Often, people find themselves in a fix when a bank has charged them extra charges for exceeding their overdraft limits or violating the bank’s rules. Many times especially in the past, one simply had to threaten the bank that he/she will go to court or pay a visit to the ombudsman and the bank would pay back the extra charges and even give interest. However these days it’s not just that easy to get your money since the banks are not keen to give it back to you. Hence, reclaiming bank charges is more of an art than a science. You have to negotiate with the bank in order to recover your money which you believe has been unfairly taken from you.one can follow a simple guide showing the various steps to take in order to recover the money as quickly as possible.
First, check whether you are eligible to forward your complaint to the ombudsman or go to court.
If you are sure your complaint will be rejected by the bank, then you can pursue other options whose end result will be having your money back. Even banks know this, so if your complaint is strong enough, the bank will opt to pay you early than incur more charges fighting it. Eligible persons should be in financial hardship such that they can’t pay for necessities and debts. A large portion of income is being eaten up by the charges, you are disabled, there’s a substantial drop in income due to the charges and even a risk of going bankrupt. Also one has to prove the charges are disproportionate and unfair to him and also show that he is stuck in a cycle of charges which he can’t break out of i.e. having charges over charges such that it’s difficult to clear them.
After confirming eligibility, check the amount you can reclaim.
For a new claim, it’s essential to find how many charges you’ve had hence the amount you will reclaim. Old bank statements may help but if you don’t have them, you have a legal right to have the bank give them. After ascertaining this, write to the bank asking for your money back. You may not succeed at first and even the bank may reject your request based on a Supreme Court decision but you should never let this put you off if you feel you have a case. If the bank acknowledges your complaint, you can either get a full refund or a partial refund. Also the bank may offer to refund provided you pay off your debt, it may ask you to fill a financial statement form to check whether you are serious about your complaint.it may also offer to just help but not to refund any charges or in the worst case, reject your claim. If this happens, simply write another letter and don’t give up that easily.
If negotiation proves difficult, take your complaint to the ombudsman.
The fairness criterion is used to settle your complaint. The ombudsman will look to see if your bank has looked at your complaint properly. However if you lose at the ombudsman you can still proceed to court and prove that the charges are legally unfair to you. If the court is satisfied, you will have your money back. However, all cases are different and should be handled uniquely not generally.
