See also
Good news! I first made contact with the bank re: my charges on March 9th, this weekend I finally got my Data Protection release form to allow the bank, which hold my statements, to release them to me, the customer in question. But, it wasn’t easy!
I called last weekend and was told that the bank had written to me 4 times recently sending me the form, funnily enough I never received these letters, although I did receive my statements, an advice of an international transfer and a letter trying to sell
me PP cover! However, a very nice man from the bank, a Mr. McAlley, the manager of the contact centre came on the phone and after I explained my predicament agreed I could make my request for the statements by fax. So, the bank faxed me my documents to Holland
(where I am working at the moment) and I faxed back the signed authorisation plus an agreement to pay the £10 fee.
Mr. McAlley assured me that considering I had already made my initial application in March, he didn’t think I would have to wait 40 days to get the statements.
So, a recap; I am trying to recover my bank charges, and according to the
Consumer Action Group checklist I must first ask my bank for copies of all my statements. 3 months in and I have just managed to get the form allowing the bank to send me copies of my own statements. When they arrive I can finally make my claim. At this
rate I should have a nice surprise for Christmas.
A lot has been written recently about court cases where bank charges recovery has failed, in particular two cases. The general feeling is that these cases lost on the basis of presentation not substance and CAG is still urging people to continue to claim
as the banks are continuing to settle legitimate cases.
Word on the street is that many banks have had to take in additional staff to cope with the requests and many are not trained properly yet, so check your details carefully as you don’t want your claim rejected for any frivolous reason, do you?