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Your Comments & Experience - Halifax/Bank of Scotland

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).

[341] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jeanette  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 12:33 AM 
Subject: Halifax Charges 

Dear Sir or Madam 
Thank you so very much for a fantastic website. I did go all the way and lodged the claim in £4,500.00. The Halifax settled last Friday, 8th September 2006 for £3,009.00. There is an outstanding balance of £1,500.00 which is for my credit cards.
After receiving an accident in December 2005, I received injuries to my neck and back. The bank stopped my Protection Cover because I was in arrears. They had letters and numerous calls from me updating them all the way. Being out of work for 3 months and not being paid sick, this of course was a very difficult time for me. They also took a tax credit payment which was owed to me in 2005 for £700.00. The Bank took £300.00 without my knowledge. When I rang them about this, I was told to go away and read my contract.
Do we have to accept this money back on the credit cards or can we ask for a cheque made payable to me? Reasons being the Halifax asked that I contact the CCCS which I have done and no longer use the cards.
Would appreciate it very much if it is possible to answer this query for me. 
Thank you so very much for the amazing help and could not have done this without you.
With very kindest regards 
Jeanette 

 

[335] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: VIV
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 10:08 PM 
Subject: halifax 
Halifax agreed to pay us 206.00 as full and final settlement which we are taking.
It took the second letter and a phone call to get this so thanks to the Govern law centre for providing the letters
Martine and Jon

 

[328] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Janes  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:42 AM 
Subject: halifax 
I have sent first letter and eventually got a response offering £95 good will payment and a veiled threat to close the account, what do I do?

 

[324] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Iain 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:35 AM 
Subject: cahoot. Halifax BoS 
Thanks for a straight forward easy to use site! The letters you supply enabled me to reclain £90 from Cahoot, 1st letter and took 3 weeks. Thanks.
Now I am dealing with Bank of Scotland who have taken 4 weeks already and not even looked at my complaint, they say it is because of the "high level of complaints of this nature".Good. They've said they'll take no longer than another 4 weeks! 8 weeks is their agreement with the ombudsmen, apparently.
I'll let you know how it goes. 
Thanks again. 
Iain

 

[323] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Linda
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 10:43 AM 
Subject: Bank of scotland 

I heard about your website from a friend and sent off the letters. Today I received £3450 directly into my account from the Bank of Scotland as a refund for account maintenance charges and excess overdraft charges over the past five years. I sent letter 1 and they offered me £250 and then I sent letter 2 and they offered me £788. Not willing to accept their offers I went to court. The amount I had paid in charges was over the small claims limit so I raised an ordinary action against BOS in Glasgow Sheriff Court (this being my local court). They had 21 days to defend the action but they didn't lodge a defence and a week later I received a letter stating that their legal department had not received the papers in time to lodge a defence. They went on to state that as it would cost them more to defend the action they were willing to refund me in full without admission of liability! YIPEEEEEEE!!!!!! The money's great but the fact that people are fighting back after years of extortion is brilliant - go get em!

Thank you for such an informative website! 

Linda

 

[320] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: GAYLE 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2006 6:32 PM 
Subject: Case won!! 
Just wanted to say a big thaks for all your advice about claiming back my bank charges. Here's what happened to me with my HALIFAX CURRENT ACCOUNT
1) Phoned HALIFAX and requested 6 years of bank statements they charged me about £6.00 i think. The arrived within the week.
2) Totalled all my charges over the last 6 years...came to a whopping £2650.00 
3) sent letter 1 
4) Got a standard acknowledgement letter within the week saying they would look into my complaint within 28 days.
5) 10 days later got a 2nd letter saying they would offer me £160.00 as an offer of goodwill.
6) Declined offer and sent letter 2 
7) Got a reply within 2 days offering £460.00. I sent them a letter declining their offer and informing them that i was taking court action.
8) Got a reply in 2 days saying that they were sorry i was not happy with the last offer of 6 months refund of charges if you want to complain contact the ombusman blah blah.
9) Filed a court claim online paid my £120.00 
10) Recieved a letter 4 days later from court saying that Halifax had acknowledged my claim and were defending the claim fully. they would now take upto 28days to engter their defence.
11) The next day i did some online banking and the whole amount had landed in my account plus the £120.00 court costs....what a shocker!!
12) The following day (today) i got a letter from HALIFAX saying that it would cost them too much to settle in court even if they won so they were without admitting liability paying the full amount into my account.
From beginning to end less than a month. Make sure you send your letters recorded delivery. I got responses within a day of them recieving my communication. A massive thanks to Govan Law Centre for their help. Couldn't have done it without you!!!
I have just managed to pay off our wedding and we have also just found out we have our first baby on the way so this is a lovely way to move into the future....thanks again!!
To everyone who is thinking of doing this....take it all the way!! 
Gayle 

 

[317] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: ALDRED 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 10:01 AM 
Subject: halifax 
i have been charged 780.00 in a 4 yr period by halifax. 
after sending letter 1 i received offer of 185.00. 
do i accept or send letter 2. 
thank you ... i love this site!!!! 

 

[316] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Rob
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 12:10 PM
Subject: sucessful refund


> Dear Sirs,
Just writing to say that this morning we received a letter from the 
> Halifax back in reply to your first letter we sent them over unfair bank charges.
> After we had 3 direct debits returned due to me being off work sick, 
> they've offered to refund us £48 as a 'gesture of goodwill' as they 'clearly 
> outline our charging policy in the terms and conditions that apply to your 
> account' and 'we are committed to complying with the Banking Code'
> Needless to say the £48 offered just about covers one of their charges at
> £39 a time so we will be sending a copy of your second letter to them.
   I would just like to say thank you for pointing all of the facts out on 
> your website, without seeing it we would have just taken it as we would have 
> not known any different, now however we have the ammo to take it further. I 
> will  email again to let you know how letter two goes!
> Many thanks

 

[309] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Anna  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2006 9:11 AM 
Subject: The Halifax 
While I think what you are doing is brilliant in helping ordinary people fight the banks, it does also depend on the bank in question. Two weeks ago the Halifax offered me £1537, which I have accepted. I have since had to ring up 3 times to see what is happening, as no money has gone in and 3 times have been told it would be in in a few days. I am about to ring up the 4th time now. Their deadline is up today with the court, and if I was meant to inform the court it was settled before receiving the money into the account, I was not informed of this. The Halifax are so busy trying to attract new customers that they neglect the ones who have been with them for years.
Thank you so much for the service you provide, 
I only wish the Halifax would do the same

 

[307] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Carmel
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 8:01 PM 
Subject: Update bank charges 

> Hi All,
> 
> Firstly I must Thank your wonderful site.
> 
> After 6 weeks of sending letters and talking to the Halifax PLC I have 
> recieved a credit to my account for £1,200. After sending letter one to 
> Barclaycard Visa they have credited my account with £360.00. Still waiting 
> to hear from Abbey will keep you all updated.
> Thank you

 

