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If you use
information on this site please let us know
if it's useful. E-mail: mail@bankcharges.info (we
only publish first names to protect your identity).
Law
centre helps 1 million people battle banks over unfair fees (post
your comments online to
the Evening Times and support Govan Law Centre)
your
comments & experience
all e-mails
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listed - most recent first
[679] ----- Original Message -----
From: PF
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 5:27 PM
Subject: Scottish Court
> Hi
> Has anyone taken Bank to Court for non-compliance of Data
Protection Act
> (Subject Access Request)? I am looking for advice/help ie
which form do
> I use to do so in Scotland. My local Sheriff Court were
unable to
> advise me which form I did this on!!!! Furthermore they
have also
> stated that fee exemption/dispensation does not apply to small claims
> which I do not believe is so. Any help/advise.comments
welcome please. [GLC note: DPA non-compliance
should be dealt with by a complaint to the Information Commissioner
in the first instance, not the court. For
how to do this click here; separately, fee exemptions (for those
in receipt of certain benefits, tax credits or civil legal aid apply
to all lodging dues - you can download the
Scottish Courts Administration exemption form here (there are
similar exemptions for England & Wales; and Northern Ireland].
[678] ----- Original Message -----
From: Patricia
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 12:22 PM
Subject: re bank charges
i would just like to inform you i sucessfully had £1,168
returned with no argument from rbs -motherwell branch. thanx 2 the
information on your site.
well done
[677] ----- Original Message -----
From: Emma
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2007 8:09 PM
Subject: RBS charges
Thanks for your website and offer of help.
I sent the attached letter and info to RBS on 20/1/07 detailing that
I have been charged just under £3,000 within the last 2 years!!!
I have had no reply or an acknowledgment from them.
What do you think I should do? Letter 2 isn't really appropriate as
they haven't said no yet. From reading comments on your site, other
RBS customers have had the same problem.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.
[GLC note: If your bank is refusing to reply or correspond, try
sending our new 'Ignored?
- send this letter'].
Emma
[676] ----- Original Message -----
From: Russ
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 6:03 AM
Subject: Bank of Scotland
I received my statements for my account with the Bank of Scotland in
November, totalled up the charges and it came to £747.00
Wrote letter one and 8 weeks later they sent me a letter offering
£640.00. I refused to accept this and telephoned the
customer service number and I disputed this with the agent. She
finally agreed to refund all my charges in full. Charges were
reimbursed into my account last week.
This website is invaluable and I have informed everyone at my work to
do the same!!!!
Russ
[675] ----- Original Message -----
From: Barbara
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 10:14 AM
Subject: Halifax refund
Hi
Used your letter to request details of all my charges over the past 6
years, giving them 40 days to respond as I had not kepr statement details.
The bank called me after about 25 days and asked if I was going to
persue a refund
I advised them I was. They then asked it we could resolve it in a
conversation on the phone. gave me all the details and advise me that
I had had £1900 in charges over 6 years
They offered to send details told them It was ok I believed them.
They offered £900 to settle there and then.
I refused and said while they probably had a right to charge me I
though the charge was excessive at £39.00 so I offered to settle
at 2/3rds (£12.00 as per the OFT )
Said I would accept £1300. They settled there and then on the
phone, sent me a letter of confirmation in the post the next day
which I returned same day and the money was in my account in 2 days.
I must say I feel they have been fair and I was happy to settle
without having to go through all the letters.
It was £1300 I didn't have before so I am happy.
Barbara
[674] ----- Original Message -----
From: joanna
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 5:34 PM
Subject: NATWEST!!!
Hi,We worked out that over the last 6 yrs NATWEST had charged us over
£3000,thanks to this website we sent letters 1 & 2 but
received no reply,so I rang the Ombudsman and filed a complaint
I have been told by the Ombudsman today that Natwest are offering us
the full £3298 in charges in writing (we have yet to receive the
letter). The Ombudsman also told me that anyone that has gone through
them for their bank charges has so far received 100%. Court is a good
option but for those of us that don't know how or cant afford the fee
up front the OMBUDSMAN is there to help,they understand and are very
helpful and FREE.Thanks for a brill website, without it we wouldn't
have known this was possible.Goodluck to everyone out there still
trying to BEAT the BANKS!!!
[673] ----- Original Message -----
From: ken
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:17 PM
Subject: refund of charges
> HI, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR EXELENT WEB SITE,WE ARE
CLAIMING OUR CHARGES BACK AS A FAMILY AND SO FAR HAVE RECEIVED
£3500 BACK INTO MY ACCOUNT.(keep up the good work.) REGARDS KENNEY
[672] ----- Original Message -----
From: Roderick
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 8:51 AM
Subject: Court Case against Abbey
I have filed yesterday a case against Abbey National for £3115
in bank charges. See attached the content of the filing.
I went through the whole procedure before this and was treated very
badly by them. Loads of conflicting advice. Some things I was told:
1. we dont have to sent you statements and if you dont have them you
cant go to court
2. we dont have managers here you can speak to but we'll call you
back (never did)
3. you can go to small claims court unless you first complain to the
financial ombudsman
4. charges "that what you get for taking the banks money"
When I asked them for £3500 they "offered" me £385
as a "goodwill gesture". I refused it but they insisted on
leaving it in my account. They then advised that because they could
show I had already received a payment I couldnt got to small claims court.
From reading your site I had hoped things wouldnt be this difficult
but Abbey do seem to be one of the worst banks for claiming refunds.
Roderick
[671] ----- Original Message -----
From: Stuart
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 9:15 AM
Subject: Alliance & Leicester Success
Procedure followed as per instructions, a full refund of £600
received after lodging a smalls claims action. Their letter contained
a statement not admitting legal liability and also a threat of
further action which created a smile as the account is closed. At the
same time they have defended the court action.
Stuart
[670] ----- Original Message -----
From: Kellaway, Vicki - The Lincoln Echo
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 10:17 AM
Subject: RE: Media enquiry
Do you live in Lincolnshire? Have you received unreasonably high bank
charges? Are you contesting them in court? Have you won your charges
back from your bank? The Lincolnshire Echo newspaper, which covers
areas including Lincoln, Gainsborough and Sleaford, is looking for
people from these areas, and surrounding villages, who would be
interested in sharing their experiences. Please call reporter Vicki
Kellaway on 01522 804328 or email her on vicki.kellaway@lincolnshireecho.co.uk
[669] ----- Original Message -----
From: Paul
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 7:18 PM
Subject: RBS Bank charges
Hi,
Thanks for your helpful information and your letters also.
I sent letter 1 from your site and received a reply from RBS within a
week asking me for more detail of the charges and sent me a reprint
of my bank statements free of charge. I sent another letter detailing
all of these charges and received another letter a week letter
advising they would consider my request.
