Use No Win No Fee Agreements To Claim Back Bank Charges

Since the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations Act of 1999 any penalty charges which your bank issues have to fairly reflect the cost to them. In other words, the bank must not make a profit from penalty charges.

As we all know, most banks have not been operating according to this rule. Many charge as much as £30 for exceeding your overdraft limit, much more than the cost to them.

If you have paid these unfair charges to your bank you can claim back all the money they took from you unfairly in the past six years. For many people, the amount the banks have charged to them unfairly runs into the hundreds, if not thousands, and is well worth claiming back.

Do not fear lengthy and expensive court battles as most banks will do all they can to prevent the matter reaching court. Do not be put off by the complexity of claiming back this money as there are people out there who can help you at no charge to yourself.

Since the unfair charges have come to the forefront in the media, many companies are offering to represent and assist with claiming back unfair bank charges on a ‘no win no fee’ basis.

These companies will assist you every step of the way, working out how much you are owed, drafting letters to your bank, threatening legal action and representing you in court.

All of this at no cost to yourself as the claim will be carried out on a ‘no win no fee’ basis, meaning that you pay nothing in the event of a loss. In most cases, you will not pay anything in the event of a win either, as the legal costs are retrieved from the losing side.

In many cases, your bank will extend to you a partial offer. A partial offer is exactly what is says on the tin-merely a proportion of the money you are owed. Your ‘no win, no fee’ solicitor will advise you on whether to accept. In most cases, you should turn down any partial offer, as legally, the bank has to pay back all of the money you are owed.

If you are thinking about pursuing a claim against your bank for unfair charges, do not hesitate. The longer you wait, the less money you will potentially receive, as you can only claim back for the past six years.

You can start proceedings by going back over past statements and working out how much your bank owes you. If you do not have six years worth of past statements, you can write to your bank requesting your past bank statements. They should then send then to you free of charge.

After working out how much your bank owes you, draft a letter to your bank mangers explaining that you want your money back. There are many sites on the internet where you can find examples of what to include in this letter.

If working out how much you are owed and composing a letter to your bank feel beyond you, do not let this matter go with your bank. If you are owed money, you deserve to receive it. Hire a no win no fee solicitor to do all the hard work for you and get back the money which is rightly yours.

If your bank refuses to return the full amount owed to you, threaten legal action. If you reach the stage where you are threatening legal action it is a good idea to seek legal advice. A no win no fee solicitor is the bets option as a regular lawyer may charge you more than the money you are actually claiming back.

As a final resort you may have to take the case to court. However, this is extremely unlikely as the cost to the bank of going to court will be far higher than any compensation they owe. The publicity that a court case would attract would cause great damage to the banks reputation also. No bank has as yet taken any request for unfair bank charges to court.

Carys is an author of several articles pertaining to No Win No Fee, Compensation Claims, Personal Injury Claims and other legal articles.