[304] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Claire 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Tuesday, September 05, 2006 5:06 PM 
Good afternoon,
I have recently received a letter from my bank (Halifax) following the submission of the 'first step' letter offering me £75 to compensate me for the charges over the past 5 years, which came to over £1000!
I am not sure what to do now, do I argue this or do I accept?
Please can you provide some further advise me as to what I should do.
Many thanks.
Claire 

 

[301] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: neil
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Sunday, September 03, 2006 10:50 AM 
Subject: Halifax Plc 
Just a note to express my sincere thanks to all who have put their efforts into creating your website.  Without it I would now be £148.00 poorer and Halifax would be £148.00 richer!  Having exceeded my credit limit for 24 hours, Halifax hit me with 4x £30.00 charges for direct debits honoured during that period plus £28.00 for exceeding the limit.
Luckily I found your website and, feeling suitably empowered by it I have finally managed to get all charges refunded. My first three letters (one to the Chief Executive) resulted in a derisory offer of £28.00. I eventually had to resort to the small claims court - it cost £30.00 but it was money well spent. Even though the Halifax wrote back saying they would defend the claim, in the next paragraph they stated their willingness to reimburse the £148.00, plus £30.00 court fee plus £1.39 interest (all without admission of liability!). Suits me!!!
Just a note to anybody planning to use the small claims procedure - TAKE THREE COPIES TO THE COURT. THEY KEEP TWO AND WILL GIVE YOU BACK ONE ENDORSED WITH THEIR STAMP.
Thanks again

 

[291] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Lindsay 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 9:48 AM 
Subject: Bank Charges refund - success! 

Hello,
This is a fantastic site - thank you so much for your help!
...I used the information supplied on your website and your template letters to contact my bank (Bank of Scotland) and request a refund of unfair bank charges. The charges had been made on 2 separate accounts over a period of 3 years and totalled £579.
At first the bank dismissed my claims (their first letter might as well have read "get lost") but as I persisted by sending more letters (based on the letters on your site) they began to take me seriously. They firstly offered me a refund of £150. I rejected this and soon afterwards received an offer of £275. &ldots;Although I considered taking my case to the small claims I decided to settle for £275 on the basis that I thought the court might well recommend a refund of a similar sum.
I sent my first letter on 23.02.06 ...and received the offer of £275 (which I have now accepted) in July so this has been a slow process, but well worth it. Thank you so much for making these letters available since otherwise I don't think I would ever have got anywhere with my bank!

 

[288] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: paul 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 1:00 AM 
Subject: refund 

Hello all,
Many thanks to your website and by using your letters i have just secured a £2062.00 refund.
I paid quite a lot in fee's over the years, however trying to get the information from Halifax is almost impossible even after paying the £10 charge for the info. Anyhow they initially offered £200 as a final settlement and i refused. Then it went to £610.00 and again they refused.
I had enough of them and proceeded with the small claims board. I just received a letter saying they won't accept liability but it would cost too much at court to defend, so they credited by a/c with the £2000 + court fee reimbursed.
Please don'y give up, if you think you are owed more......fight them for it. Send them the court papers.
Thanks again

 

[282] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: annette 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 9:57 AM 
Subject: charges 

i have sent letter one to my bank halifax claiming chrges of 400 pounds they have offered me 150 pounds as a good will gesture how do i refuse do i use letter 2 ?

 

[281] ----- Original Message ----- 
From:  Anna 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 9:13 AM 
Subject: Refunded bank charges 

Just a quick email to say thank you for a brilliant service, and excellent advice given. Decided to go after the Halifax after they charged me £30 for going over my overdraft limit, which just pushed me too far. After numerous letters, and letter templates 1 and 2, they offered me £196, which I refused. I filed a small court claim against them, and they said they would fight it, but after 10 days they offered me £1417, which is every bank charge ever made plus the £120 court cost which I have accepted. Have not had the money in my account yet but has only been a day and I guess it takes a few days.  I would recommend doing this to anyone. I didn't think it would work, and I never thought I would see my money again, but it really does. The Halifax have caused me no end of stress, and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. Needless to say I will be moving very very soon! Now I just have to find a good bank, there must be some out there?
Thank you once again, 
Anna

 

[269] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Stacy
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 5:22 PM 
Subject: Halifax Bank 

Hi 
Unfair charges : £473 
Court Cost: £80 
Interest on unfair charges £132.07 
After following the advice and sending off letter one at the end of June I was offered £70 as a goodwill gesture for a debt of £473. I refused of course and sent off letter 2.
Halifax wrote back and offered £200, which i again refused. I sent them another letter to give them another chance as i would have accepted 70% of the debt but to no avail, they sent back the bog standard reply.
So i filed a claim at my local court which cost me £80 and found a calculator online which calculated 8% interest on each indivudual charge over the relevant time period. This came to £132.07 in interest.
I filed this claim on 11/8/06 and it was served on 13/08/06. I received a letter within a few days from the court stating that Halifax would defend the claim (this was a bit scary, but persevere).
You will be glad to know that I have just received a letter today stating that Halifax will refund all charges,interest and court costs within five working days as it is more expensive to defend the claim, although they do not admit to anything of course.
I have just checked my bank account and they have indeed refunded all monies.
Thanks to this website, another happy customer who no longer banks at Halifax, but they didn't close my account or ask for the £250 overdraft to be paid off. I'm sure that is the next letter i receive.
Anyway, good luck everyone and stick with it! 
Stacy

 

[268] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jeanette 
To: m@govanlc.com 
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 3:21 PM 
Subject: You are amazing!!!!!!!!!! 

Dear Sir or Madam 
Your site is truly amazing. I have a massive issue with the Halifax (like most)!! I have £6,500.00 I am trying to recover. They have hassled me and now advised me to go with the CCCS. I of course never wanted to go down that road. Even offering them £50.00 per month, they refused it as this was not enough.
Here is me, On 18th December 2005, I received a neck and head injury after tripping over a tree stump protruding out of a pavement. I was then thrown into a concrete gate post receiving loss of C-spine and facet joint dysfunction at 11 levels to my neck which damaged muscles, nerves and joints. Still under treatment. Lost one job, but kept 2nd job (even though you are still struggling). Anyway, Saturday morning I was offered £340.00. Monday afternoon, I was offered £1,020.00. I received a Tax Credit Award in £700.00 in June 2006 and they went into my account without my knowledge and wiped out most of it, until I was faced with embarrassment at my local Halifax when I tried to draw 50% of my mortgage. They can get lost, as I want every penny back.
They even cancelled my protection cover on 1st April 2006 (did not even know that they had done this).
Second letter now issued. Once I receive (hopefully) all my charges. Next step stress, harassment and whatever else it will take to get these monsters where they belong.
I will keep you posted. 
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. 

