VICTORY AGAINST HSBC

[PAUL CARSON]

Hi all,

 

I thought I would post details of my victory against HSBC for charges amounting to £700 levied from my current account, which they have now repaid without me having to start court action.

 

I wrote to them in January giving them 21 days to refund the charges to my current account. They acknowledged the complaint and undertook to provide a full response by the expiry of my letter before action.

 

At the end of the 21 days they wrote to me again saying they would need an extra 10 working days to provide a full response. I phoned them to ask why they needed the extra time as they had already undertaken to provide a full response within the time limit. They put me on hold and came back to me saying a reply was going out to me in the post. A few hours later I checked my balance and the charges had been refunded.

 

However, they then took the amount of the refunded charges out of my current account and used them to reduce my loan account, which was not in default and never had been. They stated that it was a condition of refunding the charges that the money was used for this purpose.

 

I phoned several times to dispute this and they refused to allow me to be put through to them or to discuss the matter with a manager. I had to write in to complain and they, with some reluctance put the money back into my current account.

 

In a matter of weeks I got back the full amount of my charges by simply writing to them and without having to start court action. It is clear HSBC know they cannot defend these charges in court and I hope other people claiming against HSBC will also receive swift settlements to their claims.

 

HSBC's overdraft charges can only be payable in respect of the contract being breached, this is made very clear in their automated correspondance and within the T&C's. It would be very difficult for them to establish to a court that the contract was not breached and that they were provding a service. If they were able to do this, they would be unable to establish any entitlement to the charges they levied, because these charges were, and could only have been incorporated into the agreement as being payable in respect of the contract being breached and not varied.

 

Additionally, if charges such as charges such as the Card misuse fee (which are levied in addition to the Overdraft fee) were tested in the courts they could only be found to be entirely punitive and therefore unlawful. The matter as to whether they a were genuine pre-estimate of loss does not even apply to them.

 

The Financial Services Authority requires HSBC to adequately respond to complaints made to it by its customers:

 

http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/DISP

 

If you state in your complaint that the charges were payable in respect of the contract being breached and that they are punitive and unlawful they would have to fully address this matter in their final written response to you and clarify their position regarding the charges, unless they respond to the complaint by refunding the charges as a gesture of good will, which would settle the complaint and probably removes their obligation to provide a more clear written response.

 

If they refuse to refund the charges and you get a vague and ambiguous response from them, which does not fully state their position regarding the legality of the charges they have levied from you, I would pursue them for a full final written response. They would have to provide you with one which clarifies in writing matters such the charges being payable only in respect of the contract being breached and the Card misuse fee being entirely punitive. This final written response would be legally binding upon them, and it would be very difficult for them to establish in writing any clear legal grounds to have levied the charges from your account.

 

Good luck with your claims

 

 

Paul Carson

[PAUL CARSON]

Hi all,

 

I thought I would post details of my victory against HSBC for charges amounting to £700 levied from my current account, which they have now repaid without me having to start court action.

 

I wrote to them in January giving them 21 days to refund the charges to my current account. They acknowledged the complaint and undertook to provide a full response by the expiry of my letter before action.

 

At the end of the 21 days they wrote to me again saying they would need an extra 10 working days to provide a full response. I phoned them to ask why they needed the extra time as they had already undertaken to provide a full response within the time limit. They put me on hold and came back to me saying a reply was going out to me in the post. A few hours later I checked my balance and the charges had been refunded.

 

However, they then took the amount of the refunded charges out of my current account and used them to reduce my loan account, which was not in default and never had been. They stated that it was a condition of refunding the charges that the money was used for this purpose.

 

I phoned several times to dispute this and they refused to allow me to be put through to them or to discuss the matter with a manager. I had to write in to complain and they, with some reluctance put the money back into my current account.

 

In a matter of weeks I got back the full amount of my charges by simply writing to them and without having to start court action. It is clear HSBC know they cannot defend these charges in court and I hope other people claiming against HSBC will also receive swift settlements to their claims.

 

HSBC's overdraft charges can only be payable in respect of the contract being breached, this is made very clear in their automated correspondance and within the T&C's. It would be very difficult for them to establish to a court that the contract was not breached and that they were provding a service. If they were able to do this, they would be unable to establish any entitlement to the charges they levied, because these charges were, and could only have been incorporated into the agreement as being payable in respect of the contract being breached and not varied.

 

Additionally, if charges such as charges such as the Card misuse fee (which are levied in addition to the Overdraft fee) were tested in the courts they could only be found to be entirely punitive and therefore unlawful. The matter as to whether they a were genuine pre-estimate of loss does not even apply to them.

 

The Financial Services Authority requires HSBC to adequately respond to complaints made to it by its customers:

 

http://fsahandbook.info/FSA/html/handbook/DISP

 

If you state in your complaint that the charges were payable in respect of the contract being breached and that they are punitive and unlawful they would have to fully address this matter in their final written response to you and clarify their position regarding the charges, unless they respond to the complaint by refunding the charges as a gesture of good will, which would settle the complaint and probably removes their obligation to provide a more clear written response.

 

If they refuse to refund the charges and you get a vague and ambiguous response from them, which does not fully state their position regarding the legality of the charges they have levied from you, I would pursue them for a full final written response. They would have to provide you with one which clarifies in writing matters such the charges being payable only in respect of the contract being breached and the Card misuse fee being entirely punitive. This final written response would be legally binding upon them, and it would be very difficult for them to establish in writing any clear legal grounds to have levied the charges from your account.

 

Good luck with your claims

 

 

Paul Carson

[BankFodder]

Congratulations and thankyou for your very explanatory post.

 

I hope that you will visit this forum from time to time to encourage others who are doing the same thing.

[BankFodder]

Congratulations and thankyou for your very explanatory post.

 

I hope that you will visit this forum from time to time to encourage others who are doing the same thing.

[molly-in-the-trolly]

Really usefull information, thanks very much and well done!

[PAUL CARSON]

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