About the OFT (not so) impending report - PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU'RE WORRIED

[Bookworm]

They don't come more gauche than the Cornish.

[HSBCrusher]

They don't come more gauche than the Cornish.

yes, there is plenty of us left!

[Bookworm]

Worse luck.

[Bookworm]

[Spiceskull]

Eh?

[Bookworm]

In Inspector Clouseau's words: It's a beump.

[Spiceskull]

Oh. And that is supposed to be humourous?

[empowered]

That was a clever one Bookworm! (and look how many have read the thread) Debs

[Will Scarlet]

Please excuse my bluntness but Mr L is talking cr*p. He is a journalist, not a lawyer, and we all know that you can't believe everything you read in the press. The only way this train is stopping is if a precedent is set in a court of law which would involve the banks justifying their charges in front of a judge. The only reason I can see for getting your case in early is to be in front of the person who has been incited by Mr L to drop his broom and sue his bank who then ends up in a court of law, and loses. I'll take my advice from the CAG thank you, not some jumped-up psuedo celeb who is lining his pockets from TV appearances.

[misspickles]

thanks for that bookworm, Im kicking myself for even thinking about taking the 'you have until April' statement seriously!!!

 

Love Miss P

[Spiceskull]

Of course, Smartie Farty Marty could be gearing up for an April Fools joke...and he really meant to say that you should claim the lot...then again I hear that the MSE website is currently running a "Porcine Wings" offer with a 50% discount...

[razor8]

Thanks Bookworm, you have set my mind at rest as hopefully I am nearing the end of my first claim. Was worried about losing half my money. I have to say that the more MSE goes on about Bank Charges the more frustrated I get with the information he seems to be giving out. I wouldn't say its wrong but he doesn't give the full picture. This site is far and away the most informative and supportive. Going to stop listening to MSE.

Thanks to everyone for all the information they provide.

[dolly]

I'm giving this a bump as there was an article in the Daily Express this morning with quotes from Martin Lewis telling everyone to hurry as time is running out for claiming.

[Just Frugal]

I'd guess the 'time is running out' stance has more to do with ratcheting up / sustaining the massive media coverage of late and in increasing the rush to claim that's seen 1000s and 1000s of new claims being initiated each week over the last couple of months - in other words I reckon it's more of a media / political / campaign hype tactic to keep increasing the pressure.

 

The media's gonna go nuts over the OFT report and there will be plenty of coverage of people saying just carry on and take em to court, just as with credit card cases.

[elsinore]

I'm giving this a bump as there was an article in the Daily Express this morning with quotes from Martin Lewis telling everyone to hurry as time is running out for claiming.

 

Yes, Dolly, the writer Holly Thomas, has written many good pieces about banks and their charges over the last few weeks.

However, this one is so wrong when she confirms Martin Lewis's panic cry to 'get your claims in before the OFT report'. Once again the old '£12 limit' rears its ugly head. Why don't they read what the 2006 report actually said?

 

My email is out of action so Bookie perhaps you would send a message to chris.torney@express.co.uk telling him his reporter is reporting tosh.

 

Els

[Bookworm]

Gladly.

 

Edit: Once I have read the article, that is, *I* actually like to know that I have my facts straight before jumping in. Anyone got a link?

[Will Scarlet]

Phoenix - whilst I love a good gag Martin is in the process of creating a monster (along with all the other so-called consumer campaigns in the broadsheets). I was speaking to a contact at my local county court last thursday and over 100 cases got thrown out on that day alone. With an average fee being £100 that's £10k in lost court fees and I'm sure that story is the same in court houses across the land. His behaviour is the height of irresponsibility and with the lack of support during the claims process him and his cronies are going to cost consumers millions in lost fees in the coming months. Have you actually seen the letters people are suggesting you download and send? They are laughable at best. Any bank seeing them will doubtlessly treat the claimant in a different way. I've seen it happen on endowments. The Mail put a letter on the net to complain about the mis-sale of endowments. 800,000 people downloaded it and got nowhere which, under the circumstances, was dreadfull because you only got one bite at that cherry. I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again. This is not a game.

I think we will see this problem escalate in the coming months and I fear that Mr L may soon be getting a rather nasty bite in the arse.

You reap what you sow.....

[Will Scarlet]

Please excuse my ignorance but what is a bump?

[Bookworm]

Bring Up My Post = BUMP.

 

Every time someone posts on the thread, the software brings the thread back to the top of the "new posts", and keeps it on page 1, ensuring more people view it. As you can see if you look on how many people have read this, it works rather well. ;-)

[Will Scarlet]

Consider yourself bumped!

[elsinore]

Gladly.

 

Edit: Once I have read the article, that is, *I* actually like to know that I have my facts straight before jumping in. Anyone got a link?

 

Annoyingly, there doesn't seem to be one, so I'll post it later.

 

Els

[monkey_uk]

Bookie, thanks so much for posting this. I cannot believe the amount of dangerously inaccurate information that Martin and his team are peddling.

[elsinore]

Today's Daily Express, Your Money.

 

Race to claim on bank fees

By Holly Thomas, Deputy Personal Finance Editor

 

 

Consumers hit by illegal bank charges are being urged to claim compensation from their current account providers before banks pull the plug on full refunds.

 

Next month the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is expected to cap penalty charges for misdemeanours – such as breaching overdraft limits – at about £12.

That was the upper limit the watchdog applied last year to unfair charges on credit cards. The OFT is concluding its investigation into the excessive charges made by banks which can result in consumers paying a £38 penalty for going £1 overdrawn.

During recent months, tens of thousands of consumers have successfully applied for refunds of all the bank charges they have paid over the past few years.

Bu it the OFT imposes an upper limit, banks are likely to refund only the difference between this limit and what they actually charged.

Martin Lewis from Moneysavingexpert.com said “After the OFT ruling consumers are still likely to get some of their money back but far less likely to get the full sum back without a fight.

“People should start their reclaims immediately. There’s nothing to lose by acting now but delaying could mean a full payout is more difficult”

Under UK law banks can only impose fees that reflect their administrative costs in dealing with such misdemeanours.

It is estimated to cost only £4.50 to deal with any default charge on a current account but if default charges are cut from around £30 to £4.50, banks would lose billions of pounds a year.

Mike Naylor at consumer group Which? Said “Profits from these excessive charges should never have been made anyway, and as we’ve seen from recent announcements, the banks are making big money”

Claiming charges back has been made easy by websites such as which.co.uk and moneysavingexpert.com offering free letters for consumers to send to their banks.

Many current account holders do not realise they can claim for charges for the past six years.

A new breed of compensation-chasing company is emerging to help people claim back unfair penalties but they charge hefty fees – up to 40% of the sum awarded.

While the ombudsman has recorded a massive increase in complaints about bank charges, a spokeswoman says it has won money back in all cases – and at no cost to the complainants.

_

 

Something to get yout teeth into, Bookie………..please!

 

Els

[mark casey]

I can't belive you are so against Mr L

he is the guy that got me to this site in the first place

If you read his site he doesn't say its your last chance before april

wha the says its your last chance to do it without it going to court.

the mistake he is making is that they won't pay you back all of it unless you actually take them to court ( not that you can get the case heard)

all he is doing IMHO is telling those that the court scares to do it quickly unless you are prepared to go to court.

What he SHOULD be doing is directing them here like he use to

also dont forget WHICH who also get a lot more mention about bank charges in the press

[mark casey]

Also i think the biggest bugbear in all this is the low amount of press this wonderfull site gets

its a shame that hardly any mention is made when all the papers pick up the stick for a few days