Unpaid cheque fees

[Katianne]

How much should your bank charge you for an unpaid cheque? I have just been charged £30 which I think is outrageous! Surely they should only charge you the amount it costs them in admin? Does anyone know how you appeal against things like this?

[Seahorse]

From what Ive heard there admin IS a £30 charge.I agree, completley ludicrous!!
Not sure how to claim back, maybe start by phoning up of asking at the desk.

[Katianne]

I have just emailed them to appeal. I'm so annoyed!!! I have banked with them since I was 10, I even have my mortgage with them! I understand they have to charge an 'admin fee' but £30 is way too excessive if you ask me!

[Seahorse]

Totally excessive, ask them to break it down for you.Itl probably be 25p's worth of wages of someone saying 'Oh this is an unpaid cheque' the rest is their coffee break!

[swirlyarts]

I know that Jules (ATC) got some money back from her bank - she might be the person to ask. It used to be 20 quid but sounds like it has gone up.

[Bowed Over]

Hi Kate,

There is a whole uproar about bank charges and if you make a fuss about it you generally get your money back.

The attached is from Martins Lewis' Money Page. He does all the money things on Lorraine Kellys GMTV and his advice is excellent.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

We use him for getting the best price on the utilities, insurance and such.

Hope this helps.

Lisa

[Potter Doodle Doo]

This whole topic is one for serious debate. I know that Watchdog did a big article on it only a few weeks ago, if you look on their website they do have information on how to claim bank charges back.

I can't paste the link yet, but the following are taken from that site (if you'd like to read the full story, you need to go to the BBC website, I did a search for 'bank charges' :-

"Stephen went through his bank statements from the past six years (the legal maximum period of time that money can be reclaimed in the UK) and filed a claim at the small claims court.

Shortly after filing his claim, Abbey paid Stephen back £840.

The highest figure they concluded that banks could justify was £4.50 - much lower than what the banks currently charge"

[glasskanvas]

I'd encourage everyone to tackle their banks over charges. I got charged over 120 quid in charges from 2 banks for the sake of an £8 bill at the start of the year so I saw red. I now in the process of going through my paper work but it's quite shocking what the banks get away with that I didn't notice as everything is direct debited.
I recieved over 1000 so far and i'm not even a quarter of the way through my complaints!
Follow the moneysavingexperpert advise, it's nowhere near as complicated as it seems at first..if you go back 6 six years you'd be amazed at how much we're being ripped off!

[Apple Tree Crafts]

Bank Charges

Try here. Follow their instructions, and use the form letters they supply. It takes a wee while, but it does work and just think - if you get lots back (you can go back 6 years) you can spend it on your craft stuff!

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/

I think there are also forum threads which deal with specific banks. You can also speak to Gary (Himself) about it at Stow. He's helped lots of people do this, so he knows his onions!

Jules

[EMEvans]

I didn't realise that i had gone over my overdraft at the begining of the year and HSBC was charging me £100 for it. I went to my branch and complained (even added a tear or two) and the women behind the counter sorted it out for me.

Bit different to your charges but it just goes to show that they can refund them at their discretion without having to go through the official complaints procedure.