 

[266] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ed  
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2006 7:57 PM 
Subject: Bank Of Scotland confusion 

> Hello
> 
> BOS owes me approx £2600 (5 years of charges), despite following all 
> your letters (and an extra one) they have offereed £758 only (they claim 
> this is the highest amount I spent in 6 months but sounds remarkably 
> similar yto £750)?
> 
> Can you confirm that this is the most they can offer? I am a little 
> confused by your info and if you could make it black or white that would 
> be great? Any info would be brilliant, as has your site been so far.
> 
> Thanks

 

[264] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ronald  
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 5:13 PM 
Subject: Bank Charges 

>A few weeks after sending the step 1 letter to Bank of Scotland, I received 
> a phone call offering a settlement of £268.00 in refunded charges covering
> the period December to June '06.
> A letter and cheque arrived about a week later! Whilst waiting for their 
> cheque to clear however I went over my limit by a few quid and they charged
> me again! A swift phonecall resoved that one - so much for their 'all future
> charges will stand'! As a full-time student, I am hugely grateful for your 
> site and the draft letters! Many, many thanks!
> Ronald
> Edinburgh

 

[258] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Lisa 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 10:06 PM 
Subject: Current Progress On Claiming Refund 

> Hi, I have followed the steps shown on the website and after checking back
> 6 years I had a surprising £1146.00!!! of charges from the HALIFAX. They
> have written to me offering £110.00 as a goodwill gesture. They were
> prompt and yet this is a measley offer considering and I intend to refuse
> and follow the steps as advised on this brilliant website ! Thanks I've at
> least got something back so far ! I was a little dubious at first, but
> after having read about this subject in The Mail I proceeded and obviously
> there is room for negiotation. Will send in an update as soon as !

 

[256] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Ken
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, August 18, 2006 7:26 PM 

Dear Sir or Madam, 
You have asked for people to let you know how they prospered in tackling their banks. I would like to say that after sending in an initial letter to Halifax Building Society in Halifax they have responded by offering me a refund of £300 & have asked me to sign an acceptance form. My initial reaction was that I was pleased, because I felt it was an admission of guilt. However, I am loath to accept such an offer & I'm considering sending back a refusal with maybe a copy of 'letter 2' attached. [GLC note: you could send letter 2, asking for an increase in the offer - but ultimately you need to decide how far you want to proceed, bearing in mind that if you do raise court proceedings you need to be prepared to present your case - the onus of proof is on the claimant - while the bank may settle prior to court action, or prior to an evidential hearing, you need to be prepared in the event they don't) I would welcome your thoughts as to what you feel I should do now.
Thanking you, Ken 

 

[251] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kath 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 10:32 AM 
Subject: HALIFAX  
How brilliant is this site!!!!!!!! 
I sent letter 1 to the Halifax claiming back £247 of unfair bank charges.First I recieved a standard letter saying that they were looking into my complaint. Today I have recieved a GOODWILL offer of £140. They also say that they reserve the right to close my account if it is not managed correctly ( does this mean if I dont allow them to unlawfully take money from my account)
I will of course be refusing their offer of goodwill and will be sending letter 2 by first class post........THANKYOU SO MUCH ...
will inform you of the outcome.

 

[246] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Andrew 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, August 16, 2006 11:09 AM 
Subject: Refund of bank charges 

Hello 
I would like to thank you for the help in claiming back unfair bank charges. HBS charged me £120 for two unpaid cheques. I received a phone call today offering to pay me back £85.
Many thanks. 
Drew

 

[240] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Jack
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 7:06 PM 
Subject: Halifax refunded all charges! 

Hello, 
I would just like to say thank you so much for making this site and developing that letter. I sent the letter to attempt to retrieve two unfair charges of £28 and £39 from Halifax. First I received a letter saying that the customer service people were looking into it. Then a couple of weeks later I received a letter offering to pay back them both in full, on the basis that I sign a form stating that all future charges must stand. This doesn't bother me because I am now changing banks. I couldn't have done it without the help of this site!! I recommend everyone fights these unfair charges and claims back what is rightfully theirs.
Regards 
Jack, Essex

 

[233] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Richard  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, August 11, 2006 3:58 PM 
Subject: Recovered GBP 40.00 from Halifax today. 

Hello

Not sure if banks are more generous on a Friday because their staff are thinking about the weekend, but I have had a second success today.

Halifax (who took over a Bank One credit card about five or six years ago) had been dragging their feet over £40 worth of charges (two late payment fees) dating back to 2001. They didn't have my account on their computer anymore and, after a month, had still not retrieved their paper records. I spoke to them on Monday this week where they promised me a letter that was not forthcoming. They got back to me today and agreed a refund cheque for £40 will be issued to me next week.

Once again, the two Halifax staff were extremely polite, helpful and did not even put up any argument in defence of their charges. Perhaps it is because I maintain politeness in the phone calls that they are too, but even so, I appreciate the professionalism from the people I spoke to.

Another result! Many thanks to your website. Add another £40 to your running total.

I have had three 100% refund successes, so far, out of the five banks that I am pursuing.

Regards
RR

[227] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: G Hayes
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 1:28 PM 
Subject: I got a refund!!!!!! 
Many, many thanks for your great site. Halifax had recently stung me for two charges at £39 a go, for bouncing two DD's. On the 20th July I sent Letter 1, and today 9th August received an offer of £78 as "a gesture of goodwill"
I've told all my friends about your site, and plan to get a T shirt printed with your site details, if that's ok? [Govan Law Centre note:  That is very kind of you - maybe you could send us one!]

Many thanks again, G Hayes.

 

[226] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: H
To: m@govanlc.com 
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 12:21 PM 
Subject: Reclaiming Bank Charges 
Hi 
I wonder if you can please help me with some further direction? 
I have been following the advice on your website re. reclaiming a refund of penalty charges from the Bank of Scotland for the last five years. The sum involved is over £3000 - about £4500 including annual interest of 8%. I have sent letters one and two and have reached an impasse where they are saying their final offer is £410. I do not feel this is a reasonable amount to settle on and, although I would rather avoid it, I feel it is necessary to take the matter further.
(I have tried appealing to their better side by explaining that we have as a family been under exceptional emotional and financial pressures over the last three years as my wife has been struggling against secondary cancer - especially in the last year when I had to give up my fulltime job to help support my wife. However, they have said they are unwilling to budge further without the incentive of court action.)
Like most people I am lost when it comes to legal maters. Unfortunately, I have not been able to discern from your website what I should do next with regards a small claims action. Given the maximum amount for Small Claims in Scotland is £750, and the amount being sought from Bank of Scotland is about £4500 including interest - do I still enter this amount and five year period on the small claims forms? Or do I just select a period in the last five years where the level of charges does not exceed £750? Does the small claims process limit not just the amount that can be awarded if successful, but also the amount tha can be asked for? (And if the BOS do then negotiate, will it just be to the amount of £750 since they know this is the maximum I can get i the small claims action in Scotland?) [Govan Law Centre note: if you wish to keep within the small claims limit in Scotland - to be protected against expenses - you should make it clear that you are suing for charges applied between a specific period of time.   Perhaps starting with the oldest 'chunk' of charges first.   You cannot have more than one small claim raised against the same bank at anyone time; and there is nothing to prevent you negotiating for a higher sum.  Be careful when settling a claim for a chunk of charges not to give up (or waive) your right to pursue another claim by signing a wavier or discharge form).
I was also wondering if it should be the BOS registered office address on the forms or the Glasgow branch address?  [Always better to use a company's registered office as an address for service].
I appreciate you are busy but would be grateful for a little bit of light on how to proceed here?
For information we live in Darnley, Glasgow. 
Cheers 
H

 
[224] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: kenny
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 12:28 PM 
Subject: Lawsuit victory 

Dear Mike,

Just to let you know, after failing at the Bank of Scotland complaints
procedure, I filed a small claims lawsuit (ref SA164/06) against The Governor
and Company of the Bank of Scotland for £160 in unlawful charges, plus a
further £160 to seek redress for mental anguish, distress and inconvenience.