I received a final letter today (30/01/07) advising that while they
don't accept my complaint, they will give me £940 as a gesture
of good will. This is the full amount that I had asked for!!
Once again thanks!
[668] ----- Original Message -----
From: janet
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 7:11 PM
Subject: HSBC
thank you for your website. what a result. sent letter
one on 6 Jan 07 claiming £3,000 from 3 accounts over 6
years. received offer today, which we have accepted, for £2,925.
[667] ----- Original Message -----
From: Jim
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 3:39 PM
Subject: Excellent advice
Thanks to this great web site, I have been able to reclaim £720
from Halifax Bank of Scotland for a period from Nov 2001 to mid
2004. As being in Scotland, you can only claim up to £700
in small claims court, but they repaid the fees charged and the
interest calculated, and also paid the £39 filing fee. I
followed the manner of letters provided by the site. They first
offered £300 for the entire amount suggested of about £1400,
but I refused. After the second letter, no response other than a
phone call which I did not take and did reply to. Then filing the
small claims court and made it for the period indicated. I still have
approximately £500 still outstanding on charges from mid 2004 to
present date, but will persue that a bit later.
Once again many thanks for your excellent advice and manner in which
to claim back these charges from over zealous banks.
Thanks Jim
[666] ----- Original Message -----
From: James
To: m@govanlc.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 11:18 AM
Subject: bank refund- got it
hi I only contacted the Coop Bank 17 Jan with step 1 and 2 and also
requested 6 years statements. out of the blue today we
received £769.50
this does not include debit interest or overdraft arrangement fees
but we will settle
all I wish to do is thank you so much
I don’t know whether I told you before all this came from a
really nasty trick the Bank did on one day in January
they let my switchcard through at lidl £11 and Halfords £8
and charged £35 each time, the same day they stopped a cheque
for the newsagent £7 and charged £35 for that so a weeks
papers, car shampoo and kitchen towels cost me £105
if this happened to everyone it would be a crime
so I cant thank you enough and hope that you keep up the good work
yours
James
[665] ----- Original Message -----
From: Adele
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 11:49 AM
Subject: bank charges
letter sent off today (30/1/07) recorded delivery to the bank of
scotland - I've only went back on charges over 5 years - the total os £3787!
Including over £1000 for last year - all sent via email! Which
costs pennies and not the £30 a time they charged me - worst
month was May when I was away with my son in hospital in England -
they charged me £653!
Anyway I'll wait and see what happens - but thanks to the feedback on
your site I now know - stick with it to the end!!
Adele, Glasgow
[664] (posted late) ----- Original Message -----
From: Andy
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 2:41 PM
Subject: Natwest Refund
I would like to say a huge thanks for information on your site, I
recently used step 1 letter to request a refund of £2,795 from
the Nat West Bank. Although this can be a long process it is
worthwhile. I received an letter stating the usual that they
believe charges were fair blah blah blah but as an exceptional
matter would offer me £1,400. I had a loan with the bank with a
balance £2,650 which if settled would cost £2,228. As I
wanted to pay off this loan I spoke to the Manager and stated if they
refunded enough money to pay the loan I would not persue the claim
any further and would use the funds clear the outstanding debt.
It did nt take long for them to come back to me and agree so I if you
have outstanding debt and are willing to use the money to pay it off
it can help you get more money back without having to send step 2
letter. Good luck to everyone trying, keep at it and don’t give
up !!!
[663] (posted late) ----- Original Message -----
From: darren.
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Monday, November 13, 2006 1:39 PM
Subject: Halifax bank charges refunded in full!!! £6174
> Dear Govan Law Centre
> A big thank you for your site. Thanks to your information
and the letter
> templates which I hve followed to the letter I have just
recieved £6174 in
> my bank account from Halifax.
> I began the process several months ago with the first letter
requesting 6
> years worth of statements. This was an ordeal in itself
because they sent
> me the last 2 years worth of statements twice before telling me
that the
> system couldnt handle such a request. It had to be
actioned manually.
> I then took a couple of months to compile the list of charges
into the
> first letter. and still did not send it for a few more
weeks. The first
> letters, (one for honoured transactions and the other for dishonoured
> transactions were sent on the 11th October 2006. A reply was
recieved on
> 14th October stating that Halifax disagreed with the the OFT's findings
> and that I would not be offered a refund, and that if I was still
> dissatisfied to go through the Ombudsman.
> Letter 2 was duly sent on 14th October with a similar reply
being recieved
> on 19th October. No offer had been made as a gesture of
good will.
> I sent a 3rd letter on 19th October stating that it would be innapropriate
> to tadke my complaint to the Ombudsman, and that I would be
submitting my
> claim through the court on 20th October.
> Unfortunately, due to the Halifax levying a further £250 in
charges to my
> account in the meantime, I was unable to submit my claim to the small
> claims court until 24th October. I did this on-line.
It was so simple.
> I monitored my claims progress on line noting that it was
acknowledged on
> 3rd November. This was followed by hard copy of the
acknowledgement in
> the post. I was at first dismayed to read that Halifax
would be
> deffending the entire claim. I was expecting to have to
appear in court
> in early December.
> However, On Friday 10th November I was ecstacic to open my
on-line banking
> to discover 2 deposits had been made into my account, the first
for £5924
> (my claim) and the 2nd for £250, this being the court costs.
> I have yet to recieve any further communictions from Halifax regarding
> closing my account, although I am expecting it.
> I must urge anyone who has been a victim such as I have to
follow these
> initially time consuming steps. The end result is difinately
worth the
> effort.
> I had a £500 overdraft with my bank, and on many occasions
asked before
> exceeding my limit if it could be temprarily extended to cover known
> expenses until I could replenish my account. Every time I was
denied, and
> because of this it has been Halifax that has kept me down for so many
> years.
> My initial demise was not through banking foolishness, but
through a
> matrimonial breakdown and an unscrupulous business partner.
So it would
> clearly pay the big banking institutions to listen more closely
to the
> needs and requests of thier customers.
> This customer certainly feels like he is KING right now.
> Well done Govan, and once again a big thankyou. Keep up
the fantastic
> work. Darren
> Worcestershire
[662] (posted late) ----- Original Message -----
From: Jane
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 11:01 AM
Subject: Royal Bank of Scotland
I have to amdit to being a bit sceptical when I first had your
website link passed to me but thought hey ho nothing ventured nothing
gained. I graduated this year and while I was a student I had
around £1500 of charges applied to my account for one thing and
another. I followed your instructions and sent letter one only
to be told no sorry we worked within your terms and conditions and
don't agree with the OFT. I sent letter two and one week later
received a no admission of guilt but as a goodwill gesture offer
letter to refund £961. I realise I could have tried to
have this offer increased but decided to accept it and funds will be
paid into my account within 5 days.
