Background To Reclaiming Bank Charges

Reclaiming Unfair Bank Charges has been in the news a lot of late and there are a lot of people are reported to be being very successful with their claims. But can you claim? Do you have to use a solicitor?

Are solicitors required to reclaim bank fees?

If your claim isn’t going to be difficult then there’s probably no need to get a solicitor involved when you are reclaiming unfair bank charges. At the very worst, most of the claim can be handled through the small claims courts and probably from your own home if the banks play ball.

But if your claim is complex or you know you just won’t bother reclaiming yourself without help, then the expense is possibly worth it. But look for a no-win no-fee solicitor and check what their charges will be.

If you have paid unfair charges, make sure you claim them back them from your bank.

Whether you go it alone or appoint a solicitor, or start off yourself and seek professional help if the bank uses their tricks to delay the case, remember that it is important to continue your claim. If you stop, lose interest or just forget to go to the next step, then the bank has won. If this is going to be you, write down the steps in your diary or get in touch with a solicitor who advertises support for reclaiming bank fees.

In 2006 during a ruling that credit cards should only charge no more then a £12 annual fee the Office of Fair Trading declared that some bank charges were unlawful as well as being unfair. This created the opportunity for people to reclaim unlawful bank fees, charged within the previous 6 years.

British Law does not permit a penalty clause. This means that fees incurred for going overdrawn etc must be directly linked to what it has cost the bank to deal with the situation. So if it costs £2.50 to send a computer generated letter, then the fees should not exceed £2.50.

Yet when customers go overdrawn in the past, banks have automatically sent customers a standard letter telling them they are overdrawn whilst incurring fees from £20 upwards. This is usually in addition to the interest charges imposed for unauthorised overdrafts or being overdrawn.

There are other unlawful bank fees and these are being successfully challenged by customers with banks refunding these unlawful fees. These unfair fees include:

• Returned Cheques
• Unpaid Cheque
• Account Misuse
• Fee For Exceeding Authorised Overdraft Limit
• Overdrafts
• Unarranged Borrowing
• Unpaid Standing Orders
• Unpaid Direct Debits
• Card Misuse
• Late Payment Of Credit Cards
• Late Payment Of Store Cards
• Late Payment Of Catalogue Purchases

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