The Bank wrote back today to advise it is paying the full amount sued of £320
plus the £39 court lodging fee within five days to my account to avoid a court
case.

Thanks very much for your website, it has been an invaluable tool.

Best Wishes,
Kenny

 
[223] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Talitha
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Tuesday, August 08, 2006 12:26 PM 
Subject: charges refunded 

> Hello,
> 
> I used one of your template letters when fined £25 by Bank of Scotland 
> for a Visa bill that I cleared on the day it was due (I had been abroad 
> and unable to pay it earlier). I only asked for a reduction of the fine 
> but they refunded the full £25 plus an extra £25 for a previous occasion 
> where the same thing occurred.
> 
> Many thanks for your wonderful website. It makes me think that we can 
> 'fight City Hall'.
> 
> All the best from the Festival City,
> Talitha

 

[219] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Kevin  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 1:28 PM
Subject: Reclaimed Bank Charges


Hi,

I recently accrued some bank charges, which I thought were unfair and excessive.  I wrote to the Halifax using your letter-one, and received an offer of £60, which I refused and sent them your letter-two.  After not hearing from the Halifax within my two week time limit, I started a small claims court action, which cost £50.  The Halifax responded to this, saying they would defend the action.  On the day their defence was due at the court, bank charges of £388 were repaid into my account, together with my £50 court fee - totalling £438.  Thanks very much for your advice.  I have also received a letter denying any liability of wrong doing and claiming that to defend the action would be more costly, and threatening withdrawal of banking services if I fail to manage my account properly in the future

Regards,

Kevin, Bolton

 

[218] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Debbie  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 6:11 PM
Subject: ANOTHER VICTORY

We sent first letter and were offered 'gratuity' of £190. We then sent second letter and were offered £564. We were tempted with this amount but decided that this was not compensating for the amount of charges that we had paid over a four year period. We went into the realms of the unknown and decided to go to the small claims court as you suggested. The Halifax defended the claim to start with but a couple of days later we received further letter from Senior Customer Relations Manager saying that Halifax did not want to go to court and offered £1050 plus the £120 court fees. We would never have done this without your guidance and would recommend anyone who is contemplating making the first step to DO IT!!! Thank you very much for this wonderful advice.

 

[217] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Elizabeth
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 11:25 AM
Subject: Full Refund from Bank of Scotland

Hello All

Many, many thanks for your brilliant website, thanks to which I have
now received a full and complete refund of my bank charges (£649.00)
with interest (£59.78) and the court fee (£39.00).  I first wrote to
my branch on 3 June, then sent your letter 1 a week later (I had only
just discovered your website). They phoned within four or five days
offering me £94.  I asked them how much the total charges were and
they said about £560.  I said I wanted a full refund and they said
they couldn't do that and then offered me £195 as a final offer which
I refused and told them I would be filing a small claim in court.  I
sent off the DPA letter with a cheque for £10 which they cashed and
they sent me all my statements going back 5 years.  After checking
through them I found my total charges to be £649 (including a couple
of recent ones).  I sent your letter 2 to give them one last chance
to refund and they replied with the same previous offer of £195.  I
filed my claim in court on 10 July.  I got a written acknowledgment
from the court of my claim which was due to be heard on 14
September.  There was no acknowledgment from the bank, but yesterday
they paid £98.78 into my account (interest plus court fee) and today
they have paid in £649 (my total charges).  I've still received no
letter from them, but am expecting to receive it in the post
shortly.  My husband is now going to file a claim in the small claims
court for £737.00 plus interest and court fee (he has already sent
letters 1 and 2).  He wrote to Capital One and got a refund within
two weeks of £80.00 and my son wrote to Capital One and got a refund
of £185.00 - success all round.  Thanks a million!  Keep up the good
work.

P.S. I was born and bred in Govan as were all my relatives.  Left
Govan in the 1960s but still have very fond memories of my childhood
there.  Incidentally, I went to school with Alex Ferguson, the famous
Govanite. 

 

[214] ----- Original Message -----
From: x 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, August 04, 2006 8:44 AM
Subject: Thank you! / Update

Hi Govan Law Centre

I wanted to e-mail you to say thank you for providing me with the information needed to successfully claim back £4,900 in bank charges from the Halifax.  I sent letter one at the beginning of June and received an offer of £350 as a good will gesture.  I rejected this offer and sent letter two – made numerous calls, sent numerous e-mails and ended up initiating a county court claim through money claims online at the end of July.  Initially the Halifax stated that they would defend the claim in full but yesterday I received a letter stating that on a purely commercial basis, it will cost the Halifax money to defend the claim in terms of the legal costs incurred and it is unlikely they would be able to recover these costs even if they won.  Without admission of liability they were willing to reimburse the full amount within the next 5 days.

Please do not reveal my name – at least until the £4,900 reached my account!

Once again, thank you so much for your help.

Kind Regards

x

 

[213]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Sophie 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 9:26 AM
Subject: VICTORY

Having issued a claim against Halifax last month we have just heard from them offering to settle out of court.  We have received back the full amount £1400 for bank charges, £130 interest and £120 court fees.  My advice for anyone considering taking action against their bank&ldots;do it!  They will do their best to intimidate you but stay strong and don’t give in.

 

[212] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Raymond  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, August 03, 2006 2:19 PM
Subject: refund success

Hi,
your site is superb. I sent 'letter one' and received an offer of £105. I reckon i am owed a lot more from the last 5 years but i refused to pay the £10 fee to Halifax to release details of charges incurred, instead of stating an exact amount i just said 'all charges'. I refused the first offer and sent 'letter 2' from your site, lo and behold a couple of weeks later i was offered £307, which i accepted.
It looks like the banks are finally being found out, thanks again, your superb letters really scare the profiteering scumbags into (relative) submission.
I have reccomended this site to everyone i know.
Thanks, Ray

 

[211] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: MALCOLM  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 5:07 PM

Hi,
Adapted your letter & sent to HBOS. They initially offer only £388 which I refused & told them I would need to consider further legal advice & ultimately a claim via Small Claims Court. Settled with them on Monday £1400 better off.