Thank you for your help and advice as I had actually previously tried
to have charges refunded at branch level over a year ago only to be
told no, so this was a major result for me.
[661] (posted late) ----- Original Message -----
From: Darren
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 10:44 AM
Subject: HSBC
Dear all, I must say a huge thankyou to my buddy wayne who sent me a
link to your website and a massive thankyou to you for providing the
templates and information needed to get MY money back. I sent your
step 1 letter together with a £10 cheque to HSBC requesting a
list of charges. Within 2 weeks they replied saying that this
information will follow shortly and enclosed my cheque saying that
there wouldnt be any cost.
After 2 weeks or so and 60 statements being posted through the letter
box I ascertained the amount of charges and followed the step 2
letter. After 6 weeks still had no reply so I emailed and rang them
asking for a response or I would seek legal advice and issue
preccedings. Within 4 days I had the response I wanted, I asked for
£1,750.00 to be refunded and they made me an offer of
£1,500.00 on the basis that they were not accepting liability.
So I am going to take the money and run! Thanks again!
[660] ----- Original Message -----
From: Sam
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 30, 2007 7:29 AM
Subject: Natwest
Hi,
Thank you for your site, I used the first letter to Natwest and got a
full refund straight away of £1700.00. A good will gesture they
said but truth is that they know they have ripped people off.
Thanks
Sam, London
[659] ----- Original Message -----
From: Craig
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 10:57 PM
Subject: b of s refund
Just received £789 from Bank of Scotland after taking out a
small claims court action. I am now taking out another to get more
due money back. Thanks for the helpful website
[658] ----- Original Message -----
From: Bridgette
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 9:42 PM
Subject: Cooperative bank charges
Hi I have just received £1120 from the cooperative bank today
for charges they took within the last year from my accounts.
I will be going back 5 years to claim as I know they have charged me more.
Regards
Bridgette
[657] ----- Original Message -----
From: Rach
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 9:33 PM
Subject: Unfair bank charges
I would just like to say thank you for providing such a wonderful
resource and the support to go after the "big" banks.
I sent a letter to Natwest 7 days ago requesting the refund of my
unfair bank charges - and to my surprise I received a letter stating
that they would be refunding the charges to my account!
The letter I sent was the first letter you recommended to send. I
just added a little detail about how I had been banking with them for
15 years, always been in credit etc and sent it on its way directly
to my branch manager with a copy to head office.
I have been so pleased with the result I just want to let other
people discovering your website as I did - that it is possible!
I thought my amount was small and wouldn't be worth chasing - but
believe me it is!!
Thank you - without your website and resources I still would probably
be wondering how to word my letter!!
Rachel
[656] ----- Original Message -----
From: Radigan
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 7:11 PM
Subject: charges back
Many thanks we used the letter and sent it to our bank in December
and on 27th January we had a reply. They are going to pay us a
substantial amount back or as they put it a good will gesture. I
would advise anyone who has been hit by these bank charges to send
this letter and hopefully they too will receive their money back.
[655] ----- Original Message -----
From: Tom
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 6:49 PM
Subject: Halifax Hits Back - A Warning!
Hi,
Just to let everyone know Halifax Plc has just refunded in total over
£5000 in charges covering the last 5 years.
It came at a price. As a Halifax customer for over 40 years and after
being messed about I raised several complaints with the Halifax
regarding treatment from telephone and branch staff. My account was
suspended all my income for four weeks was snatched by Halifax. I was
told, never written to, it was because I '..complained about charges'.
Why? Because I foolishly told them if nothing was to be done I would
take my complaint to Financial Ombudsman Service. I am now in a
position where I cannot pay mortgage or some bills because they only
accept payment through Direct Debit.
So heed my advice open up another account with another bank before
you declare what a bank now clearly sees as 'open warfare'.
Halifax may have given me £5000 on paper but have manipulated
figures and caused me at least the same in damage to my
creditworthyness as well as distress to my family.
If full refund which I got, was offered at start all distress would
have been avoided.
These are people who don't care about you, or anyone else, they just
want to make a fast buck.
Don't let them win but don't lose out either.
Tom
[654] ----- Original Message -----
From: Jason
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 9:43 PM
Subject: Bank charge refund.
Thanks for all the useful info on your site! I eventually got a
refund of £190 off of the Bank of Scotland after a period of
several months of letters. At first they point blank refused to
refund late payment fees on a credit card, after a while I was
offered £95 as a token of their commitment to me as a valued
customer! A couple of letters later I was repaid all charges out of
court as a further gesture of their commitment to me as a customer,
although they refused to admit that they were acting in an unlawful
manner. Thanks once again, I probably wouldn't have got the refund
without your site. Well done!!
Cheers!
Jason
[653] ----- Original Message -----
From: Russell
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 4:27 PM
Subject: Three succesful claims
Thank you for the help and advice on your website. I have
pursued three main protagonists:
Halifax plc - £2,200
Claimed a refund for all bank charges going back 6 years. They
made an offer of £1,000 in response to a letter before action,
which I refused. After no further response, I issued an online
claim. Halifax filed a standard acknowledgement but paid in
full before the end of the 28 day deadline to file a defence.
Capital One - £1,800
Claimed a refund for all credit card charges going back 6 years.
They made an offer of £500 in response to a first letter, which
I refused. After no response to a final letter before action, I
issued an online claim. Capital one filed a standard
acknowledgement but paid in full before the end of the 28 day
deadline to file a defence.
"The Woolwich" as Barclays Bank plc - £2,800
Claimed a refund for all bank charges going back 6 years, plus their
own penalty interest rate. They made an offer of £1,000
after I issued an online claim. Barclays filed a standard
acknowledgement and then entered a very detailed defence, clearly
designed to deter the faint hearted. The claim was referred to
my local court and I had to pay another £100 to have the a claim
allocated to a particlur track. I provided full claim details
to the court and Barclays paid in full (including the additional
court fees) a week before the first hearing date.
Halifax plc - £2,200
Three months after the first claim was settled, Halifax transferred
£190 from my bank account to my credit card account without
permission or notice before or after the event. This caused a
further raft of charges and interest to build up and they made
derisory offers to refund small amounts of my own money in response
to the usual letters. I issued a new claim a week ago and have
added full penalty interest at their own rate, plus my own charges of
£12 per item for my won administration costs and inconvenience
caused by denial of access to my own money.
Barclaycard, GE Money, Mint, Amex
Have all refunded individual charges in response to one-off letters.
