26 Feb 2015

A question about : Bank charges claim with CCJ

Hi
Can anyone shed some light on whether a claim can still be made against a bank for overdraft/transaction fees where they have made a county court claim for the balance owed (closed account)? The CCJ has been set aside as the balance has been challenged (due to the charges)....being handled by their solicitor.
Thanks

Best answers:

  • From what I read here looks like the bank are dealing with this and if so then wait until you hear what the outcome is and then write to them asking for the situation to be put back as to how it was prior to action.
    Ie:- bank charges removed, credit file shown as nothing listed in respect of this, no monetary loss and also monetary compensation for the issues raised by the bank.
    On the above only if this is nothing of your own doing, Also I wouldn't want to be banking with them afterwards so open another account.
  • The bank aren't dealing with it. The claim was made by their solicitor and was part settled (as a goodwill gesture), whist the statements were awaited. Due to an admin error on their part they successfully applied for a CCJ. On challenging this, they agreed to ask the court to set aside the CCJ. The situation now is that there is still an outstanding balance, much of which is charges etc, which I now wish to challenge, and wonder if I should follow the normal process directly with the bank, or some other way because of the claim/CCJ element/factor?
    Thanks
  • Speak to the bank first and look for a resolution, They will not want a Court case unless you are in the wrong completely and even still sometimes the banks just want an issue put to bed.
  • Sorry, I thought I'd made myself clear. To summarise:
    The bank passed my account to their solicitor to recover the outstanding overdraft balance. A county court claim was then issued. I contacted the solicitor and asked for supporting documents (statements etc), making an interim part payment as a goodwill gesture. The solicitors agreed to take no further action on the claim until this had happened, to give me a chance for a defence. In the meantime, the claim was progressed into a Judgment by default - an error on their part having agreed to hold off. They acknowledged this and applied to the court to set aside the Judgment, which was accepted and happened.
    So at present there is still an outstanding balance which I need to challenge....negotiate....pay etc. and I have only just now discovered that people can claim against a bank for some charges made, and having checked the criteria (financial hardship etc) I appear to fall into this category.
    Therefore, my question was whether I should make a claim directly to the bank, as per the guidance out there, or whether the claims/CCJ factor affects this and my next course of action.
    I hope this is clearer. Thanks.
  • Since Banks are not legally obliged to give refunds of charges and any that are are classed as goodwill payments, I can't see how you can "challenge" a CCJ in the manner you state. In addition, I don't think your payment towards money owed to the bank can be described as an "interim goodwill part payment".
    I think if the Bank were prepared to write off the amounts owed by you due to financial hardship they'd have done it already.
    I think you need to prepare your defence against the still pending CCJ.
  • I was just asking for advice on here, having first read the MSE guidance on reclaiming bank charges, of which I fall into several of the criteria listed.
  • Were you in financial hardship when the charges were applied ? How long ago was this ? Did you contact the bank for help at the time ? What criteria do you think you fall into ?
    What do your bank statements show with regard to day to day spending ? Any payments to Sky (or similar),mobile phone contracts/gym memberships/eating out etc ?
    Financial hardship means not being able to meet the costs of essentials, rent,utilities etc have a look at your statements. The bank will decide whether you are in financial hardship, you won't make that decision i'm afraid.
    As previously mentioned, the banks won the court case against unfair charges back in 2009 so you'll have a fight on your hands.
  • Thank you to everyone for your comments/views.
    Just to be clear - the CCJ was made, and then set aside and I have all the paperwork to confirm such. It happened exactly how I set it out above.
    I was in financial hardship at the time (and still am!), hence for the charges in the first place, and no, there are no Sky TV direct debits or anything of that nature on my statement.
    I will sleep on the comments made and seek further advise on this if needed. At the end of the day I guess I have nothing to lose by negotiating directly with the bank (or solicitor), but had hoped that the charges could be claimed back using the guidance already mentioned.
    Thank you.