Very much appreciated.

Malc 

 

[206] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dave 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 11:37 AM
Subject: Halifax

Hi there
after reading through your website a couple of months ago I decided to go for it. Worked out the charges which came to £ 1551.00 sent it off with fingers crossed.
Reply and offer came back. £ 250.00. No thank you, went my reply Two phone calls later offer upped to £769 which after a short time of consideration I accepted their offer, cheque arrived today 1st Aug. They said it took longer than expected as they have had a lot of inquiries , bet they have. thank you and well done!!!
cheers dk
ps. sent a letter to the Clydesdale Bank after buying some golf clubs with their credit form in the golf shop, does the same apply?  they said no! because it is a store card! is this true and we cannot claim these charges? [GLC note: a store card is a consumer contract for credit - the common law on penalty charges and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations apply equally to store cards, as they do to credit cards or bank accounts.  Indeed, the OFT has expressly made reference to store cards: "The OFT now expects all credit card issuers to recalculate their default charges in line with the principles set out in a statement published today and to take urgent action where needed to reduce the level of credit card default fees. The industry has until 31 May to respond to the statement. These principles also apply to default charges in other consumer contracts such as those for bank overdrafts, store cards and mortgages" - see here.  Thus the Clydesdale's position would appear to be based upon a false premise].

 

[204] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Claire 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 10:27 AM

Many thanks for your wonderful website!  Halifax have agreed to refund me £60 after they recently authorised two debit card payments and then sent me a letter saying there was insufficient funds.  I did this as a test case and I am now going to send them the data protection letter because I want to claim a refund for all charges I have paid in the last 6 years.

Will keep you posted&ldots;&ldots;. 

Claire 

 
[198] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Daniel 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 6:58 PM
Subject: £360!


Blimey, your letters have a lot of clout.

Sent one each to Halifax and First Direct and am now £360 better off.

Will be attacking Halifax for about £2k worth of charges, as soon as they fulfil their rights under the data protection act and give me what I've asked (and paid!) for...

Thanks! Thanks a hell of a lot!

 

[197] > ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Helen 
> To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
> Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 1:43 PM
> Subject: Bank of Scotland
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Went over my overdraft limit in June and the bank paid three items and 
> declined one. For the 'extra costs incurred' they were going to charge me 
> £157 but I managed to get £39 waived there and then. Used the excellent 
> step 1 letter and got a letter back offering me the rest back as long as I 
> sign an agreement that it's in "full and final settlement of my complaint 
> regarding bank charges made on any of my Halifax/Bank of Scotland accounts".
> This sounds suspiciously wide-ranging to me so I'm refusing to sign and am
> sending a letter accepting the refund instead. Hopefully they'll still pay 
> up.
> 
> They also threatened to close my account if I do not 'manage it correctly' -
> how irritating is that high moral tone they use?! Next time they mess up 
> something for me (like they did with my rent standing order three times) 
> I'll know what to say to them (and how much to charge them as well!)
> 
> Anyway, thanks v. much for this resource and keep up the good work.
> 
> Helen 
  

[192] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Paul
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 12:08 PM 
Subject: Halifax Plc 

After reading your website, I approached Halifax over 2 months ago and asked them to send me copies of all my bank statements. They cashed my £10 cheque but didnt send me my statements. I complained to the customer relations dept and I was fed a pack of lies about how my letter was lost etc. I asked her to explain why my cheque had been cashed, needless to say she said she would get onto it straight away!

Anyway, 70 days after sending my first letter I sent the second letter and was offered £340 out of a claim for £3400! I've told them politely that I refuse their offer and I await whatever shambles Halifax proceed to do next.

I'd urge people to keep on top of these people and don't take no for an answer. I eventually ended up talking to a senior manager, but I wasn't going to let them wriggle out of this one!

I will keep you posted. 

I've also sent a letter to Lloyds TSB. They have refused to refund any of my £1000 in charges. I used the court service online and started court proceeding online on the 24th July. Again, I will keep you all posted!

Paul

 

[189] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Alistair
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, July 27, 2006 8:36 AM 
Subject: Another victory for the small person! 

Just a quick "thank you" for this splendid and informative site.
My girlfriend had meekly been accepting charge after charge from the Bank of Scotland and refused to rock the boat till I finally persuaded her to take the plunge via your letter template. Yesterday she received a phone call from the Bank offering her £500, which I promptly told them to forget as she was due twice that back. The chap on the phone then advised that there would be no higher offer made and we could go to Court if we wanted, to which I replied "make sure you wear your Bank tie then so the judge knows who to rule against".
Perhaps our continued blunt refusal to give in to this corporate bully worked, as an hour later the Bank called again offering a full refund of £1,162!!!
We'd never have known what to do were it not for this site, so more power to you all - and power to the little people as well!

[188] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Sharon 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 8:22 PM 
Subject: HBOS ongoing still 

Hi there after reading an article in a daily newspaper i ventured on to the internet and stummbled across your website.Following advice from the site me and my Mrs sent letter 1 to HBOS 3 weeks later we received a letter offering me £450 and the Mrs was offered £304. I then phoned HBOS and asked them exactly how much in charges did I incur and was unexpectedly told over a period of around 6yrs £5400 when I told the lady on the phone that I was unhappy with the amount of "goodwill gesture" she was offering 2 mins later she upped the anti to £1450.Going by some of the emails on your site iam going to hold out and send letter number 2 and see if this will increase the "goodwill gesture".Unfortunatley they could not tell my Mrs how much charges she has incurred as someone forgot to leave a note on the system so she has requested statements for the last 6yrs and will have to wait 7-10 days (bet you if this was a bank charge the letter would be 1-2 days).Will email back with an update after letter 2 has been sent,anyone reading this send your bank a letter it realy works and what have you got to loose only the price of a stamp.

 
[184] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Sharon
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 10:11 PM 
Subject: bank charges -ongoing HBOS 
thanx for your excellent website sent letter 1 after 3 weeks got offered 304 pounds on my account and 475 on hubbys account refusing these offers as not too sure how much bank charges have incurred over the last six years waiting for conformation from bank and willl probably pursue further..... just to say thanx once again as would not have bothered to pursue this until i read your website and was encouraged by all these brave people who challenged the banks to get their charges refunded .......have printed out several letter 1s and passed them on to neighbours and work collegues who are well impressed!!!!!!!!!!!! will respond back with final settlement shaz and duncs

 

[180] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kieran"  
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 11:27 AM
Subject: Halifax offer


> The Halifax have made a "final offer" of £280 of the £702 I am claiming 
> and I've told them I'll think about it. I'm mostly wondering whether the 
> comments page on your site is all those you've received or just the ones where 
> money is offered! Have people failed court actions after refusing offers? What info 
> do you need to bring to court and what are the criteria used by the judge to
> decide the claim?
>
> Any help you could give greatly appreciated - as is everything you've done 
> to date.
>
> Regards,
> Kieran 

 

[176] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: James
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 7:03 PM 
Subject: Redeemed a very handy £420 

I've had £640 stolen in bank charges by the Halifax from a current account - due to non-payment of standing orders. I sent the first letter to the bank as per your instructions. After approx 3 weeks I was offered £120 in 'goodwill'. I rejected their offer and sent them £10 asking them to detail all charges since I opened the account . About 4 weeks later their goodwill increased to £420 which I accepted. Fanbloodytastic! A win against the bank. Apart from the money - always handy, It makes you feel all warm and cuddly inside.

