From: "gonzo" 
Newsgroups: uk.finance uk.legal
Subject: Re: Bank charges (2 questions).
Date: Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:41:46 GMT
Bytes: 3901


"Leeloominaï Lekatariba Lamina Tchaï Ekbat De Sebat"  wrote in 
message news:hRGDi.141523$p7.93319@fe2.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
>
> "steve robinson"  wrote in message 
> news:xn0fav1pyotrdq00c@news-text.blueyonder.co.uk...
>> atiradeonexpress@googlemail.com wrote:
>>
>>> There wasn't enough cash in my account to cover a direct debit so they
>>> charged me £19.50 (Cooperative bank).  Painful.
>>>
>>> They say this is an "administrative fee"; everyone knows that they
>>> don't have to administrate anything  it's all done by computer.  I
>>> know this having coded for commercial banks before.
>>>
>>> I thought this was now illegal; when I asked my bank to refund the
>>> charge  they said "there is
>>> a test case going through".  If this is the case why are people being
>>> refunded when they threaten
>>> to take the bank to court.  I thought this sort of thing had stopped.
>>>
>>> Also I had a business account in 2001 and I know that there were lots
>>> of charges on that
>>> due to my misadministrating my accounts.  At some stages one account
>>> would be overdrawn
>>> and for this reason I would be charged even though I had money in
>>> other accounts with the
>>> bank to cover it.
>>>
>>> Is it too late to get this money back?
>>
>>
>> as the banks have said thier is a test case going on at the moment so
>> most are refusing to refund any charges at the moment , its best to let
>> it ly at the moment because if you do get refunded and the case goes in
>> favour of the bank then they will seek to recover the costs
>
> Ignore the above. It's rubbish. If you delay (and it may already be too 
> late)
> you will never get your charges back from 2001 - you have six years from
> the date the charges were imposed to lodge a claim.
>
> The fact there is a test case should not prevent you from lodging a claim 
> in
> your local County Court- OK, it will cost you, depending on how much you
> are claiming, but that is the most you would lose since costs are NOT
> recoverable in the Small Claims track of the County Court.
>
> Some readers of uk.legal are actually legally qualified and know about
> this sort of thing, having done it!
>
I think I posted the first post on uk.legal about this back in 2005 and was 
promptly shot down at the time.

If the bank claim that it is a service then ask them for an invoice. If it 
is a service they'll have paid VAT on it too. LOL. It's pretty easy to prove 
a bank charge isn't a service as banks don't pay VAT on them.
Cheers
James