Yours Faithfully,
Russell
[652] ----- Original Message -----
From: margaret
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Sunday, January 28, 2007 1:48 AM
Subject: refunded bank charges
hi there just thought i would let you know that i received a refund
from my bank.last year alone i paid over £1200 in charges as i
had been out of work for a few months,they gave me back £640 but
i am writing to the manager again for a further refund on charges i
incurred in 2005 as i have been informed that you can backdate a few years.
thank you
margaret
[651] ----- Original Message -----
From: Paul
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 25, 2007 10:02 PM
Subject: Bank Charges
Still pursuing for some other friends and Family, but so far results
have been pretty impressive.
SELF
Monument Credit Card (Barclays) £988.73 Settled in full
MBNA EuroBank £485.00 Settled in full
MBNA EuroBank £2500.00 Settled in full
Marbles Card(HFC Bank)£2300.00 Settled in full
Nationwide Buildind Society £3000.00 Settled in full
BROTHER: HBOS £1900.00 Settled in full
In Law: HBOS £1870.00 Settled in full
InLaw: BOS £617.00 Settled in full.
All paid out after receiving Courtletter. Not one went to Court!!
[650] ----- Original Message -----
From: Marc
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 1:38 PM
Subject: Nationwide.
Claimed 6 years charges for 2 accounts, £3019. Paid full amount
claimed in 1 month before court action. EASY.
Marc
[649] Original Message -----
From: tony
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 12:06 PM
Subject: un fair bank charges
I have just won an out of court settlement with lloyds tsb for £2000
i was supposed to go to court on the 30th of this month.
Lloyds will take you all the way and as in my case pay out when you
decided to follow through with court action.
tony london
[648] ----- Original Message -----
From: Rachel
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 2:13 PM
Subject: unfair charges
having recieved £1789 refunded in charges from NATWEST i
gleefully accepted even though they stood firm in there FINAL
decision which was no(HA) I took my case to the financial ombudsman
who were very good in helping the NATWEST come to there (OTHER FINAL
DECISION) which definetley helped out with xmas. thankyou so much for
this site its been a god send. .........please be aware of
other sites who claim to help you get a refund for a percentage
because tho financial ombudsman do it for free without going to court
aswell..with lots of thanks rachel x
[647] ----- Original Message -----
From: Kerry
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2007 11:14 AM
Subject: Bank Charges
I have just received £3749 as a "full refund" from
Bank of Scotland.
Thank you.
Kerry
[646] ----- Original Message -----
From: dawn
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 8:42 PM
Subject: we got our money back
thank you very much , we followed your advice and we have recieved an
offer of £8204 . the full amount that we claimed for , all it
took was two letters and a phone call to the halifax,bank of scotland
telling them that i would not accept an offer that it would have to
be the full amount or i would take them to court and would claim the
interest on that amount . i didnt answer their calls to me i waited
for a letter and it came with the full offer . so anybody out there
doing this just keep at them . dont be nasty but be firm and you will
get your money
thanks andy
highlands
[645] ----- Original Message -----
From: stewart
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Sunday, January 21, 2007 4:06 PM
Subject: Got a refund.
> Thanks for the advice I sent letter one 2 weeks ago - heard
nothing then sent letter 2 - 5 days after sending this I was sent a
letter from RBOS offering me a settlement figure of £1816!!
Amazing the full amount and not arguing!!
> Delighted with this - they also said in their letter they would
offer me a different account if we ever went into more charges, but
thats okay as I have opened another account for security.
Thanks for all your help.
[644] ----- Oriinal Message -----
From: Helen
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:07 PM
Subject: I got a refund
I sent the first letter to them and altho they said in their letter
(RBS) they found their charges fair they would refund £114.00.
Thanks so much
Helen
[643] ----- Original Message -----
From: keith
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 11:18 AM
Subject: bank refund
hi i recived an offer from barclays of £725.00 this morning this
has been 9 days from start to finish,could you tell me if i should
accept this offer or ask them for more as they owe a lot more than
this amount or shall i just accept it [GLC note: see our comment to e-mail
[163] below].
regard
keith
[642] ----- Original Message -----
From: Carol
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 10:39 PM
Subject: I won
Hi Guys, its Carol, again just thought I would say a great big thank
you for this site and the advice and encouragement given. I can now
confirm I have received £3,685 from my 3 RSB accounts, all I can
say is hold your nerve it’s worth it the end I think brings my
total to to nearly £5,000. So once again hang in there and thank you
Carol
[641] ----- Original Message -----
From: Gerry
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 1:34 PM
Subject: Unfair Charges
Sir,
I have just recieved £190 in refunds(full amount) from The Royal
Bank of Scotland due in unfair charges as a result of declined
transactions. Of course the 2 page letter from the bank did include
the immortal phrase,'..we are refunding charges as a goodwill
gesture..', but I will not hesitate to use the 'Govan Law Letter'
again in the future , if the need arises.
I will also be spreading the good work that you do all my family and
friends, and thank you for your public spirited effort to rid this
pollution from our society.
Yours
Gerry
Coatbridge.
[640] ----- Original Message -----
From: daniel
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 12:23 PM
Subject: HSBC refund
I got my letter this morning refunding £350 for charges made
when i went over my overdraft limit
I had no problems at all with HSBC refunding me the money.
Thanks
Dan
[639] ----- Original Message -----
From: HPW
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 11:23 PM
Subject: HALIFAX REFUND.
Just to say thank you for such a useful site.
I have just had a £1300 refund from the Halifax. I started the
process in September 06 and it went as far the Halifax stating that
they were going to defend the claim in court&ldots;
Today I received my money back in full with no explanation - as
yet&ldots;I have had to use all the letters and issue a summons
(£120) . I am now back in the black which is where I was before
being charged ludicrous amounts for going an initial £5
overdrawn ( and being charged £58 for the privilege&ldots;..)
Do not be intimidated by the banks threatening letters. Just keep
referring back to this site for information and other claimant's
experiences&ldots;it's worth the effort&ldots;
Thanks again
HPW
[638] ----- Original Message -----
From: michelle
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 11:01 PM
Subject: bank charges refunded!!!!
THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!
After following your advice and sending the first letter, I have just
recieved a letter from the Bank of Scotland offering to refund the
full amount of charges £617.00 as a goodwill gesture, although
they stated clearly that any future charges will stand and they will
close my account should I fail to manage it correctly etc etc.....
So I guess i'll be looking for a new bank very soon then as I have
just recieved two new charges or would I be pushing my luck to try
and claim those back too!!
