What do I do if the bank owes me more than £750

[droid1701]

Hi was wondering what my options are as I have calulated that I have had roughly about £2000 of charges from HBOS over the last couple of years but living in Scotland limits my options. I understand that I can only claim upto £750 through a small claim without opening myself up to greater costs than £75. As I am on benefits this is a risk I am unsure about taking. Any advice on this situation is appreciated cheers.

[Bookworm]

 

So you want to reclaim your unlawful bank charges. Good.

 

The first thing to do is to read the FAQs. It contains the answers to most of the questions that get asked on this forum.

 

Then you need to read the forum material, especially the ones relating to your future claim. I also strongly recommend that you read Scotia's guide to claiming in Scotland, it will guide you in the differences of the Scottish system.

 

You need to understand what you're doing, at least a little bit.

 

Once you have your head around all this, and if you have questions that have not been answered, post your questions here on your thread, or your updates as your claim progresses.

 

You've taken the first step.

[o0oliambeeo0o]

Hi Droid1701, welcome, with regards to your post all I would say to do is read the threads and stickys in great detail like Bookworm says, they are a wealth of knowledge, I also have the same problem as you with regards to the £750 max limit, there is whats called a "summary cause" which could open you upto greater court fees should you LOSE again I would suggest reading for a few days to understand the processes, I would point out however the "summary cause" has a max limit of £1500.00, if you have a look at my thread you may find some useful info:

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=11139

 

You should decide the best action for you.

 

 

Good luck!

[droid1701]

Hi I'm back,

 

Personally delivered my preliminary letter to my Branch on the 3rd of July 2006. They said they would send it off to their head office as local branches don't deal with these requests. Still waiting on a reply though unless I recieve a satisfactory response I will contine with my shedule. I couldn't find anything on my statements regarding interest charges on my breaches so I have just asked for the refunding of the charges specified.

 

 

Oh was wondering if anyone saw Panorama the report on debt suicide. I visited the BBC website and informed them of this website as well as my intentions to reclaim my bank charges. Thought it might be a good idea if more site users sent messages in to the BBC "have your say" team as surely the more pressure brought to bear on the banks surely can't be a bad thing as if they had a defence they would have fought back long ago.

 

Will let you know how my situation progresses

[droid1701]

My current action is with the Nationwide for about £150 just thought I'd better clear that up to avoid confusion.

[droid1701]

Hey all got a reply yesterday it appears to be a standard letter the bank has come up with will post a copy when i get my scanner working. It doesn't really address any of the questions I askedjust blah blah terms and conditions you signed and accepted and so on. Then a disguised version of threating to shut down my account. It does say if I have any further queries don't hesitate to call. I am considering calling and saying do you mind if I record this conversation. My guess is they will refuse though that won't stop me from asking my questions or delay my time table. In light of the response I think I might adjust the LBA but will post it for comments prior to my delivering it personally to my bank.

[JMio]

It does sound like a Standard letter - dont let them rattle you.

 

Stick to your guns, and your timetable.

[droid1701]

Submited my LBA the day after it was due unforutantely it was a holiday here and was unable to print out my letter before so I think I'll give them the extra day to think. I did phone the bank and spoke with them saying I wasn't happy that they didn't answer any of my questions specifically regarding their costs in direct debit returning unauthorised overdrafts ect. I also said that I would continue with my time frame and as such would submit my LBA at the deadline of my letter. I also said I was ok with them refering my case to their Member Service Department for further review not expecting much though.

[droid1701]

Hey all just to let everyone know put in my claim on tuesday 1st of August so now just waiting to see. Thought it was really amusing that after that went to the shops and saw the front page of the daily mail going on about HSBC's huge profits and their blatant threat of ending free banking(thats a joke) if the OFT goes ahead with their intention of clamping down on the charges on bank accounts as they have with credit cards the result being that we will probably all end up paying around 2-3 pounds for our accounts. I have to say it surely has to be a first that the lender of money pays for the privelege of lending money. Well that at least is my understanding of the situation we the consumer pay monies into a bank account the bank invests this money we have loaned them and we receive interest on a pre agreed basis. Nowadays as a result of the vast profits they have made the banks have become an authority unto themselves an organisation with all the legal protections of an individual but without the responsibility. That will do for todays rant...

[droid1701]

Just recieved my claim forms from the court got my return date of 6/09/2006 and the hearing date of 13/09/2006 so now just got to wait and hear if the Nationwide will defend. Really can't wait to see what they do!!!

[charlieho]

Expect settlement soon - they offerd mine fairly soon although it was a wee bit short (I'va asked for the rest - see my Nationwide thread.)

 

Charlie

[droid1701]

Have recieved part payment in that I mean the bank has returned all my charges though have not paid my court fee or the 8% interest. Shortly after repaying my charges I recieved a letter from the bank saying they will be shutting down my account as it is clear that I am unwilling to conduct my account in accordance with the term the flex account terms and conditions as a result I will have a lot of work to do in preparation of my court case as I believe i can incorporate a request to the court for an injunction against the bank closing my account into my current action as I feel the contract is unfair hopefully the court will agree although the bank has paid part of the monies due.