Beat the Bank Robbers -
How to reclaim unfair
1.
Make
a list of all the charges you bank has levied against you.
If
you don’t know, or have lost track of, how much you have been charged, your
bank is legally obliged to tell you. Simply
complete and send LETTER 1 [Microsoft
Word or HTML] to them.
The
maximum the bank can charge for supplying this information is £10.
You should therefore enclose a cheque made payable to the bank for this
sum with your letter.
2.
Contact
your bank, detailing the charges and offering them the opportunity to refund
them without you suing them in court.
If
your bank has charged you for a transaction which was declined – a bounced
cheque, for example – fill in and send LETTER
2A [Microsoft
Word or HTML].
In
all other circumstances – your bank has charged you for, say, going overdrawn
or exceeding your authorised overdraft limit – fill in and send LETTER
2B [Microsoft
Word or HTML].
3.
What if this doesn’t work?
In
many cases, the above two steps will be enough and your bank will refund the
charges (in full or in part). However,
in some cases banks have refused to provide any refund citing reasons such as:
you agreed to the charges; they are part of the terms and conditions of your
contract; our charges are no more than other banks impose; or that the Unfair
Terms in Consumer Contract regulations cannot operate to restrict the free
market.
These
arguments, though, are ill-founded. If
your bank refuses a refund on one of these grounds, adapt LETTER
3 [Microsoft Word or HTML]
to your needs and send it to them.
And
remember – even if the bank
still refuses, you have the option of raising a small claim action in the
Sheriff Court.
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