I’ve done this quick how to for my mum, but anyone claiming in Scotland can
use it. Please note I take NO responsibility for any losses you may incur as
a result of using this information. Nor do I accept responsibility for the accuracy
of it at any time in future. I am showing you how I did it and how many others
have done it in the past. For Information only! Don’t even think about suing
my ass if you don’t win your claim OK! I give all advice here in good faith…
If you want a fuller How To use THIS.
(Ignore Gorang’s grammar!)
I used the web site www.penaltycharges.co.uk
to guide me through my
own claim, so if you need reassurance at any time I’d suggest joining their
forum. The people there are extremely friendly and helpful. All the forms
I speak about here are originally from their own site.
The general route to get your charges back are…
- Know how much they owe you (5 years worth.) It doesn’t matter if the account
is closed or not. - Ask the bank for it back! OK they won’t give you it but you are just beginning…
- Threaten the bank with court action.
- File Small Claim or Summary Cause with Sheriff Court
That’s a very quick idea of what happens. Now follow these steps….
1. Find out how much the bank owe you, if you have your statements add up all
the charges(not including normal running charges for your account, i.e. if you
pay a fiver a month for an account that’s NOT a penalty charge. Bounced cheques,
unpaid items, unauthorized overdraft fees DO count!) Then go to step
2.
If you do not have all your statements fill in this
form(1) and take it to
your bank with a £10 note. GET A STAMPED/SIGNED RECEIPT. You
now have to wait up to 40 days for this information to arrive, although it usually
comes much faster than that. Once you receive your statements add up all the
charges as above.
2. Ask the bank for your money back! Use this
form(2) to ask for your
money back. Although some people actually have been paid out at this point,
it is far more likely that the bank will send you a letter saying they are within
their rights to these charges, denying your request. If this happens go to step
3.
3. If the bank replies with anything other than a full
payout you should move on to this step. If you have been made an offer of less
than the full amount send this
form(3). If after sending
this form you receive another offer of less than the full claim just ignore
it. They have been given enough chances to pay. What would they do if YOU tried
to play for time with their charges?? Exactly!
4. Wait for 14 days from the date of the last letter. Then file at your local
court. Before you start to worry about that it’s really easy, the clerks at
the court are extremely helpful, remember they are seeing these cases every
day these days.
While you are waiting for a reply from the last letter fill out your court
forms. The court forms are available from the
scottish courts web site
If your claim is for £750 or less use the Small
Claims Form(4a).
If your claim is for more than £750 either split it into smaller chunks
and use the Small
Claims Form(4a) or to
claim it all at once use the Summary
Cause Form(4b). The information
about the differences is available on the scotcourts site. Briefly the Small
Claim route is more “insured” i.e. if it went to court and you lost
you would not have to pay costs to the bank. It never gets to court so worry
not!
There are several things you need to fill in the claim. The first of which
is the amount, this is not the previous amount you had asked the bank for because
at court level you are allowed to add interest of 8% Get the interest
calculator to work out your claim amount.*
5. That’s almost it. You now wait for your court papers to be returned to you.
There will be two dates on them, a return date and a hearing date(one week later).
Phone the court on THE DAY AFTER your return date to see if the bank has lodged
a defense. They almost certainly will. If they have not informed the court of
their intention to defend send in Form
11(5) to the court. If
the bank HAVE lodged their intent to defend then you should take back your small
claims docs two days before the hearing date.
6. Normally you won’t get to court as the bank will contact you in this period
offering you the full amount. You should accept that but do not sign anything
you don’t agree with. If they send you a form to sign in lieu of payment cross
out everything you don’t agree with, sign it and send it back. If they pay the
money to you I’d say they accepted YOUR crossed out terms.
7. Spend it on something nice. ;o)
Forms
1. This is a letter asking the bank for your last 5 years of
statements. It uses the Data Protection Act as your legal right to this information.
The £10 charge is the maximum they are allowed to charge you for this
information by law but don’t worry, it’s also re-claimable as part of your claim.
See here
for more info.
2. This is a letter asking your bank for your money back, you
simply fill in your details and print it off. It uses previous legal cases(precedent)
to show the charges are unenforceable and illegal. See here
for more info.
3. This letter politely declines the offer and states
you will be proceeding with court action. See here
for more info.
4a. Examples of completed small claims forms are here.
See here
for more info on small claims.
4b. Examples of completed summary cause forms are here.
See here
for more info on summary cause.
5. Form 11 asks the court to automatically award you your claim
since the bank is not defending.
Info…
*Some people have been adding the banks own interest
rate instead of the 8% the court allows, which seems to be working these days
too! If you can find out your banks own interest rate use it, you’ll get more
money! Use the interest
calculator at penaltycharges.co.uk to get your amount. See here
for more information on how to use the interest calculator.
Copyright © 2007 billythekid
