Bank charges - "the times they are a'changin"?

[Finless]

I received a letter from the MNBA (for business credit card) announcing "important changes" to their T&C from 1st May.

"We are also significantly reducing the default fees on your account to £12" ....................... I wonder why?

Mind you they are being a bit snippy about it. Apparently we had one days grace on the 'payment due date' for money to reach the account but this will no longer be the case.

I'm in business and I'm all for a good profit but the banks are f*ck*ng theiving bastards ......... IMO of course ......... and that doesn't include my branch who are very good about the size of my overdraft!

[clockworkdog]

I added up a load of fees my wife and I had over two accounts a several years ago. We have just been offered 65% back of the charges by Barclays, which accounts for 45% of the amount we asked for because we have included statutary interest. We have turned them down and given them 7 days to up the offer to 100% of charges (which is about 70% of full amount including interest). Please don't do the maths on my percentages coz I'm just typing off the hoof....

[gwilson]

i did my bank charges with the halifax, including the interest it came to approx 1100 over five years. they offered me 916 back, which i took as it was 916 pounds i didnt have the day before. I think it took about 8 weeks from sending the inital letter asking for all my statements to getting the cash in the bank, and they didnt charge me either for replacement bank statements.

[clockworkdog]

Originally Posted by gwilson

and they didnt charge me either for replacement bank statements.

As long as you don't actually ask for statements for the last 6 years and simply a list of the charges then they are legally obliged to provide this and can only charge a maximum of £10 for doing so. They normally send through copy statements though and mine didn't charge the £10 either!

There is a really good guide to doing all of this with template letters at Bank charges: Reclaim them, they're unlawful, so you can get six years money back | MoneySavingExpert: Consumer Revenge, Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more

Andy

[gwilson]

Originally Posted by clockworkdog

As long as you don't actually ask for statements for the last 6 years and simply a list of the charges then they are legally obliged to provide this and can only charge a maximum of £10 for doing so. They normally send through copy statements though and mine didn't charge the £10 either!

There is a really good guide to doing all of this with template letters at Bank charges: Reclaim them, they're unlawful, so you can get six years money back | MoneySavingExpert: Consumer Revenge, Credit Cards, Shopping, Bank Charges, Cheap Flights and more

Andy

Thats the same website i used.

[clockworkdog]

Originally Posted by gwilson

Thats the same website i used.

Bloomin good it is an' all! I subscribe to the weekly email updates - get useful info including flight stuff etc.

[Mary]

Have you had any issues with the bank since though?

I'm sure I'm owed quite a few pounds from my student years, yet I don't want to get kicked out by my bank as I still have a professional study loan outstanding and can't afford to pay it all off in one go if they turn nasty.

[clockworkdog]

Originally Posted by Mary

Have you had any issues with the bank since though?

I'm sure I'm owed quite a few pounds from my student years, yet I don't want to get kicked out by my bank as I still have a professional study loan outstanding and can't afford to pay it all off in one go if they turn nasty.

They can get crappy and the advice is to have a bank account elsewhere that you can switch to in case they decide to pull the plug on you. Apparently though, banks are not likely to do this since they would lose a lot of custom and this is a sensitive time for them. You are still likely to represent good custom for tem over the years - they are really into multi-product sales (mortgages/insurance/investments etc.).

Remember you can only go back and recover the last 6 years of charges so the sooner you start the better.

Andy