THANKS AGAIN
Michelle
[637] ----- Original Message -----
From: Susan
To: m@govanlc.com
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 7:52 PM
Subject: unfair bank charges
Dear All,
reading the emails sent to you gave me the courage to go for my
unfair charges, so it is only fair to tell my success stories to
encourage others. I sent letter 1 to Bank of Scotland - £520,
RBOS - £320 and Clydesdale Bank - £460. The first two sent
me a letter saying they would look into the matter before settling in
full although the RBOS says any further claims and they will not be
willing to allow me to keep my current account. The Clydesdale bank
have sent me a cheque for £260 and on sending the second letter
have still dug their heels in, so it is off to court with them. I
also sent a letter to Egg credit card who have threatened to make me
pay my full amount of debt immediately if I pursue the matter, would
appreciate advice on that one. However, keep reading the letters and
go for it everyone. Also, when you receive a result please email to
give others encouragement to do so
Thanks a lot
Susan
[636] ----- Original Message -----
From: Neil
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 5:48 PM
Subject: Abbey
I sent your first letter in December and the Abbey said they needed 4
weeks to have a look.
Today, when I checked my account, they refunded the full £280!
Thanks for the great info and advice!
[635] ----- Original Message -----
From: Prince
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 12:15 PM
I claimed a refund from HSBC worth £ 580.00. After 15 days I got
a letter offering £ 567.00. Result!
Of course, they stated that this was no admission of liability and
that they are only settling for economic reasons.
Everyone should go for it&ldots; it only takes a few minutes of your
time and a letter sent by registered mail.
[634] ----- Original Message -----
From: martin
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:58 PM
Subject: (no subject)
I would like to let you know that I was offered all of my bank
charges going back to when I first open my account which is
£3,266 I would like to take this opportunity to thank your
company for the two letters I used in order for me to successfully
get all of my unfair bank charges back.
Martin
[633] ----- Original Message -----
From: Dionne
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 3:06 PM
Subject: Barclays & Woolwich
Just a quick note to let you know I used the information provided on
your website and I have received £350 from Woolwich and £300
from BarclayCard. In both cases, this was half of the amount of the
total charge I requested to recover, as they claim they deducted the
£12 they are legally entitled to charge. I sent the second
letter to BarclayCard challenging the decision, however they wrote
back stating that was the only amount I was going to receive and then
they credited the money to my account even though I hadn't accepted.
I'm not taking the matter any further as I don't have the time to do
so right now. However, I am in the process of recovering the charges
incurred on my MINT credit card. I will let you know how it goes.
Just wanted to let you know how much money I have received so far and
to say a big: 'Thank you!'.
Dionne
[632] ----- Original Message -----
From: Colin
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 2:54 PM
Subject: successful claim
I too was successful in claiming charges back from Alliance and
Leicester, although only a few hundred pounds, £560, the
principle was the same. Alliance and Leicester tried every threat and
trick in the book but ultimately they paid up, with my costs included
as well. Never ever back down.More power to your web site
Colin
[631] ----- Original Message -----
From: dale
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 2:05 PM
Subject: bank charges
Dear Govan
thanks for all the info on bank charges, I claimed £1.350.00
from barclays on the 2 Jan 2007. then in todays post 17th jan 2007 I
got an offer for £1.000 thats just after the first letter.
I am not exepting this offer, and i will be going for the full amount
plus the intrest.
thanks again
Dale
[630] ----- Original Message -----
From: Robin
To: male@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 7:49 PM
Subject: refunded bank charges
After a lot of hassle the Halifax paid out the full amount of my
claim £3100+£120 court fees on the 29 December 2006.
I started my claim in July 06. The Halifax refused at first to
make any payment, they then made a goodwill offer of £1100 which
I refused. They followed this up with some quite intimidating
letters suggesting I contact the ombudsman etc, but I read your site
again which gave me the confidence to see it through to the very
end. At the beginning of December 06 I issued court proceedings
against the Halifax and on the 29 December 2006 the full amount of my
claim appeared in my bank account. A few days later I received
a letter from the court advising me that the Halifax were going to
defend the claim. I then received a letter from the Halifax
confirming they were going to defend the claim even though they had
already paid out. I then received a letter from the Halifax
saying that they were not going to defend the claim purely for
economic reasons.
I would advise anybody who is having second thoughts to see it
through, you will get your money. Thank you for your invaluable information.
Robin
[629] ----- Original Message -----
From: Graeme
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2007 2:51 PM
Subject: First Direct
My bank charges over 6 years were well in excess of the small claims
limit of £5,000. I went to the Financial Ombudsman Service,
which is a free, easy to use system. After only 2 months, First
Direct have agreed to refund £6664, my initial claim in full.
Don't be afraid of the power of the banks, even they are subject to
the law of the land. Thankyou for providing such a useful site,
especially the letters, I've recommended it to many people, it just
shows what people power can achieve, Many Thanks, Graeme
[628] ----- Original Message -----
From: THOMAS M
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 6:56 PM
Thank you very much for all your advice. After requesting my bank
charges of £532 to be refunded from RBS, they have offered me a
full refund. That was after only sending the first letter. Thanks a
Million. That's a total of £1500 we have had refunded in the
last 3 months.
Thomas & Claire
[627] ----- Original Message -----
From: MORRAY
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2007 3:59 PM
Subject: refund from barclays
Wow, a friend told me about this site, but to be honest did not
believe it would ever work. That was until i did all as per
instructed and then received a cheque from Barclays for £470.00.
So I feel it only appropriate to thank you, and to spread the word to
all my friends, Morray
[626] ----- Original Message -----
From: John
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 8:55 PM
Subject: Halifax Charges
Dear Sirs
Thanks for all the fantastic information on your website. Halifax
have settled today for £1,408. This is only around 50% of the
charges however more than I ever dreamed of getting back.
Thanks for your help
[625] ----- Original Message -----
From: X
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 4:43 PM
Subject: Rbs?First Direct/Lloydstsb
Just to let you know I have recovered thus far the following as a
result of following your advice;
RBS £879
LTSB £310
First Direct £485
Total: £1,674
LTSB made an immediate offer in full following my second letter.
First Direct made the offer in full following my first letter and RBS
paid up after failing to acknowledge my claim filed in court and
after judgement was entered......after a threat of the bailiffs and a
member of the financial press present to witness the bailiffs
entering the RBS branch. Almost disappointed it didn't happen. I am
in the process of filing a second claim with RBS, they have entered a
defence, but my its poor. RBS' solicitors (not the courts) have asked
me to provide further info on the charges. As all the details were
supplied on a spreadsheet with my request for a refund, I have told
them in no uncertain terms that I will not assist them in their
defence of the claim and that they need to recover all documentation
from their client, including my correspondence. In all honesty I
think they are banking on the defence looking intimidating - but
trust me when you break it down, it boils down to them hoping to get
it thrown out on a technicality - which I have ensured can't happen!!!
