Legal advice needed...serious answers please.?
Question:
My question is, would we still be able to make a claim for bank charges like many others are doing, or have we broken a contract by not making the payments the bank were asking for? If we have broken some kind of agreement, would this mean we don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to claiming for our money back on the unfair charges?
Citizens Advice are closed.
Answer:
You can still claim back the charges, as they are illegal.
Even though you have broken your contract with the bank, it doesn't mean they can get away with something illegal.
Full info on claiming your charges back at the site below, with full details of the steps, and template letters to send the bank.
The only thing I would warn about in this situation is the bank may turn nasty and stop agreeing to take regular payments and ask for the full amount of debt remaining in one lump. The FSA are looking into these cases, as the banks are not allowed to "punish" you for claiming your charges back, but the banks are still doing it.
If you don't have long left before the debt is paid off, it might be worth holding off till then. On the other hand, if the charges you are claiming back are high, then it could pay off your debt. Obviously Im guessing here, not knowing how much you are in debt. In a few cases, the banks have cancelled existing debt in return for not actually handing the charges over to you.
In your case though, I would seek the advice of a professional.
Well that would be a hard thing to decipher right off without looking through documentation and actually seeing what you are seeing. My advice would be to look for lawyers or attorney's that specializes in Financial cases. Do a research for lists of attorneys in your area and go from there. That is the best I can do and I would recommend one but I think they specialize more in credit re-establishment rather than this type of case. Good luck and God Bless!
Contact the bank and ask for a copy of your bank file. Then contact the financhial ombudsman, you can actually claim back unfair and excessive charges for up to 6 years. consumer helpline
0845 080 1800
complaint.info@financial-ombud...
postal address
The Financial Ombudsman Service
South Quay Plaza
183 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SR
i would try, you never know, it's worth it.
and if they say no then that's that, but if they pay up you'll have some extra cash!
here's a link for for the templates of the letters you need to send (i used these ones):
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/campaigns/b...
good luck :-)
From the banks position- it may be..
That you need to keep and maintain your accounts and that you should of noticed earlier and advised them of the mis understanding-
Best option log on to you banks site and look up the product disclosure statement/ terms and conditions and this will highlight the banks and your obligation- Banks are pretty protected and everything is generally in the small print to help cover their ...you know what-
Every financial institution will have a dispute resolution process which can take anywhere up to 8 weeks- You can pick you dispute forms from any branch-- You may as well investigate - hope it helps and good luck...
As your so called financial management company[leeches]are not pursuing the bank you and your partner are perfectly entitled to claim up to five years of excess bank charges under your own volition.
C.A.B is a must.
If your partner is paying X amount to a debt management company, you might find out that they are keeping more money than they pay out.
Another alternative is to apply for an administration order at your local court. This way you pay what you can easily,(realistically) afford through the courts direct, rather than getting robbed again.
Good luck
KC
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