Claim your Bank Charges Back Lloyds TSB

Get the latest here, www.moneysavingexpert.com/bankchargesresult

Yes, The Office of fair trading ruled today that the banks are charging unfairly, but instead of refunding customers using all the money they were given by the taxpayers (Thanks Gordon!!) to bail them out, they are spitting the dummy out and stating they will go to the european commission to appeal instead, come on Gordon, enough is enough, customers are sick of this and it has been going on for years, apply pressure to make the banks sort this mess out once and for all!!

I got sick and tired of sending them letters and speaking to their representatives in branch and on the phone-getting nowhere!! So I saw Martin Lewis on daytime TV last year and checked out his website to see how to proceed.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/
Nice photo-don't you think!!

I set up another bank account with a different bank just in case lloyds tsb decided to close mine down.

Please feel free to use this as a template (Obviously inserting your own details in the relevant places and sending them £10.00 for their charge fee!!)

[INSERT NAME, ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER]
[INSERT DATE]

[INSERT NAME AND ADDRESS OF BANK]

Dear Sir or Madam,

Re. Account number: [INSERT ACCOUNT NUMBER]

I am writing to request a fully comprehensive list of all the default charges for direct debit, unauthorised overdrafts and standing orders I have paid over the last six years.

Please find enclosed a cheque for the maximum statutory charge of £10. If you are unable to provide this data, I will accept a copy of my statements going back six years; I understand that statements on their own are not covered by the Data Protection Act 1998, yet I'm not requesting the statements per se, but the charges, which I'm entitled to by law.

If you store any of the older records on microfiche, please be aware that the Information Commissioner deems this to be a relevant filing system under the Act. As such, any microfiche data must be sent to me in fully legible and comprehensible form.

I look forward to your response within 40 days, as [INSERT NAME OF BANK] is obliged to reply under the Data Protection Act. If not I shall seek remedy from the Information Commissioner.

Yours faithfully,

[YOUR SIGNATURE]

[YOUR NAME (PRINTED)]

I used this handy little gizmo on Martin Lewis's site when I received my copy statements to work out my exact charges + £120.00 court fee + £10.00 charge for statements (Including 8% interest)
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges#guide

This letter is in 2 parts becuse I can not fit all of in on one module, please feel free to copy and use both part 1 and 2 alltogether, obviously replacing the relevant sections!!

[Your name and address]

Last Communication before action

Lloyds TSB
Charlton Place
Andover
Hampshire.
SP10 1RE

24 January 2007

Account number Sort Code

Dear ,

Re: Your refusal again, to refund bank charges
Ref.

I write in response to your last standard computer generated letter letter dated 20th January refusing my request for a refund of bank charges. I note your position is that I am not entitled to a refund because the terms and conditions of my account allow you to impose charges where I have insufficient funds in my account.

I also note your suggestion that I can complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman if dissatisfied with this decision. However, please be advised that it would be inappropriate to complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman where the only forum which can determine a dispute on the legality of charges is my local court. I would ask you to note the following.

Your bank insists it can impose charges in accordance with its terms and conditions of contract. However, those terms and conditions are subject to the common law and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999 (UTCCR). Indeed, the UTCCR takes precedence over any contractual term where the court finds a term to be 'unfair'. The court can then treat that term of contract as having no legal effect.

The question that arises is this: are your charges unfair in terms of the UTCCR? 0n 26 July 2005 the OFT stated that 'a charge is likely to be disproportionately high if it is more than a court would be likely to award if the lender sued the cardholder for breach of contract'. So what would the court award your bank for my minor breach of contract?

As you will be aware, the court will only award (in a non-negotiated consumer contract) a sum to reimburse actual loss. Your charges do not reflect actual loss. Rather, they include a massive profit margin or penalty. Alternatively, they subsidise the bank's global debt recovery costs and lending losses. There is parliamentary evidence for this assertion.

Part 2 -

When the UK banks gave evidence to the House of Commons Treasury Committee on how bank charges were calculated they said:

"[bank charges] are going to pay for all the people we have who pursue debt, collect debt, speak to customers and chase payments. The way these charges are arrived at is by taking these total costs and making some assumptions about the volume that is going to come through to arrive at the individual charges" (House of Commons, 2nd report, 25 January 2005, paragraph 50).

Accordingly, your charges do not reflect the actual loss in my case. They are an illegal penalty charge designed to recover money unconnected with the conduct of my account. Please advise whether you have an appeals procedure, and if so, please treat this letter as a request for an appeal against your decision not to refund charges.

If I do not hear from you positively and have the charges as included schedule refunded to my account within the next 7days , I will raise an action of payment at my local court without further communication.
In that eventuality, I would require you to lodge in court financial vouching for the actual loss sustained in my case, together with your full financial accounts revealing how much income is generated from your bank charges, as against the cost of administering dishonoured transactions.

I look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully

[Your name]

(I obviously included a copy of the seperate sheet printed out from Martin's page with my charges listed on it)

They sent me a reply to the above letter (dated 24th January)on 11th May-you do the math!!
They were sorry I was unhappy with their response so far-(Really!!) they see from their records that I have already issued a court claim for repayment (Duhh!!) and that this is now in the hands of their solicitors.

I went to this website to give the details and file a claim. (cost me £120.00 by credit card and took me half an hour) www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
Obviously I did this before the last module (reply) as I gave them 7 days to sort it.

I got a court form dated 25th March 2007 stating that Lloyds Tsb's Solicitors-Sechiari Clark and Mitchell (Blow me down-do the first letters really spell scam?) intend to defend the case, I read through the defence they gave and caught them out in 2 lies straight away-got very happy with my highlighter!!

