Very OT:

[Spiceskull]

We have had representatives of the banks popping in from time to time, and in the main they tend to agree with the principles of our complaint - after all, they are normal people like ourselves...mortgage, family, debt...

 

What about the shareholders - we hear in the papers about the fat cats, lapping at the cream, but what about your Joe Average shareholder, the guy with £1,000 locked up in shares. Sure, he may get £30-£50 quid in dividends, but this has to be measured against charges...

 

Come on shareholders...you have a view on these issues...what do you feel about charges?

 

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.

Spiceskull v HSBC.

Thank you Consumer Action Group.

Read my blog.

 

[Guest Alison82]

I used to had shares of £2,000 with Lloyds, got about £40 twice a year, then had to cash them in as I was broke

[gothicf0rm]

small shareholders make up a fraction of the total. most of the shareholdings are by pension companies (why dont people with pension schemes in each company get to vote on company policy?) and so are carried out at a totally immoral level. note its always the small shareholders who oppose big payrises and so on rather than the large investment funds. every year i vote against the renumeration of the banks i have shares in. my holdings are between 1000 and 5000 in each bank so it makes no difference at all... my brother and my parents do the same.

[joneshousehold]

I have raised this question before. If there is an AGM coming up surely any shareholder can ask a question. A nice juicy well worded question about unlawful charges could be raised. It would be even better if a media type was there too. It would be even better still if that questioner is ejected. After all every knows about the man at the Labour Party conference and all he did was say 'shame'.

Sadly I only have shares in Dominos Pizza and Shell (two good tips I should say!) but I'm sure we must have some small shareholders. Perhaps someone else can word the question and another alert the media. Do we have all the necessary contacts from within our ranks?

[Spiceskull]

I would have thought that most people here who bank with demutualised building societies still have an equity share. Does this permit them access to the AGMs?

 

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.

Spiceskull v HSBC.

Thank you Consumer Action Group.

Read my blog.

 

[heppy23]

I would have thought that most people here who bank with demutualised building societies still have an equity share. Does this permit them access to the AGMs?

 

Sold mine. It would get you into the AGM where you can make a nuisance of yourself.

 

I support West Ham FC and someone facilitated us being able to buy one share so we could get into the AGM and make a nuisance of ourselves (asking awkward question). You get the annual reports and a christmas card!

[Drivewasher]

I have been thinking over last week or so, you know the advert for nationwide bloke saying all the fees go to share holders meeting for bubbly etc;

Bur seriously if the banks are paying out on the last minuite or when bailifs go in,then do they not have a duty to the shareholders not to waste money?

If they are going to pay up anyway, then say a claim for £600 would esculate to +£80 court cost, £100 if plaintife has to fill questionare in (can't remember what it's called) when bank say they will defend +£100 aprox for baliff.That's £860 in payment for a £600 debt. Not good eye candy in a proffit sheet eh!

Just think shareholders, how much bubbly would £280 get you

[thegoodsamaritan]

All companies legally HAVE to act in their shareholders best intersts (ie making them as much money as possible) If a company realises that breaking such and such regulation will cost the company £50,000 but that they will make £200,000 out of it then most of the time they will just go ahead and break regulation. They have teams of accountants whoses sole job is to look at this stuff. (A good example I recently heard is that legally you actually have to opt in to receive mailings/phone calls. But most UK companies just assume that you have given permission. They benefit from increased sales at currently and even though they are breaking the rules nothing is done about it)

 

At the moment the UK banking industry is making £3 Billion a year pure profit from charging people illegally so a few threats of court action is not going to impact that.

Most people are generally too lazy, too busy or too weak minded to follow through all the way and reclaim all their charges and the banks realise this - thus by dragging it out as far as the banks can maybe only 1 in 10,000 customers will file a court claim and the other 9,999 not get all (or any!) of their charges back.

This site is a great way of educating people and I think that the word is spreading on illegal charges and how to get them back. It will take a lot of hard work and determination, but the table is slowly starting to turn.

[JohnL]

Hi

 

First post to this site, but I have lurked for a while.

 

Disrupting AGMs etc seems to be shooting ourselves in the foot. Would a better tact be for someone to pose a question to the directors that complained about the great unwashed who were reducing the payout to shareholders by having the temerity to claim back charges. And also to ask what the directors were going to do to stop this. Quoting a recent newspaper article would be even better!

