Alex Harries's diary

(Off-topic. Again. Wonder when I'll ever do some work...? ;o) ) 

I mentioned earlier that I was planning to chase my old bank to recover several years' worth of bank charges since an Office of Fair Trading report concluded that all charges over £12 were illegal.

The BBC News website has now run a story covering the growing movement of people who are taking their banks to court to reclaim their bank charges and, much more interestingly, they have also proved a "how-to" guide (including template letters) to reclaiming bank charges.

In a nutshell, the process goes something like this:

• You send a Data Protection Access letter to your bank by recorded, demanding all your bank statements for the last 6 years. You enclose a £10 fee, and the bank has 40 days from the date your letter is signed for.
• After you receive your statements (which usually takes 41-ish days, according to most of the reports from successful claimants), you calculate all the charges your bank has applied - bounced payment charges, unauthorised overdraft charges, etc - and list each one in a spreadsheet.
• Print this list of charges (your "Schedule of Charges"), and sent it - along with a "Letter Before Action" - to the bank, which warns them that you are demanding all your charges back, and will issue a Small Claims Court action in 14 days if they don't comply.
• The bank will normally reply with a partial settlement offer - this is usually only a fraction of your amount (an example recently was a settlement offer of £45 for a claim of £3,300. They won the full amount back without having to go to court). You can either accept the partial settlement - which usually includes an (illegal) clause which tries to stop you later claiming more charges back - or you can send them a reply which politely tells them you'll be continuing with your court action.
• You will probably also have to issue proceedings in the small claims court, which costs up to £120 (you can claim this back) before the bank pays up.
• Eventually - usually after a period of around 2 1/2 months - your bank should pay out. Go celebrate!

Most advice websites - including discussion forums where more experienced members assist people to make their claims - recommend accepting offers above 90%.

More and more banks are now delaying until the court papers have been issued before paying up but, to date, I haven't heard of a bank going to court because, as the BBC News article mentions, the banks know that they cannot substantiate charging £45 just because someone's gone 50p over their overdraft limits.

It's important to stress that, although there is a huge amount of help for every step of the way, and everyone from laywers to numpties like me can do it without a solicitor's help, the process does involve the threat of court action and there is a remote chance you'll end up having to fight your claim in court. Don't panic, but do remember it.

If you want more help, you could do worse than to sign up on this community forum (consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forums) - as there are thousands of people on there who have either claimed successfully, or are going through their claims now.

If you do decide to go after your bank, good luck :o) /al

Useful weblinks:

• BBC News article on bank charges
• BBC News guide to reclaiming bank charges
• Consumer Action Group discussion forums - include...
  
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