I received a letter from my Local Grimsby County court stating that the case had been moved to them by request of Lloyds Tsb's solicitors, I had to pay them another £100.00 and file an allocation questionnaire by 30th April. (More delaying tactics by Lloyds tsb-are they hoping I die before I get this sorted out?)
I duly traipsed into town with the completed questionaire and £100.00 (Did not get mugged on the way-Ha Haa!)

Got another letter dated 8th May 2007 from Grimsby County Court stating that I had to deliver copies of all the documents I intended to produce as evidence, to every other party and also to the court office-(Spent nearly a whole day photocopying the pile via my scanner and PC (good job I didn't run out of ink!!)no later than 14 days before the hearing on 9th July.
Took the court's pile in by hand and posted Lloyds Tsb's pile to their solicitor-signed for. (as advised by the court office-I asked as I did not know whether to send copies to TSB as well-they said not to)

I got to the court with 10 minutes to spare only to find out no representatives from Lloyds Tsb were there yet.
I sat in the court waiting room trembling with anticipation!!!
I was called before the district judge and emptied my briefcase arranging my files neatly on the table, all geared up for battle, only to be told that the other party had not turned up and I had won as all my paperwork was in order and I had proved my case-Hoorrahh!!
Lloyds Tsb now have 14 days to pay up the total of £2703.22 they owe me.

Today I got my General form of Judgement or order from the county court stating that the total of £2703.22 is payable in 14 days. (They have 7 days to pay up if they do not I am calling in the bailiffs)
I am awaiting further developments-and the cheque with baited breath!!

I have still not received anything from Lloyds Tsb, so-I have beed into my local court in Grimsby and called in the Bailiffs, This cost me another £55.00 which has been added to what they owe me now.
I received confirmation that the warrant has been issued and I am now waiting for the result-They could not tell me when the bailiffs are calling on Lloyds Tsb, so I shall have to wait and see, They now owe me £2758.22

Whether you're already trying to reclaim bank charges, or planning to, the 27 July 07 was a momentous day. In a co-ordinated move the OFT agreed to a high court test case with the banks; the FSA said banks needn't deal with complaints until then, and the Ombudsman said in the meantime it wouldn't hear cases either. So what should you do now?

Q. What does the OFT's announcement actually mean?

A. The Office of Fair Trading has announced it has agreed to a test case with seven major banks and one building society to decide the principles of reclaiming bank charges in the High Court. This doesn't mean any individuals are actually going to court; the OFT is using its special powers to have a case heard on legal principle. This should decide whether bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts (which includes bounced cheques or direct debits) are lawful or not.

The banks that will be a party to the case are: Abbey National plc, Barclays Bank plc, Clydesdale Bank plc, HBOS plc (includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland) , HSBC Bank plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (includes Natwest) and Nationwide Building Society.

Q: When is the test case likely to happen?

A: It's likely the case won't actually hit the court until the end of this year or the beginning of next year. These cases tend to take a long time. Plus whatever the outcome, it's likely to then go to the Court of Appeal and possibly after that to the House of Lords; so it may take a very long time indeed.

Q. What happens to reclaiming bank charges in the meantime?

A. The FSA has given banks a waiver from dealing with bank charges reclaiming cases until after the case, meaning they needn't respond to complaints in the meantime. At the same time the Financial Ombudsmen also said it won't look at any cases either. It has been said the courts will follow suit, yet the situation there is more complex and you may still be able to go via that route (more details later).

Yet rather than doing nothing, this means it's important you put a claim in now as a marker.

Q. What does the OFT's announcement actually mean?

A. The Office of Fair Trading has announced it has agreed to a test case with seven major banks and one building society to decide the principles of reclaiming bank charges in the High Court. This doesn't mean any individuals are actually going to court; the OFT is using its special powers to have a case heard on legal principle. This should decide whether bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts (which includes bounced cheques or direct debits) are lawful or not.

The banks that will be a party to the case are: Abbey National plc, Barclays Bank plc, Clydesdale Bank plc, HBOS plc (includes Halifax and Bank of Scotland) , HSBC Bank plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc, Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (includes Natwest) and Nationwide Building Society.

Q: When is the test case likely to happen?

A: It's likely the case won't actually hit the court until the end of this year or the beginning of next year. These cases tend to take a long time. Plus whatever the outcome, it's likely to then go to the Court of Appeal and possibly after that to the House of Lords; so it may take a very long time indeed.

Q. What happens to reclaiming bank charges in the meantime?

A. The FSA has given banks a waiver from dealing with bank charges reclaiming cases until after the case, meaning they needn't respond to complaints in the meantime. At the same time the Financial Ombudsmen also said it won't look at any cases either. It has been said the courts will follow suit, yet the situation there is more complex and you may still be able to go via that route (more details later).

Yet rather than doing nothing, this means it's important you put a claim in now as a marker.

This article is reproduced courtesy of Martin Lewis-for more information on saving money and reclaiming unfair banking charges please go to his website at
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/bank-charges-alert

Hoorahh,
I received a letter from the court that the Bailiffs have my money-Ha Haa.
I now have to wait 2 weeks for them to send me a cheque through the post-I shall let you all know when it arrives.

Apparently my cheque has been released by the bailiffs, I have to wait for the postman now, I shall post a photo when it arrives and then wind up this lens to help motivate others in their endeavours against the unlawful charging carried out by banks!!

The cheque has arrived and is now in my new bank account, this is the end of this story, If you are having similar struggles with your bank, don't give up!! Keep going and you will win out.
Good Luck!!