonuses campaign | UK news | guardian.co.uk; NoBonus4RBS | Facebook

 

Time:Sunday, 31 January 2010 13:00

Location:Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, London

 

SJ

 

 

Nearly 25,000 have joined this group in less than a week! Mr Bragg himself makes some good points about protesting:

 

Clearly, there are limits to this kind of internet campaign. It can make a difference if you are asking people to act on a specific issue that they themselves can control – for instance, buying a song to get it to number one. It can play an important part in rallying support for a political candidate, as it did for Barak Obama in 2008.

However, when seeking to challenge the actions of an institution or an individual, a petition – even a digital one – will only get you so far. Even if we get a million supporters, the calculation of those in power will be that we are nothing more than armchair activists whose engagement with this protest is limited to the angry clicking of a mouse.

If we are serious about putting pressure on the government to limit the RBS bonus payouts, then we have to find a way to demonstrate to them the strength of our convictions, something that takes this campaign beyond the social networking sites and internet chatrooms.

[indebtstudent]

yourbank makes many good points, I mean I'd love to protest about the crappy nature of consumer laws in this country. If others can ban these concealed penalties then why can't the UK?

 

However that is difficult to make into a campaing. The best I can come up with at the moment is the little guy argument. The government's position is not satisfactory and one of the factors in the OFT pulling out was the potential they would be held liable for the banks costs. Yet they have vastly more resources than the average private citizen. Consider also that not all but many of the people who were claiming thier charges back are poor.

 

The whole situation is just not satisfactory, and to be frank it NEEDS more exposure. This issue has been going on for years and during that time how many questions have I seen on Question Time about it. ONE. That tells you all you need to know about the media battle, not only are the banks winning it in terms of coverage (its mostly in thier favour) they are also winning it in the sense that there is silence most of the time.

 

Nobody seems to care that a lot of people are claiming thier charges back out of neccesity. Nobody seems to care that complaing to your bank is usually a complete waste of time and effort. But I digress :0

[indebtstudent]

Is there any mileage in a fighting fund and taking a US style class action? I would donate to such a fund. Is it by any means certain that costs would be awarded? This issue is of massive public interest and needs clarity. The test case did not achieve that by any means.

 

If we found one of two plaintiffs (is that the right word) where the

facts were most damning to the banks in terms of an unfair relationship, one where the charges really spiralled and the bank did nothing but turn the screws and funded thier legal challenge I think there would be a decent prospect of success.

[sweetjane]

House of Commons Public Bill Committee

 

this makes interesting reading - keep pressure on your MPs - Financial Services Bill going through Parliament.

[fergal71]

why target one group your bank with one idea.... if we get enough people lets threaten with starting a new political party ! costs about £500 called none of the above..... Then I suggest we get a list of injustices from a wide range of areas and ask for them to be looked at if not we facebook and press everybody to vote for non of the above( brewsters millions) the idea and 100,000 will generate mass interest and get a million votes overnight....

 

Non direct debit charges

bank charges

mortage costs

late fees

overlimit fees

high petrol prices

high food costs

high energy costs

[renegotiation]

Great thread Caro. I salute you.

[determindator]

532 sigs on the CRA petition, see post 34 for link

[danukindebt]

Petition Sign Here !!!! | Number10.gov.uk

 

532 and 6 months to run