Thanks 

 

[174] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: paul 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 7:29 AM 
Subject: Bank charges 

> After reading about these bank charges on your site yesterday, I called Bank 
> of Scotland Phone bank and asked them to send me a letter detailing all my 
> bank charges for the past 2 years.When I told them why I wanted them, they 
> refunded immediatley to my acocount my past 2 months bank charges, just over 
> £100.
> Will be interesting to know exactly how much I have been charged by these 
> people and how much they are willing to give me back
> Thank you

 

[173] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: kelly 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 8:41 PM 

i found this site very interesting and gave the letters ago on behalf of my boyfriend. i sent the letters to all his creditors and ha got three cheques for between £125-£150 each cheque!! i know that if he'd have let me i coulld've got alot more from his halifax account and halifax credit card but he was happy with that. im trying to get him to change bank accounts as halifax are the most unhelpful bank in the world such an awful bank to deal with, be strong and dont take no for an answer,they will never win in court so it probably wouldnt even get that far. thank you for all your help.x

 

[167] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Geoff 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 11:48 AM
Subject: Success!

Thanks to your website and the push given to me by the attitude of Halifax's
staff (who were frankly arrogant and rude when I tried to discuss charges
with them) I finally decided, after a month where I received £200 charges in
two days to go ahead with your recommended action plan.

The first letter produced an offer which didn't even cover the charges I'd
received that month, so after a second letter and another conversation with
customer services where they told me they were happy for me to go ahead and
sue (!!), I put in a claim using the moneyclaim online site for £918 (the
total amount of charges I've ever paid to Halifax - I checked all my
statements) with the £80 court fee.

They made me sweat for a few weeks (after initially stating that they would
contest the claim) but this morning I received a letter stating that while
they don't accept that the charges are unlawful they don't want the cost of
disputing the case and that they will settle for the full amount of £998.

So add another £918 to your total, thanks so much for such a great site.

Geoff

 

[166] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: LORNA  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 12:54 PM
Subject: bank charges

got a total of £551.00 back from bank of Scotland could have held out for more but didn't want to lose my account as it is difficult to obtain a Bank account when you have had charges.

 

[159] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: sharon
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2006 3:15 PM
Subject: charges

hi, just to let evereyone know sent both step letters to halfiax regarding £2409 of charges first offer was £160 second offer £400 they now say that is my final offer rang them today to say i was preparing to file a claim in court they more or less said go for it so i am. i will keep you informed... sharon

 

[155] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Chris 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2006 9:31 AM
Subject: Excellent source of info


Just got back a £25 late payment fee from Bank of Scotland for settling my Credit Card bill 1 day late! This was because the due date was a Monday and I set up an online payment to go out of the Friday. Strange how the money actually left my bank account on the Friday but didn't hit their account until the Tuesday - yet another banking con we are expected to accept without complaint. I'm quite happy to pay interest on money I owe for the time I owe it, but these randomly generated, excessively high charges are a rip-off. Congratulations on the site and for helping the ordinary punter to take on the might of the banks .

Chris.    
Essex

 

[148] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Lesley  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2006 9:36 AM
Subject: Returned bank Chages

Thank you for your wonderful website.

I challenged the Halifax/Bank of Scotland for a 18 months worth of charges. After the first stage letter I was sent a standard reply offering £273 as a goodwill gesture. I rejected that and sent the second letter. Today I was offered £663 which I have decided to accept.
Without your website I wouldn't have this money,keep up the good work.

Lesley

 

[142] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Elaine 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 9:50 PM
Subject: Halifax

Hi 

I just wanted to say a big thank you. I sent your first letter to Halifax regarding charges of excess of £1500 over the last 5 years within one week i had received a system generated letter advising my complaint was been looked into within the following week i received a letter offering me £230 as a goodwill gesture(also advising that it was my responsibility to manage my account) i responded with another letter advising that i would not accept their offer  i then received a telephone call advising that i would not receive the full amount i wanted, after a relatively easy shorty conversation we agreed on a offer of £650 which was in my bank account within days of the conversation. I had to sign a declaration to say i wouldn't request any other refunds of charges but that was a small sacrifice to pay for the satisfaction of getting so much of the charges back.....Thank you so much am now going to send your letter to our MBNA  credit card who are currently still charges me £25 per late payment I have recommended your website to everyone i know.

Thank you 
Elaine

 

[139] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Phil
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2006 11:36 PM
Subject: Bank charges

hi, 

Got £270 from the hali today.  Thanks.

Phil

 

[135] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: emma
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, July 08, 2006 12:43 PM

I recently claimed for 225 gbp to be refunded from my Halifax credit card due to previous unfair charges during the last 4 years.  After my 3rd letter (the last 2 being the draft from your website) I received an offer of 125 gbp.  I know I could have persued the full claim plus interest through the court but in the end I accepted.  Now I am using this money to put toward the cost of my claim against Halifax Bank (520 gbp plus interest) and Abbey National (96 gbp) should I not get a refund before involving the small claims court.
I will keep you posted on these claims.
Best regards
Alex

 

[134] > ----- Original Message ----- 
 From: Anne 
 To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
 Sent: Wednesday, July 05, 2006 4:33 PM
 Subject: Re Bank Charges

I have received £750.00 bank from Halifax PLC today after being advised of your webpage and sending both stage 1 & 2 letters. After receiving the stage 1 letter I received an offer of £190.00 and when I called the bank to advise this is unacceptable the offer was immediately increased to £527.00 which again I refused. I was then advised by the bank this was their final offer.

On sending stage 2 letter I was again advised £527.00 was the only offer on the table, I did advise I would take this to court if neccessary and made 1 more phone call to see if this would be settled amicably and was promptly offered £750.00 to basically go away which I was more than happy to accept.

All in all this has taken less than 14 days from looking at this website and the funds being credited to my account.

I would like to thank you and advise anyone reading this to go for it with their banks as they will give in eventually.

Anne

 

[133] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: John 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, July 03, 2006 2:37 PM
Subject: Bank Charges over 6 year period.

Hi There,
I write to let you know that I have used your site/letters and have claimed £2700 in bank charges and fees over a 6 year period with the Halifax Bank. Claim 6LN01997 at Lincoln County Court refers (withdrawn this day). Also court costs £120 to be refunded.
Thank you very much for your guidance in this case. A holiday becKons!!!!
Best regards
John

 

[124] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: steven 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Wednesday, June 28, 2006 3:30 PM
Subject: Result


> After sending your letter and asking HBoS to look into charges on my account over the last five years on June 8th. I recieved a letterstating that i would be refunded £227 as a "gesture of goodwill".