DO NOT ACCEPT 'gestures of goodwill' for reduced settlements. I work
in banking and from an insider's point of view I can assure you, you
will get your money. Banks are seeing these claims every day and in
some instances have hired specialist teams merely to deal with the
increased bulk of payments made as a direct result of bank charges
claims. The majority of banks anticipate at some stage if the
customer pushes hard enough, paying these claims.....it is cheaper
than contesting them. Equally, the influx of claims and the
investigation that is currently underway into bank charges by the OFT
is as a direct result of the consumer's complaints. The British
Banking Association has reluctantly agreed to assist in the
compilation of the report......but the banks are unhappy as the
reduction in these charges which is likely to be enforced following
the report's completion, signify a substantial decrease in the banks'
income......in a retail banking market that has become very competitive!!!
Well, I shall follow this up with an update on my second RBS claim
when its all decided.
[624] ----- Original Message -----
From: Chris
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 9:39 AM
Subject: Bank of Scotland Charges
Thanks so much for your help. Please add another £1250.00 to
your total.
Chris
[623] ----- Original Message -----
From: Derek
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:41 PM
Subject: Refund of Bank Charges
Dear Sir
Further to all the good advice available on your excellent web site I
approached LloydsTSB for the refund of £250.00 charged to my
account over the previous six year period. After the second letter
relating to court action, the full amount was replaced into my account.
Thank you
Jenny
Northampton
[622] ----- Original Message -----
From: Sarah
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 6:52 PM
Subject: Thank you!
I just wanted to say thank you for an excellent web site and advice.
I sent the first letter to Abbey three weeks ago to reclaim charges
of £220 incurred over the past three months.
I have just received full reimbursement of these charges from Abbey
and can't believe how easy it was to claim this back.
Many thanks again.
[621] ----- Original Message -----
From: Angie
To: m@govanlc.com
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 3:50 PM
Subject: Bank Charges
Hi
I hope you can help me. Your web page on bank charges is wonderful
and thanks to you I received an offer of £4092 which I have
accepted, however the Bank of Scotland that I have had the problems
with and who have given me the money are not so keen on lifting the
Defaults that they placed on my husband and I, defaults that were
only there because of the amount of charges they were placing on the
account every month. I have written to them further regarding this,
can you help any as this is the only problem we have on our credit
files and this was only placed on us due to the level of charges that
were on our account. we spoke to them continuously and they did not
at any time help us and they also did not inform us of the defaults.
Can you help???
Thanks
Angie
[620] ----- Original Message -----
From: david
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 3:42 PM
Subject: Refund!!!!
> Thanks Govan law!!!!
>
> Got a letter from Bank of Scotland today to tell me that they
will be
> refunding all my charges.... A WOPPING £5000... yip thats
FIVE THOUSAND
> POUNDS :-) :-) ;-)
>
> Thanks so much for all your help!!!
>
> David
[619] ----- Original Message -----
From: Peggy
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 4:54 PM
Subject: Nationwide refund
Dear all at Govan Law Centre
Many Thanks.
I recently used your letter templates Steps 1 and 2 in order to write
to Nationwide. They had taken £120 from my account for 4 direct
debits that were 'over limit', Nationwide did not inform us of this
in any way - my wife noticed the money had been taken while checking
our account online. I received a polite refusal from Nationwide and
offers of their complaints procedure. Ten days after sending Step 2
letter I registered a Court claim online, this was issued to
Nationwide officially on 4 January. I have just received a letter
from Nationwide acknowledging that they have repaid £150 into my
account (£120 returned fee and £30 Court costs), they did
not mention the word 'Court' in their letter - presumably I am meant
to believe that the Court action played no part in their decision to refund!!
Many thanks for fantastic site
[618] ----- Original Message -----
From: Errol
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 4:16 PM
Subject: step 1
hi,
I have just received a letter from Barclay's offering £430 for
the past six years of charges incurred however they amount to
£830 which is a bit of a difference. so I am sending them letter
2 to demand the full refund.
many thanks for this useful info,
Errol
[617] ----- Original Message -----
From: brendy
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 4:11 PM
Subject: Result!
Hi i emailed you just over a week ago outlining my intention to
demand up to 12 years worth of charges refunding. Well today on the
phone i managet to get £1067 dating back to Feb last year that
department advised me to forward the letter onto another dept
(concerns and queries team) regarding the previous 11 years.
Thankyou for the advice and If/when I get more refunds ill fire
another email your way!
Regards
Brendy
[616] ----- Original Message -----
From: jehangir
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 12:56 PM
Subject: Bank Charges - First Direct
Good day to everyone. By following the steps laid on this
website I have successfully retrieved £735.00 back from First
Direct in charges I have paid. I only recently became aware of this
website via a friend and now recommend this website to everyone I
speak to and state that I am proof that it can be done. I also show
them the letter from First Direct that states that they stand by
their charges and only on commercial basis credit this amount as the
time and effort for them to go to court would not be viable.
To be honest I found that First Direct were very co-operative and
that they even sent out the last 6 years statements free of charge.
All I can say that to anyone and everyone is to carry on fighting for
your money from unfair charges.
This whole process just took a few hours out of my time and now I can
start 2007 with an extra financial boost.
Good luck
[615] ----- Original Message -----
From: helen
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 7:01 PM
Subject: HSBC bank charges
Hi,
I sent letter number 1 back in October 2006. I was able to do this
quickly as i had a registered online account. I was able to go back 5
years and retrieve all of my statements. The charges amounted to
£466.00. I did not receive a reply, so i sent the same letter
again in November 2006 asking why they had not responded and could
they please do so ASAP. I received a letter telling me they were
looking into the case and i would hear back from them by 2nd January
2007. In December i received a FULL refund of £466.00 which they
put in my account immediately. A great start to the New Year!!! Thank
you so much for all your help.
Helen, Carlisle
[614] ----- Original Message -----
From: Carol
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 5:36 PM
Subject: Abbey National Refund
I just had £340 refunded from Abbey, thank you so much for
providing this service.
[613] ----- Original Message -----
From: A
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Friday, January 05, 2007 3:37 AM
Subject: RE: Reclaiming from LLOYDS TSB -Successful
Hi,
I have been pursuing Lloyds Bank, for my charges, amounting to
£935.06, I started this in Oct 2006, Today (04 Jan 2007)i have
recieved a letter from LLoyds (Paul Touff - Customer Service Officer)
that they will credit £750.00 into my account within the next few
days!! - Now.... I am considering rejecting this and demanding my
full claimed amount? I'll have to sleep on this!!
And this was before i actually sent the Court Claim Form!
I am now considering to attack my other banks/credit card companies.
