Reclaim Bank Charges
How You Can Reclaim Your Bank Charges and Recover Money Legally
It has become widely known recently that ordinary people can reclaim bank charges by taking a few easy measures to contact their bank and claim back all charges over the past six years (Scots Law is a little different and so it's just five years in Scotland).
The legality behind this is a Noneteenth Century piece of legislation which basically says that a bank cannot levy charges which are disproportionat to the effort or expense in doing so. So when your bank adds £25 onto your statement for writing you a letter telling you this or that, and the letter cost the price of a stamp to post and a fraction of a penny to print, then technically they are acting against the spirit and letter of the law.
The excellent MoneySavingExpert site has publicised this as a self-help or do-it-yourself thing. It is certainly possible to do this yourself, but you should also perhaps know that there are firms that have come to specialise in these matters. If you want to reclaim bank charges over the years you should seriously consider seeing what these firms have to offer.
They usually charge between 10 and 20 percent of the recovered money that they win for you, and oprate on a no-win no-fee basis. So if their claim fails on your behalf you don't owe them anything.
But what are the advantages oof using these third parties to reclaim your bank charges as opposed to doing it yourself? Well, I thought about this and it looks as if there are three good reasons.
- Having someone else do it for you simply frees up your time so you can get on with other things. You also don't want the hassle that a DIY approach involves.
- These people do this all the time. It's their job, so they know exactly what they are doing. This means that they know all the tricks the banks might use, they know the law, they know what works and what doesn't, and they know exactly how much they can get for you.
- The banks know they know.
Of all the reasons to use a third party to reclaim bank charges the last is, for me, the most persuasive. The banks will usually fob off the ordinary person with this or that if they think they can get away with it (they do it all the time). But if the banks know that you have an expert working on their case they will usually - and very swiftly - just hold up their hands and own up. After all, the law is in your favour. These charges are excessive - that is what the law says.
Beware! I've noticed in the forums that there are some companies that have sprung up charging quite a lot to help you reclaim bank charges - after all, this is something you could do yourself if you had the time and could handle the hassle. So if you're thinking about getting a third party to do it then look at their terms and conditions, and also look at the small print. Are their fees inclusive of VAT or not? Do thet charge extras for legas fees and similar items, or are such things included in their charges? Until the market settles down it is quite difficult to identify any rogue traders. Time will tell.
In the meantime, if you would like to be informed of developments then you can add your name and email address to our mailing list and we'll send you updates as and when they occur.
On 1 August the Office of Fair Trading took seven of the high street banks to court. The effect this has had is that all cases of reclaiming bank charges have been put on hold (this does not apply to credit card charges). Please be aware of new developments as they occur.
Your details will not be given to any third party at any time or for any reason.
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U.K. residents only
This site offers advice on how to reclaim bank charges in the UK only.