> Thanks for your help
>
> Steve

 

[118] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tony 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 10:31 PM
Subject: Bank charges claim, i won!!!

Hi There

I thought i would let you know that i was claiming £2374, from the Halifax in relation to bank charges on 2 accounts over 6 years.

They offered me a pitiful £205, then their 2nd offer £600, this was their final offer, i decided to follow your advice and take the matter to the small claims court at a cost of £120. Although prior to this as i so apprehensive i called Halifax to offer them a last chance to pay, or they will also have to pay the court fees, they rejected.

I received a letter from the court to advise me that Halifax were contesting ( words to the affect) the claim, at this point i really thought i had gone in the world of the unknown. I stuck with it and received a letter from the Halifax to offer the full claim £2374 and the court cost £120. I have checked my account today and has been paid in. All through the claim Halifax have remained professional and surprisingly helpful, and also the £10 cheque was returned ( the cheque to cover admin fees to provide me with the list of the charges)

I was over the moon, since told all friends and family about this and they are now in the process of claiming against their banks.

Many thanks for your sound advice.

Ps would help if your page would have email link, as just tried to find one to send to another friend. [Govan Law Centre: thanks for that suggestion Tony, we've now added e-mail links on this & the main entry page].

Regards

Tony 

 

[117] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: liz 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2006 12:09 PM
Subject: refund


Using a combination of information and letters from your site and the bank action group, I was refunded £740 plus costs from Bank of Scotland. I had to go as far as issuing a small claim and went to court yesterday to try to get the 8% interest claimed paid as well. I was unsuccessful. However I have another letter ready to post to recaim the remaining charges on my account. Thank you for empowering the little people.

 

[97] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: James 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Sunday, June 04, 2006 5:06 PM
Subject: thank you

Your website is a god send. My bank the halifax has been charging me every month and to date have sent back £602 in refund charges and back dated them as well. They still charge me when I go overdrawn so I send them a letter and someone from the bank calls me and informs me that I will be reimbursed.

Thanks for your excellent letters, I would recommend anyone who wishes to get refunds to use your site

James 
LONDON

 

[95]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: gillian
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 4:42 PM
Subject: Bank Charges


> Thank you very much for use of your letter.  I have been refunded £120 by
> HBoS,   I'm very grateful for you assistance and i'm passing your details on to
> everyone!.

 

[94] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: wd 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, June 02, 2006 9:30 PM
Subject: bank charges refund


Your website is invaluable. congratulations!

Our total bank charges on 2 accounts (as a result of client default of a major debt) exceed £10000 since 1991. HBOS, having ignored our various letters re these accounts which are still active, responded to our raising of 2 (Scottish)
Summary Cause Actions (cost £39 per action on standard forms - maximum £1500 claim per action) by refunding all charges claimed within a 5 year time limit ie total refunded £2326 inc court fees and interest - this refund "without prejudice" of course.
Many thanks for your assistance!

 

[87] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Dianne
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2006 9:38 PM
Subject: BOS refund

I received £1,976 in total from BOS in two separate claims going back 5 years

thanks, have passed the info on to as many people as pos!  

Dianne

 

[86]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Phil  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 10:46 PM
Subject: Bank letter

Hi,

The Halifax charged me £120 for going £30 over my overdraft for two days on my current.
I complained using the letter 1 template you provided and they refunded £50. Not exactly a big gesture on their part but a result.
Thanks for the assistance.

Best Regards,
Phil 

 

[83]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Iain  
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 7:17 PM 
Subject: Bank Debt - Are Collection Agents All Talk and No Bite? 

Hi

I have contacted Bank of Scotland using your template letter in an attempt to have an overdraft I've been paying off for several years under an installment plan written off since most, if not all of the remaining balance consists of charges of £25 a time for using a switch card in excess of the limit during a cash flow crisis while I was unemployed.

I have had no response from Bank of Scotland within 40 days other than to advise me their customer relations department are looking into my complaint and this was delayed due to my letter being mis-filed. I have now submitted complaints against the bank to the OFT and the Information Commissioner.

What I would like to bring to your attention is a company called Blair Oliver & Scott Limited - PO Box 66, Rosyth, KY11 2WG. This company is a debt collector that has been administering my installment plan. Now that I have ceased making payments to the account I have received from them a final notice threatening legal action if I fail to bring the installment plan up to date within 7 days (their letter dated 13th May 2006). What I have found out today is that Blair Oliver & Scott Ltd act exclusively on behalf of HBOS Plc so are practically a De Facto part of the Bank of Scotland and that they can only initiate legal action on the direct instruction of the bank.

What I believe is happening with the bank's delay is they are stalling for time in the hope I will give in to threats of legal action from Blair Oliver & Scott Ltd.  Perhaps you could post information on your website so that others who have dealings with Blair Oliver & Scott Ltd are aware of the true nature of the company as an insidious cover for HBOS Plc and, given their letters are fit only for the shredder, can withdraw cooperation with them rather than giving in to them for fear of being taken to court as has been my situation for several years now. I am sure there are many people who in my situation, upon receipt of the letter I received last week would just start making payments again - I must admit my cage was slightly rattled. Above all I think people should be discouraged from fearing the words "Final Notice".

Regards
Iain 

 

[82]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Andrew 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 5:05 PM 
Subject: Bank of Scotland/Halifax bank charges 

First of all thank you for your help with the letters!  Over the last year, i was charged 2x £30 and 1 x £60 when i went through my big file of bank statements. So i embarked on writing the letter. I kept my side of the letter simple saying "On the 22 May 2005 i was charged £30" and laid out all the facts neatly. After finding where the bank's head office address was (Edinburgh, The Mound) I just sent it off and waited.

I first got the normal generated letter "we are dealing with your complaint". Then, about a week later i received a letter detailing that the charges are ultimately my responsibility on the running of my account, that it's basically my fault - BUT would refund £150 (100% of the charges) as a "gesture of goodwill" !!!

What i don't get - is if it was my fault, why refund me anyway with their "goodwill" the sum of £150. That's a lot of money (to me anyway) and i can see by some of your other replies that people have had horrendous amounts charged by the bank. If EVERY single person who have had bank charges writes these letters and receives the refunds - the banks will loose a LOT of money!!!

I also noted that the signature on the letter i received was a genuine signature instead of a photocopied one - proves they really care!

Thanks a million! 
Andrew

 

[80]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Michael 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 11:02 AM
Subject: Halifax Bank Charges

I was charged £39 for each of two small direct debits that were not paid. I used letter 1 to contact the Halifax and they replied within 48 hours informing me that it would be put to their complaints procedure. Today exactly one week later they replied to say that they would refund the £78 as a gesture of goodwill.

I had the usual blurb as predicted by yourselves. They can charge because of their terms and conditions that I had agreed to. I should contact the Financial Ombudsman.