I will keep you posted-----
[612] ----- Original Message -----
From: Chelt
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 8:54 PM
Subject: (no subject)
Hi Big thankyou ..... your site has been so useful... I bank with RBS
i went
through all my statements and charges where just over £1600, i
sent first
letter, i had no response for at least 3 weeks i called them, it
seemed they were
constantly fobbing me off. At last 2 months later they have agreed to
pay the
whole amount back.... excellent and this was there first offer.... I
am well
chuffed.... thanks
[611] ----- Original Message -----
From: DAVID
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 8:55 PM
Subject: Royal Bank of Scotland
Dear All,
Many thanks for your invaluable advice. I Wrote to RBS using the
template for the 1st letter just before Christmas claiming
£310.00 from the last six years. Today I received a reply
offering a full refund !! what can I say, just off to draft the same
letter re my partners Halifax account, I`ll keep you posted.
Wishing you all a happy and prosperous New Year, ours is, thanks to you
Regards
Dave
[610] ----- Original Message -----
From: Jacqueline
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 5:02 PM
Subject: hi
Hi,
I received £750.00 from my bank. I was asking for £4,000.00
back from charges incurring over the last three years. In one way I
am pleased to receive some monies but on the other it is a far cry
from the amount I asked for.
Please advise me if I should one more time to see if I can get more
of these charges recouped.
With kind regards,
jacqueline
[609] ----- Original Message -----
From: C
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 6:12 PM
Subject: Refund bank charges
Bank charges claimed :£750
Refunded: £750
Last six years (lloyds tsb)
THANKS to your website i received full compensation for my claim
today.I sent standard first letter and recieved a knockback for
charges.I then sent my own 2nd letter saying how can the justify
£30 for sending a punched out letter from a computer telling me
i was overdrawn.I received letter today telling me "as a gesture
of goodwill" they will refund my charges.So people get claiming
your money back.
[608] ----- Original Message -----
From: Steven
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 3:05 PM
Subject: Barclays
Hi,
Many thanks for your help but I'm after one quick question.
I sent step one to Barclays and straight away got offered £1k!
Do I accept and if not can they go back on it?
Thanks
Steve
[607] ----- Original Message -----
From: Leigh
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 6:18 PM
Subject: HSBC Bank Charges
> Hi,
>
> I just wanted to thank you for your assistance in recovering excess
> charges from my bank. I sent off Letter 1 a couple of months ago
to HSBC
> head office to recover £570 of charges that had been
applied to my
> account. I recieved no correspondence since that time and was
just about
> to send another letter when I recieved notification from them
that they
> would be putting £430 in my bank. Fantastic!
>
> Leigh
[606] ----- Original Message -----
From: patricia
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 4:30 PM
Subject: halifax/bank of scotland refund
>A most sincere thank you for your invaluable advice as
> it has resulted in the bank finally offering me £2300
> .... They stalled and offered £600 but I refused so
> they said that was the end of the matter. I intended
> going to court but decided to ring the ombudsman and
> make a complaint too. Five days later I got the offer
> which I will be accepting. It has not been easy as
> the bank does drag it out but believe me it is worth
> it so if you are reading this and losing hope, don't!
> Go for it. the site is marvellous and I tell everyone
> about it. You deserve a medal!!
> Neil
>
> Patricia
[605] ----- Original Message -----
From: Louise
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 2:16 PM
Subject: Halifax
Hi
I just wanted to say a BIG THANK YOU!!! Halifax owed me £810 in
bank charges over 3 years, I sent the first step letter off and
Halifax got back to me within 14 days offering a Goodwill gesture of
£552 ! As is it January I am obviously very short for money so I
accepted their gesture and I have now received the money.
Now I know that banks etc will pay up, can I now do the same for all
my credit cards and loans as well? Also can I claim for bank charges
on closed bank accounts?
Thanks Again
Louise
[604] ----- Original Message -----
From: Rebecca
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 10:45 AM
Subject: Natwest Charges
I got a refund of £4000 from Natwest literally 2 days before the
court case! However they still applied charges from the date I issued
the court case in May to the month of the court case in November.
They are trying to argue because I accepted the £4000 I cannot
claim for these charges but I clearly told them from the outset that
any additional charges from May are a seperate issue as the claim was
for 2002 to April 2006. As such they again are being difficult so I
will be taking them to court using a solicitor this time as I will
take it all the way if they do not pay the full amount. (I accepted
the £4000 but this didn't include interest they had charged me
on the fees or the court fees!).
I had an offer from Argos card services as a goodwill gesture of
£120 when I am owed £250, which I declined. I also have
Littlewoods Visa, Preffered Mortgages, Additions and Black Horse to
chase too. All these charges were accrued when I had to stop work due
to a neurological illness and although I explained my circumstances
they all continued to charge me!
I will let you know how I get on.
Rebecca
Northampton
[603] ----- Original Message -----
From: Anthony
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 8:47 PM
Subject: Intelligent Finance
Thank you!
Between 2001 and 2005, my partner returned to University; it was a
struggle with only one wage coming in to the house and the banks gave
us a 'hammering'.
Intelligent Finance
I used the two pro forma letters provided on your website to which
Intelligent Finance responded with the usual 'the charges were as per
their terms and conditions' replies, so I issued a small claim from
my local County Court. The bank failed to respond to the claim and as
a result, I was able to secure judgement in default. I was in the
process of having the judgement transferred to Scotland in order to
seek enforcement in the Sheriff court (I have my mortgage with the
Halifax, so I was reluctant to sue the Halifax directly) when the
bank paid up in full. I recovered £496 (bank charges) plus
£114.17(judicial interest) and £80 (court fee).
The Cooperative Bank
I used the first of your pro forma letters to complain about the
£2426.50 in charges that had been deducted from my accounts over
the past six years. Two weeks later, I went to the cash machine and
much to my surprise, I found that I had more money in my account than
I was expecting - the bank had refunded the entire amount.
Cooperative by name, cooperative by nature! I subsequently received a
letter from them apologising for the charges and saying that they had
been refunded as a gesture of goodwill. Perhaps they realised that if
I took them to court they would have had to pay me a further £700
in interest and fees...
BarclayCard
I used letter number one and after about a month, Barclays wrote back
to say that they had reviewed the charges and they had refunded
£141 (the difference between the charges that they had imposed
and the £12 maximum specified by the FSA). I have since raised a
small claims action in order to recover the remaining £424, but
I have received notice from the court that the bank intends to defend
the claim. I'll keep you informed about how it progresses.
Once again, thank you very much for your excellent website, without
it the banks would still be 'taking the mickey' out of us consumers
and furthermore, as the banks had been getting away with it for so
long, in recent years I noticed that other companies (e.g., insurance
companies, public utilities, telecommunications companies and so on)
were trying to get in on the act and impose penalty charges of their
own. I expect that they will be thinking again now!
Kindest regards,
Anthony
[602] ----- Original Message -----
From: Carole
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, December 30, 2006 7:22 PM
Subject: bank charges
thanks to your letters my son has been offered £471 back from
our bank HSBC it as taken since november for the offer but worth the wait.
thank you
[601] ----- Original Message -----
From: helen
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 1:06 PM
Subject: success.