 

This way we may get the directors' real views on the legality and usefulness of their actions.

 

JohnL

[Spiceskull]

Would a better tact be for someone to pose a question to the directors that complained about the great unwashed who were reducing the payout to shareholders by having the temerity to claim back charges. And also to ask what the directors were going to do to stop this.

A very good reverse tactic - and one that would certainly be unexpected...it would be very interesting to see what they say. Good call.

 

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.

Spiceskull v HSBC.

Thank you Consumer Action Group.

Read my blog.

 

[howardbrown]

At the moment the UK banking industry is making £3 Billion a year pure profit from charging people

this might be a silly question, but i'm going to ask it anyway.......

 

where did you get that figure?

[Spiceskull]

It wasn't my quote, but I think it came from a Which? report.

 

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.

Spiceskull v HSBC.

Thank you Consumer Action Group.

Read my blog.

 

[howardbrown]

It wasn't my quote, but I think it came from a Which? report.

it's just that even in the 87 page annual results report from hbos, exact ways that profit is earned aren't detailed, so i was wondering if other banks did

[dave]

It's an estimate by Which! for the 2004-2005 financial year.

 

Last year, they estimate £4billion.

[Spiceskull]

it's just that even in the 87 page annual results report from hbos, exact ways that profit is earned aren't detailed, so i was wondering if other banks did

I don't think the bank will put unlawfully earned money down as a figure in writing...if they did we would all be winners...

 

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.

Spiceskull v HSBC.

Thank you Consumer Action Group.

Read my blog.

 

[mountainofdebt]

I used to work for a bank and it always used to make me laugh when some of the staff, who had shares in the bank, would moan when the pay rises/profit share percentages were announced as they were usually very small but then pat themselves on the back when they received their dividend cheque.

 

They couldn't - or should that be refused - to see that there was a link between the two.

[genlovesben]

Just reading this post.. a bit behind the times but never mind.

 

I have been with the chelsea building society since i was 5. I have a share account.

 

Im sure i get invites (still addressed to my mothers) to the annual AGM. i will have to ask her. I know when i rang them about 5 years ago to ask if my account was still active i was advised to whack some extra money in my account incase they floated and then i would get a windfall.

 

I dont know how agm's work.. if i can get in could i nominate someone to go on my behalf. I havent got the temperament to stand up and ask questions with out getting into a screaming argument with people and threatening to thump someone (which in this case might get press attention but the wrong kind)

 

Gen

[joneshousehold]

I havent got the temperament to stand up and ask questions with out getting into a screaming argument with people and threatening to thump someone (which in this case might get press attention but the wrong kind)

 

Do you know that is such a fantastic image!

 

I have no idea about the answer to your question but I think you should just turn up and go for it. I am a member of the Derbyshire Building Society - perhaps I should do the same.

[genlovesben]

just looked into it a bit further.. not a share account..Yet but would be if they were floated (got confused as thats what i was told by the blokey on the phone)

 

But it looks like i could attend... just trying to find out if i can declare myself insane so someone else can go LOL

 

 

Im glad i gave you an interesting mental image

 

Gen

[Spiceskull]

I think it was Bankfodder who suggested an alternative tack when attending an AGM. Instead of querying the charges as an angry customer, you could instead ask what the board are doing to stop all these 'lawfully applied' charges being returned to customers. After all, you are a shareholder, and the board has a legal duty to maximise your return...if the charges are lawful, why is the bank giving away YOUR money?

 

See the steps I took to get my bank charges back.

Spiceskull v HSBC.

Thank you Consumer Action Group.

Read my blog.

 

[thecornflake]

I think it was Bankfodder who suggested an alternative tack when attending an AGM. Instead of querying the charges as an angry customer, you could instead ask what the board are doing to stop all these 'lawfully applied' charges being returned to customers. After all, you are a shareholder, and the board has a legal duty to maximise your return...if the charges are lawful, why is the bank giving away YOUR money?

 

Good point. I like that idea.

 

Also I remember hearing a while ago (I think Mark Thomas did it) that as long as you hold at least one share in a company you can go to their offices and request to see the contracts of all the directors.

[Spiceskull]

This topic was closed on 03/07/19.

If you have a problem which is similar to the issues raised in this topic, then please start a new thread and you will get help and support there.

If you would like to post up some information which is relevant to this particular topic then please flag the issue up to the site team and the thread will be reopened.

- Consumer Action Group