‘Fund set up as customers lose bank charges case’
June 1, 2007 at 11:23 am
Lloyds TSB has this month won two County Court cases against customers trying to recoup excessive bank charges. The first unsuccessful claimant was a builder in Lancaster who on May 11th was deemed not to have submitted an adequate claim. The second case, four days later, in Birmingham, turned on a lack of evidence. According to consumer groups, both cases demonstrate the need for claimants to ensure that their paperwork is a hundred percent correct. Despite the victories, Lloyds TSB is still settling some cases out of court.
Meanwhile the Alliance and Leicester bank has apologised to customers who have received a letter from their lawyers using the Lloyds ruling as a means to dissuade people from pursuing their cases, despite the fact that the rulings are not binding. References are made in the letter to the possibility of accounts being closed if clients do not accept the sums being proffered in settlement. Earlier this year the bank was criticised by the Financial Ombudsman for closing the accounts of rebel customers. Other banks using the Lloyds ruling include the Abbey, Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks. Campaigners are encouraging people to continue their fight while the Office of Fair Trading investigates claims that the true cost of bouncing a cheque or standing order is under £2, compared with the charge of up to £38 made by some banks. More than 3 million people have downloaded specimen letters from websites and the ombudsman is handling a thousand cases each week.
The good news for claimants is that a fighting fund of £100,000 has been set up to assist customers with cases which are likely to produce a legal precedent. The funds have been pledged by the website MoneySavingExpert.com, the Consumer Action Group and a number of private individuals. It will be held in trust by a Glasgow-based charity, Govan Law Centre, which has already assisted a million customers with their claims against the banks.
i have carried out the three steps to reclaim my bank charges and have received six standard letters saying the same thing, that they will only refund charges under exceptional circumstances and that they are a building society not a bank and it wouldn t be fair to other members, i also received 2 x six years statements the last batch after i made a phone call with regards to claim, now i need to know what to do and help.i have been cut off on the phone on numerous occasions and am going to have to take court action. the charges they have been taking are from my disability monies and i have told them before all of this that that is the amount the government say i need to live on and they are taking it. please advise, i could really do with somebody to do this for me. lorraine
I have carried out the three steps to reclaim my bank charges and have received six standard letters saying the same thing, that they will only refund charges under exceptional circumstances and that they are a building society not a bank and it wouldn’t be fair to other members. I also received 2 x six years statements the last batch after I made a phone call with regards to claim; now I need to know what to do and help. I have been cut off on the phone on numerous occasions and am going to have to take court action. The charges they have been taking are from my disability monies and i have told them before all of this that that is the amount the government say I need to live on and they are taking it. Please advise, I could really do with somebody to do this for me. Lorraine