Hi. Just thought I would let you know that I recieved a letter from
the HBOS offering me a goodwill gesture of £1991 . The total
amount of charges on my account was £3000 , so I am pleased to
get the amount offered. Just goes to show you that they know they are
in the wrong and that the little person in the street is no longer
willing to put up with the big banks pushing them around. I have
another account with the HBOS and will be pursuing that too, wish me
luck will keep you posted.
Many Thanks to your company.
Helen
[600] ----- Original Message -----
From: Alexander
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 11:42 AM
Subject: Co-Op bank
I havent had my account with Co-Op for that long, however they
refunded every charge (sans interest) taken off my account - to a
total of £680.00
Thank you very much!
[599] ----- Original Message -----
From: Derek
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Friday, December 29, 2006 8:48 AM
Subject: Lloyds TSB - part refund of charges
Dear GLC,
I am pleased to let you know that Loyds TSB have refunded £750
to my current account after the 2nd letter (the max. small claims
award). However, the amount of charges I am owed is £3500 and I
intend to pursue them further. Thanks for such an informative web site.
Derek.
[598] ----- Original Message -----
From: Trevor
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 12:49 PM
Subject: (no subject)
Dear sir
My bank has just offered me £700 for unfair bank charges as the
total cost of charges is £1.500 im not sure what to do i don't
want to be greedy but there is a big difference, can you please
advise me on this and if possible send me a template letter to send
to the bank turning down there offer. thankyou for your time
Trevor
[597] ----- Original Message -----
From: andy
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, December 28, 2006 11:26 AM
Subject: re charges
i want to say thank you so much for this website i got over £2000
back from the halifax after 3 years charges
[596] ----- Original Message -----
From: Lynn
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Wednesday, December 27, 2006 8:56 PM
Subject: Refund of Charges
Hi, just wanted to let you know that I used your letters to get
£322 back from Intelligent Finance and I'm now pursuing HBOS for
£300 and RBS for around £1700.
Thanks for such clear and easy to read info.
Lynn
[595] ----- Original Message -----
From: Chele
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2006 5:46 PM
Subject: charges
> Hi
>
> Just to let you know, my partner and I followed the advice on
the website
> and sent through the first letter. My partner had a full refund
of £500
> within a week or so (Co-operative). I waited two weeks and got
the full
> amount I was asking for - £375 (Abbey).
>
> Thank you so much for running the website and helping so many
people get
> back the unfair charges which are quite rightly due back to us.
>
> Regards and Thanks
>
> Chele
[594] ----- Original Message -----
From: kaz
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 5:18 PM
Subject: Bank Charges
Thank you for your Web site.After contacting RBS we got a total
refund of £1,126
Thanks again Karen & John
[593] ----- Original Message -----
From: Susan
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 9:15 PM
Subject: Barclays Bank
> Hi
>
> I sent off letter one thinking I had only been overdrawn three times
> totalling £85 and received a offer of goodwill for the sum
of £730 for the
> past six years.
>
> I rang them up to see how much I had actually been charged and
the total was
> £1400, I accepted the second offer of £900 which has
been put into my
> account today. I would like to thank you site and encourage more
people to do this. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
[592] ----- Original Message -----
From: david
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 7:26 PM
Subject: refunds
Hi all! Merry Christmas from a happy visitor to your site. I
initially visited the site because I was a bit peeved at being
charged £80 for being overdrawn by a few pounds for about four
days, and lo and behold, your Step 1 letter resulted in an immediate
refund from First Direct, along with another earlier fee of £25.
Since then I have recovered another £55 from them and have now
written for the last couple of charges totalling £60 from them,
which doubtless they will repay shortly. My wife has also used your
letter to recover £55 from First Direct.
Encouraged by the rank cowardice of First Direct (who have also
backed down on proposals to charge my wife £10 a month for
keeping her current account open for the heinous crime of earning
less than £24K pa), I have now trawled through my credit card
and bank statements for the last six years (who'd have thought my
hoarding habit would come in handy?) and anticipate further refunds
of about a thousand pounds.
You are providing a splendid resource to those who can spare a few
minutes to read your advice and go through their statements. The
downside is that the buggers will still find some other way to screw
us - the credit card companies just jacked their APR up to make up
for it - but it's nice to have the whip hand with them for once - the
last time I had a serious complaint (against Halifax, now HBOS) it
took the Ombudsman to give them the kicking they deserved, after two
years of correspondence.
Keep up the good work!
David, Haydock
[591] ----- Original Message -----
From: Cat
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2006 9:22 AM
Subject: Bank Charges
>I put in a claim for £2250, I have had a response to my
first letter
> offering me £1752, should I accept or send in the 2nd
letter stating I want
> more - I am scared of losing this offer and end up with nothing??
>
> Cat
[590] ----- Original Message -----
From: Mrs L
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 5:59 PM
Subject: Bank charges refund
> Hi there,
>
> Due to your helpful information & handy useful letter I got
from your
> website, I have been fortunate to have received a letter from my
bank with
> an offer of a 'goodwill gesture' of £895.00, their response
was to the first
> letter and have to admit was very prompt, all happened within 2 weeks
> actually.
>
> I have accepted their offer which was sent to them last week, I havent
> received the funds as yet, but its very positive & I am ever
so grateful to
> you!
>
> Thank you so so much, this will really help us out with all the
costs of
> Christmas !!
>
> Kindest Regards
>
> Mrs L
[589] ----- Original Message -----
From: Robert
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 12:05 AM
Subject: Successful bank refund
In response to http://www.govanlc.com/step1_letter.html
I had received several charges totalling £130 for exceeding my
overdraft limit of £0 by no more than £6.49 at any one
time. I was unhappy and found http://www.govanlc.com/ using Google.
I followed the advice and I sent letter 1 to Abbey on 18 November
2006 and recieved a response a week after saying they would deal with
my response and they didn't know the outcome of the complaint.
Today I received a new letter saying they would refund me £160.
The extra £30 charge was pending whilst my complaint was on-going.
Thank you very much for all the advice and help. I have regained
faith in Abbey again and i'm a very happy customer.
Robert
[588] ----- Original Message -----
From: David
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 5:07 PM
Subject: Halifax charges
Wanted to thank you for the letters which we sent. We had to make a
small claim against Halifax who refused to pay and we won receiving
£1875.00 including Court cost. I am now helping my father-in-law
pursue Abbey. Thank you.
David
[587] ----- Original Message -----
From: G
To: mail@bankcharges.info
Sent: Saturday, December 16, 2006 3:11 PM
Subject: Re bank charges Refund
Dear Sir/Madam
Following using your letters on your site i have just secured a
£512 refund from the halifax. A great wouldnt you agree.
Grahame Long
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