fWhile every effort’s been made to ensure this article’s accuracy, it isn’t intended to be seen as legal advice and no liability can be accepted for any individual claimants who rely upon the information given.
This is a step-by-step guide, including template letters, to forcing your bank to repay the last six years charges for going beyond your overdraft limit, or cheque and Direct Debits bouncing. Plus there’s a specially developed calculator so you can add interest on top. Thus you can join the thousands who’ve already successfully reclaimed £100s or £1000s.
It’s a true consumer revolution and one this site’s proudly been a part of since the early days. I, and many others, believe the penalty charges banks and credit card companies levy are unlawful; the banks of course disagree.
THEN READ PART II
The Impact of Claiming Charges on Banking
PLEASE REPORT HOW IT GOES. Report successes/failures or feel free to read about others’.
Keep up to date on this ever changing situation!
There's no set precedent and the banks are still developing their policies to fight back. I aim to keep you updated on developments by including them as and when they happen in my weekly Money Tips e-mail (don't worry it's free and ad-free). Get the weekly email
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Reclaiming unlawful bank charges, in a nutshell
The law is plain: any charges banks levy on their customers must be proportional to the actual costs they incur. The simple question is, ‘does it really cost £35 to send an automated letter when someone’s gone 1p over the limit?’
Thus write to your bank asking for a list of your last six years’ charges, add interest on top and ask for a full refund. When it refuses inform it you’ll go to court under the small claims system. In most cases, the bank will simply pay out; one person received £17,500.
Yet this isn’t an official process like getting Missold Endowment Compensation; it's about challenging the big beasts of the banking world and threatening them with court action. Push it to its limit and you may find yourself in a real fight, so do your preparation and research and take this seriously. There’s no guarantee of winning, but so far the majority of people have.
A little bit of inspiration before we begin
Below is a MoneySaver's letter of success. It’s well worth a glance and then if you need further inspiration, take a read of other MoneySavers’ Success Reports
