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 Will the bank want to close my account in the event that my claim is successful? |
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Cooling-off Period |
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How do I make a complaint? |
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  Can I make a claim myself? top
The simple answer to this is yes in the same way that you can prepare and file your own tax return without the use of an accountant, or service and repair your own car without the use of a mechanic, or buy and sell your own property without the use of a solicitor. Yet many people choose to use independent experts rather than do it themselves. Why? Because they have established that the benefits of using an independent expert far outweighs the cost-especially when the cost is payable only on success!
Before deciding to make a claim against a lender yourself you need to ask yourself a number of questions and then decide whether the benefits of using a claims advisor outweighs the cost.
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Is my claim complex and does it require an expert if it is to be maximised? More often than not the answer to this is yes. Most proponents of the DIY system suggest that to make a claim you simply add up your charges and then add to that interest of 8% per annum that you are entitled to under the County Courts Act 1984. Some even provide helpful online calculators. For many people this approach is wrong and likely to result in you claiming far less than you are entitled to. In fact not only are you entitled to claim back the penalty and default charges that you have paid but you are also entitled to claim back any interest you have incurred in respect of those charges. Some banks, for instance, charge interest for unauthorised overdrafts at a rate of 29.9% per annum, compounded on a daily basis. So a £20 charge incurred 6 years ago is worth in excess of £120 today, assuming that rate of interest has been constantly applied throughout the 6 year term. Of course people swing in and out of authorised and unauthorised overdrafts and into credit occasionally. To make a claim even more difficult, interest rates have changed many times over the last 6 years . All of which makes the calculations very difficult if not impossible for those who do not have the appropriate software and knowledge. So unless you have been in credit throughout the last 6 years the major part of your claim could be the interest you have been charged at punitive rates and you should use an expert.
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Do my family, work or social commitments allow me enough time to deal with this claim? Calculating the claim can take a long time, but that won’t be the end of the story. The Lenders don’t simply roll over and pay on receipt of your claim. They may challenge your claim and ask for a detailed explanation of your figures. This can result in time consuming correspondence.
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Can my free time be better spent doing something else? We will leave you to decide that. |
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Why can I reclaim my bank default and referral charges going back 6 years? top
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An obscure piece of case law dating back to the 19th Century determined that a charge is in fact a penalty if it does not reflect an items true cost.
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In more recent years two pieces of law have been passed; The Unfair (Contracts) Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 which prohibit Banks and other commercial institutions from imposing financial penalties on their customers.
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When Banks and Credit Card companies bounce cheques, stop standing orders or direct debits or note that a customer has an unauthorised overdraft they charge as much as £40 per item. Given that the process is entirely computerised and does not involve any costly human intervention it is clear that a more appropriate charge would be a matter of a few pence. This being so it is now clear that any Court would determine that these transaction charges are unlawful extravagant financial penalties.
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It appears that no Court has yet had an opportunity to decide the issue because the banks have steadfastly refused to allow a case to reach the Courts. The Banks realise that loosing just one case would be confirmation that the charges are unenforceable and repayable to their customers. The publicity would result in an even greater flood of claims than they are experiencing now. 
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Given the financial clout of the banks and the number of solicitors and barristers they have at their disposal they have by default confirmed that the claims against them are correct by settling them with very little resistance.
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The Office of Fair Trading is also investigating the situation and has already determined that the credit card companies have been over charging and must now reduce their charges.
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The Statute of Limitations determines that a debt can be claimed for a period of up to 6 years from the date it is incurred. |
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What can be included in my claim? top
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Charges made by Banks, Mortgage Lenders and Credit Card Companies for late payments on loans etc.
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Charges made by Banks for referred cheques, direct debits and standing orders.
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Charges made by Banks and Credit Card Companies for exceeding agreed overdraft and loan limits.
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In addition the County Courts Act of 1984 allows claimants to charge interest at the rate of 8% per annum from the date the Bank deprived its customer of the money being claimed to the date of the final settlement.
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In the event that a customer has been charged interest on an overdraft created or exacerbated by these charges that interest is also reclaimable. This can form a significant part if not the major part of the claim given that interest rates on unauthorised overdrafts some times exceed 25% per annum compound. Over a number of years the interest on the charge can be significantly more than the charge itself.
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Interest charged by the banks and lenders on any unlawful charges levied by them-this can exceed 25% per annum sometimes.
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What Information do you need in order to process the claim? top
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To compile a claim we need to know the charges you have incurred over the last 6 years. In the event that you do not have this information we can, with your authority, apply to the bank or other financial institution in accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act and request the information from them. They are legally bound to give us this information and are not allowed to charge more than £10 for providing it. We will pay this for you and recover the payment from the proceeds of the claim.However, the Act only covers charges not bank statements. In order to make a claim for interest charged on the default charges you will need to find or get copies of your bank statements-the banks charge a great deal for these.With the statements we can compute the interest charges by reference to the periods you were in overdraft and the rates the bank was charging at that time.
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What do I need to do to appoint you and make a claim? top
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Simply complete our claim pack which you can obtain by phoning or info@financialclaimsuk.com us.
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What will it cost me? top |
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We operate on a “no win-no cost” basis. We will take over your claim and pay you 85% of the value of the claim that you assign to us (less £10 if we have to obtain details from the bank or lender of the charges that you have incurred) upon receipt of cleared funds from the relevant financial institution (subject to a minimum deduction of £180. |
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Will making a claim involve any effort on my part at all and what information do you need? top
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You need to provide us details of the banks, credit card companies and mortgage lenders from whom you wish to reclaim your charges etc. It would also be helpful if you could provide us with copies of statements from these companies. However if you don’t have copy statements going back 6 years don’t worry. Under the Data Protection Act the Banks and other financial institutions are obliged to provide us the information we request providing we have your authority. However, they have up to 40 days in order to provide the information and usually take all the time available before providing it. Waiting for the financial institutions to provide the information significantly delays your claim, so it is best to give us the information you have.
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Will the bank want to close my account in the event that my claim is successful? top
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The Banking Code Standards Board issued Bulletin No 21 on the 27th July 2006 dealing with this issue.
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The first thing to note is that the banks cannot use account closure as a threat to deter legal action. Secondly, notwithstanding a successful claim the Banks are asked to treat anyone in financial difficulty sympathetically and positively. Accordingly if the customer is in financial difficulty and cannot open an account with another Bank the Standards Board expects the Bank to allow the customer to continue using the existing account. Finally, the Standards Board does ask the Banks to consider very carefully the fairness of closing accounts in such circumstances. However, the Banks do have the legal right to close accounts, if they so choose.
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Cooling-off Period top |
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Government Regulations require that this any agreement with us will be subject to a 14 day cooling off period during which you may withdraw from any transaction with us without cost. |
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How do I make a complaint top |
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We are committed to meeting our obligations to you according to the contract you have signed with us and to informing you of progress with the claim. If, however, we are deficient in any significant way, we would like to hear from you. Our support teams are ready to receive your complaint and to work with you to resolve it. You can share your concerns with them by completing an on-line form, by phone or by letter as follows:
- Complete the on-line complaint form - click here
- Telephone to our Call Centre: 020 3239 1607
- Write a letter addressed to us at The Complaints Department, PO Box 359, Feltham, TW13 6WF.
Our complaints handling procedure may be viewed by clicking here |