There was also a veiled threat that they have the right to close my account if it is not managed properly.  I had to sign a form to state that this was a final settlement on this claim and that all FUTURE VALID charges will stand.

Many thanks for your help - it is obvious that the banks know they are acting illegally because they would not refund charges, even as a gesture of goodwill, if they knew they were 100% in the right!

Cheers

Michael

 

[75] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: jm 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 10:40 PM
Subject: Bank of Scotland - Charges Refund

Thanks for your advice i have managed to get refunded £178.00 i have passed this on to friends and family my aunt managed to get £650.00

My problem is the the Royal Bank of Scotland, they don't seem to be moving at all with refunds, i have sent to them today the second stage letter.

 

[74]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Martin 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, May 13, 2006 6:58 PM
Subject: thank you

Thankyou
I used your first letter and sent it to the bank of Scotland and they have refunded all my charges as a gesture of good will, but I had to sign a form to say I would not make any more claims for unfair charges, keep up the good work you got my £442 back.

Martin

 

[69]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Steve
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 11:23 AM 
Subject: bank charges 
many thanks for the invaluable info on your site. I am battling the good old halifax re charges. It is my intention to pursue this to the very end.
once again thanks. 
steve 

 

[67] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Stephen 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Sunday, May 07, 2006 1:19 PM
Subject: Halifax Bank

I went overdrawn in January for one day and incurred £178 charges after 5 small DD were paid. I complained bitterly at the branch and was given £60 (maximum 2 charges refund) as "a gesture of goodwill". I felt this was insufficient and trawled the web and found some useful background but the Govan Law Website was by far the best and most comprehensive site.

Your step by step approach is excellent. I sent letter 1 and got an automated reply. I then sent letter 2 and was offered a full refund, as a "final gesture of goodwill", but they wanted me to sign a letter to the effect that a) that this was a full and final payment for this instance and b) that any and all future charges should I ever go overdrawn again would apply.

I scored out the part b) and signed the letter. I received the full balance repaid to my account a few weeks ago.

Thanks for an excellent service. 

Stephen 

 

[58]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <philsandi
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 9:22 AM
Subject: Smile.co.uk


I used your letter to try and claim back bank charges on my smile.co.uk bank
account, and my joint account at Halifax. Top marks to smile - a refund
of £820.00 with no arguments. Halifax claim not to have received my letter!

Thanks

 

[57]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Tom 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 1:56 PM 
Subject: Refund Offered by Halifax PLC 

After taking on the Halifax Plc regarding the charges levied on my account since October 2005. I was today offered a final refund of £1370 equivalent to 6 months charges. This was the fourth offer made. The offer was made after sending the Halifax your second letter.

The previous offers after sending your first letter and speaking to them on the phone were £146 , £292 and £436. The last amount was supposed to be 6 months charges but after a long phone call it was accepted this figure was an 'error'.

The Halifax are still insisting on charging £30 per transaction for current accounts, in the future, as the charges did not relate to a credit card account. I have pointed out the OFT has recommended a £12 limit for card accounts as basically all charges were honoured and £30 is excessive to 'stuff' and post a letter.

Thank you so much for the help your website gave me and as a footnote Halifax Plc are looking at the way in which their statements are presented in order to provide the customer with a clearer picture of their accounts. Many charges were raised by 'the computer' yet were never shown on monthly statements. Halifax say this will be rectified this summer.

Many Thanks 

Tom

 
[41]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: laura 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 9:26 AM 
Subject: Bank Charges - Bank of Scotland 

Hi, 

I've been a mature student for a couple of years now and have never been over my overdraft limit despite having trouble balancing the books at times. Due to a genuine oversight, I went over my overdraft limit by £100 for about 15 hours. I was charged a total of £88. Despite me reminding them that I'd been a good customer of theirs for twelve years and will have a good salary being paid into their bank when I qualify, they were not interested in refunding the charges. I sent off your letter, got a reply just before the 14 days deadline. They stated that they were refunding the charges, but that it was just a gesture of goodwill blah blah. I have to sign a letter stating that the refund is in full settlement of my complaint and that I will not be taking any more action, but I'm delighted to get my money back as I'm really struggling with exams coming up. Thanks very much for your help guys.

Laura 

 

 
[37]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Euan 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2006 10:41 AM 

Many thanks for the information on the website - used the letter against the Bank of Scotland who charged me 3 times on the one day (at a total of £117). Initially, the Bank offered a refund of one of the charges (£39) which at the time I was willing to accept but then, a week later, the money had still not appeared in my account. Accordingly, I wrote again strongly standing up for my position and eventually the Bank backed down and refunded the entire amount.

What a result!

Euan

 

[31] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Martin 
To: <mail@bankcharges.info> 
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 9:22 AM 
Subject: action against Halifax 

> Many thanks for a hugely informative web site.
> Following your advice and instructions, I have successfully received a 
> refund from the Halifax of £206.
> They initially refused to refund the monies, but after raising a claim 
> with the Money Claim Online Service, they have refunded the charges in full.
> 
> I urge everyone to pursue any claim they have, and hopefully the banks 
> will desist with their extortionate charges.
> 
> Martin

 

[27]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Martin 
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Friday, March 31, 2006 10:43 AM 

Hi 

I used your letter to complain to the Halifax about a charge of £39 for not paying a D/D because of insufficient funds in the account,I was at fault and quickly transferred money into cover the payment but it was too late I argued that £39 for 2 hrs was excessive they fobbed me off twice then I wrote 'your letter' and I now have a form to sign to have the charge refunded in full ,being the Halifax they couldnt let it go without a veiled threat that if I dont keep my account in order they reserve the right to close it,believe me I cant wait to be in the position to tell them to stick it,I have a cashcard account which pays no interest takes 7 working days to clear a cheque which in effect is 9 days they refuse to give me a proper current account because 8 years ago I was made redundant and got in a mess financially. No CCJ's just a mess I am on the final straight now and hope to be debt free by the end of the year I tried moving my account but cant get a cheque book with other basic accounts so I am stuck they recently told me I could apply for a current account when I did they turned me down and my credit ref file now shows that as an application for credit cant win,if you know a Bank who might listen favourably please let me know as I cant wait to leave the Halifax.

Regards 

Martin 

 

[9] ----- Original Message ----- 
From: James
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>
Sent: Thursday, November 03, 2005 1:20 AM

Hi,

Just a quick e-mail to thank you for producing this website. After amending the letter slightly to fit with my personal circumstances, I have received a full refund of charges (totalling £702.59) from the Bank of Scotland.

 

[6]  ----- Original Message ----- 
From: Sean
To: mail@bankcharges.info 
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 9:44 AM
Subject: letter 

Hello there,

I used a slight variation of your letter on Halifax and it seems that they have reversed the charge on my account, I’m going to keep it and use it again if they try and charge my unfairly again, thanks guys!

Regards

Sean

 

 
[5] ----- Original Message -----
From: "FLS"
To: <mail@bankcharges.info>