Highlight News - David beats the bank!

A Ross Shire man is this week celebrating winning back £7,368 of his hard-earned cash from a banking giant after successfully challenging its charges.

And David Brett, a father-of-three from Dingwall, says the “completely painless process” cost him just £15 and hopes his story will inspire other customers to reclaim unfair bank charges which have been imposed on them.

David, a train driver, of Burn Place, is one of the thousands of people who have taken part in the consumer revolution and challenged their banks to refund charges. Financial experts now believe the penalty charges which banks and credit card companies levy are unlawful. Banks disagree but so far no bank, when challenged by the banking watchdog the Financial Ombudsman, has refused to refund the charges.

David said: “There’s been a lot in the news about this and I had always thought bank charges were unfair. If you’re 20p overdrawn you get hit with a £30 charge, or if they return a direct debit payment because you’re £1 short you get charged again. But I never once complained. I just paid them.

“Then I heard that folk were challenging the charges and I looked up the internet for advice. I wrote to the head office of my bank, the Nationwide Building Society, and asked them to send me all my statements for the last six years. Then I tallied up all the charges which had been imposed on my account and wrote to the bank saying I believed the charges to be unlawful under contractual law as legally they are not allowed to charge more than it actually costs themselves to process it.”

David said banking experts reckon it costs the banks between 50p and £4.50 to return a direct debit or bounce a cheque – yet most charge around £30.

David was undeterred when the Nationwide rejected his claim, saying he had agreed to their terms and conditions.

“That’s the standard response,” said David. “They hope you will just go away. If they do not give you your money back you should then phone the Financial Ombudsman Service for a claim form or download one from their website, fill it in and send them the photocopies of the letters you have sent the bank. The Ombudsman’s service is free.

“The Ombudsman kept me informed and I was over the moon when the Nationwide agreed to settle my claim in full. I was always confident I would get my money because the banks can’t justify the charges. The Office of Fair Trading is currently carrying out an investigation and as yet the banks will not go to court or give a full disclosure as to how they come about their charges.”

He added: “Anyone can do it. All it cost me was the £15 charge to get my bank statements and £5 postage to send them recorded delivery to the Ombudsman. It’s easy and you don’t need a lawyer. It’s your money – claim it back!”

A spokesman for Nationwide said it could not comment on individual cases but added: “Nationwide evaluates all refund requests on a case-by-case basis and refunds are made where appropriate. Nationwide has always felt its fees and charges are fair and the society is very transparent in informing its membership of what fees and charges are associated with its products.”

A spokeswoman for the Financial Ombudsman said: “To date every case that’s come to us, the banks have refunded the charges. We write to the bank on behalf of the customer asking for a price structure in respect of their administration but in each case they have chosen to refund the charges rather than go through a formal investigation by the Ombudsman.

“The amounts range from several hundred pounds for a individual to up to £20,000 for a small business.

“We can’t guarantee everyone will get their money but at the moment that’s what seems to be happening.”

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