Claiming Back Bank Charges - Looks like the bubble has burst

*LesMTS* · 15th May 2007, 1:25pm

A judge has ruled in favour of Llodys-TSB in a court battle over bank charges.
It's just a district decision but it sets a precedent that £30 (and the like) bank charges for exceeding an overdraft are not illegal and banks are quite within their rights to charge this.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6657025.stm

cupotea · 15th May 2007, 1:28pm

bastard! I never got aorund to claiming mine back.

Bunnylingus · 15th May 2007, 1:29pm

FUCK SAKE.

Why couldnt they have bloody well done this when I was still a call centre monkey?

StuntGirl · 15th May 2007, 1:50pm

Shit. Well, I'm still going to press on, none the less.

Bunnylingus · 15th May 2007, 2:02pm

Itll be interesting to see how the guys appeal goes, think about the amount of legal help hes bound to get with it.

Devastator · 15th May 2007, 3:08pm

I got £56 back today and I only had to moan for 5 minutes, hoorah!

Posh · 15th May 2007, 3:11pm

One of my fellow banking monkeys just said 'Maybe he just put together a really shit case?'.

The judge is probably sick of doing hunners of these shitey things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cupoftea

bastard! I never got aorund to claiming mine back.

At the moment, this doesn't affect your ability to attempt to claim back your bank charges. I would recommend doing it NOW.

cupotea · 15th May 2007, 3:16pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Posh

One of my fellow banking monkeys just said 'Maybe he just put together a really shit case?'.

The judge is probably sick of doing hunners of these shitey things.

At the moment, this doesn't affect your ability to attempt to claim back your bank charges. I would recommend doing it NOW.

Will do boss!

Tool_ogt · 15th May 2007, 3:22pm

I'm in work just now (work for a bank) and everyone is talking about this apparently the guy is appealing tho so not so cut and dry yet.

*LesMTS* · 15th May 2007, 3:23pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Posh

One of my fellow banking monkeys just said 'Maybe he just put together a really shit case?'.

The judge is probably sick of doing hunners of these shitey things.

Judges haven't been involved until now. This is the first one of these cases that has actually went in front of a judge. Up until this point the banks have just been giving the cash back and mostly calling it a "one off goodwill gesture" so they don't have to go through the hassle of legal proceedings. As such it represents the first real legal precedent.

Now that there's a legal precedent set that they have the right to charge for going over the overdraft limit, they're probably going to be reluctant to be as easy as they have been up until now.

thetruemayhem · 15th May 2007, 3:37pm

Thing is with contract law, they can only charge you for what costs they incurr from you going over your overdraft limit (former bank chiefs have agreed its somewhere in the region of £2 to £4.50). These £30 charges *are* illegal. I hope the guy puts together a solid appeal.

www.moneysavingexpert.com - info on claiming back from the banks.

t.

*LesMTS* · 15th May 2007, 3:44pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by thetruemayhem

Thing is with contract law, they can only charge you for what costs they incurr from you going over your overdraft limit (former bank chiefs have agreed its somewhere in the region of £2 to £4.50). These £30 charges *are* illegal. I hope the guy puts together a solid appeal.

www.moneysavingexpert.com - info on claiming back from the banks.

t.

What is legal and illegal is, to an extent, decided in the courts.
The judge concluded that they amounted to a charge for a service, and could therefore, theoretically, be anything the bank wants and are not illegal.
But, it is only a district judge. It doesn't necessarily affect the decision that other judges might make.
What it does do is set a precedent that banks may or may not bring up with people who claim back charges. They may stop handing the charges back because they have a better idea now of what would actually happen were it to go to a court.

I hope it doesn't get ruled illegal for them to charge £30 for going over your limit. The two ways they are looking at recouping that loss of earnings should charging be illegalised are by ending free banking and/or ending free cash withdrawals. I'd rather have the £30 charges, which you can avoid if you're responsible.

Addy · 15th May 2007, 8:00pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by LesMTS

What is legal and illegal is, to an extent, decided in the courts.
The judge concluded that they amounted to a charge for a service, and could therefore, theoretically, be anything the bank wants and are not illegal.
But, it is only a district judge. It doesn't necessarily affect the decision that other judges might make.
What it does do is set a precedent that banks may or may not bring up with people who claim back charges. They may stop handing the charges back because they have a better idea now of what would actually happen were it to go to a court.

I hope it doesn't get ruled illegal for them to charge £30 for going over your limit. The two ways they are looking at recouping that loss of earnings should charging be illegalised are by ending free banking and/or ending free cash withdrawals. I'd rather have the £30 charges, which you can avoid if you're responsible.

To all of that.

With the bottom, there's no way a business is going to willingly accept the loss of an income source without replacement - remember First Direct charging for nearly all current accounts last year?

Tacky · 15th May 2007, 8:24pm

AYe, if they cant refer to the monies being given back as compensation, has to be worded as a gesture of goodwill.

With the amount of money they make its just not justified.

Addy · 15th May 2007, 8:26pm

Yes it is, that they happen to be very good at their job isn't their fault.