How to reclaim unfair bank chargesClaims questions

I made a claim, but haven’t received an offer from the bank. What should I do?

Your bank will put your complaint on hold pending the outcome of the test case. However, your bank has been told by the FSA to write to you and keep you up to date with the developments of the test case.
I’ve received an offer from my bank. What should I do?

You have 2 months from when the offer is made to decide whether to accept it. If you haven't responded within that time your bank will decide that you have rejected the offer.

If you accept your bank’s offer, it’s very unlikely that you will be able to argue that you should be entitled to more money, regardless of the outcome of the test case.

If you reject your bank’s offer, your claim will be reviewed when the test case is concluded. However, there’s no guarantee the test case will mean the banks have to pay out to consumers, and you may end up with nothing.

I’ve accepted an offer from my bank. Am I affected by the test case?

Accepting an offer from your bank is usually the end of the matter. It’s extremely unlikely that the outcome of the test case will affect you.

I’ve rejected my bank’s offer and taken my claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). What happens now?

The FOS provides a free and impartial service for resolving disputes with financial businesses. They’ve received a large number of complaints about the failure of banks to deal with claims for unauthorised overdraft charges.

Like the banks, the FOS has decided to suspend dealing with bank charges complaints until the test case is resolved (except in genuine cases of financial hardship – see below).

However, it will continue to co-ordinate claims where a bank has already made a settlement offer to a customer. And if a complaint has multiple parts, including a reference to the fairness of unauthorised overdraft charges, the FOS will take forward as much of your complaint as possible.

Details of the FOS can be found on the Financial Ombudsman  Service website.

I rejected my bank’s offer and am taking my claim to the small claims court. What happens now?

Most county court cases are on hold pending the outcome of the High Court test case. However, whether a case proceeds is a matter for the judge concerned, and some have chosen to hear cases in the past.

Is it worth bringing a new claim in the small claims court?

We believe it's better to await the outcome of the test case before thinking about going to court. However, we do think you should lodge a claim with your bank now.

It’s important to realise that you have to pay a fee of between £30 and £120 when making a small claims court claim depending on the value of you claim. Going to court also means you probably won't be able to use the free and impartial FOS to assist you with your claim in future.

I’ve written to my bank asking for them to supply details of charges under the Data Protection Act 1998 but they still insist they'll charge for copies of every statement. What should I do?

Although many banks are providing this information under the DPA and are not making any charges, some consumers have experienced problems in this area in the past. We have checked out the legal status and found that banks must provide this information within forty days and cannot charge more than £10.

Our advice is to specifically ask for computer printouts rather than copy statements. Banks can make a charge for copy statements (the charge is normally detailed on the rear of the statement), but they cannot charge more than £10 for computer printouts. These are admissible before the Financial Ombudsman Service or in the small claims court.

Don’t be put off if a bank attempts to withhold this information. The Information Commissioner has published a statement on the subject of data access requests in relation to unfair penalty charges.

I’ve seen that a company is offering to reclaim my bank charges for me. Should I use its service?

Challenging charges using FOS is easy, as our step by step page shows. Which? believes that you can do this yourself without having to use a third party, sometimes known as a claims handler.

Since April 2007, it has been an offence to provide claims management services without specific authorisation by, or an exemption from, the Claims Management Regulator. An authorised claims management business will have to comply with a strict code of conduct, covering areas such as advertising and marketing, handling client money, and dealing with complaints.

For more information on regulation of claims managers visit our page on compensation claims.

I employed a claims handler and now they're asking for an up-front fee – should I pay?

If you have engaged a claims handler, you don’t have to pay any up-front fees unless they have been explicitly mentioned in your contract with the claims management company. And remember: we think that all fees levied by the company have to reflect the actual cost they have incurred.

Claims management companies have been instructed by the Claims Management Regulator to keep their clients updated on the progress of their cases. However, if you are unhappy with the service you have received you can report the company to the regulator by emailing them.

Please note that this information is not intended as legal advice and Which? Ltd. cannot accept any liability for individual claimants who may rely upon the information given on this site. Every effort has been made however to ensure the information is correct at the time of writing