Reclaiming Bank Charges

Reclaiming bank charges from current or closed accounts specifically for busting your overdraft limit,  bounced cheques and direct debits was once an open door. You simply threatened to take a bank to court or the Ombudsman and it sent you back a goodwill cheque for six years' worth of charges plus interest.

While charges have dropped slightly to an average of around £15 in the past few years, it's still possible to be charged up to £35 a pop for going overdrawn. Yet it may be possible to get this back.
If the bank believes your complaint may be investigated by the Ombudsman it may offer a partial, or even rarely a full, settlement when you just write it a letter or two. After all, if it ends up paying out, it's better to do it sooner, and offer a bit less, rather than incur the expense of fighting it.
Therefore acting confidently and pressing your case if you think you've had unfair charges is crucial. If you've a strong case you could get some of your money back.
However of course, there are no guarantees. While in the early days of reclaiming banks never fought, and often gave a full payout, that's far less likely now. So if you are offered a settlement, think about taking it.

Reasons To Claim:
1. Your are in financial Hardship.
2.The charges are Disproportionate.
3.You are stuck in a cycle of charges you cant get out of.

When claiming back, first look online to see if you can do it there, if not the easiest way is to write to your bank and request a list of all the charges they have dealt out to you. You have the right to request this under the Data Protection Act. The bank has to reply within 40 days to you. Once you have the list of charges work though them and make notes on any you deem unfair. They write to your bank asking for them back, and drop in the fact you are going to contact the Ombudsman, with this they will write back to you and hopefully offer some or all of the money back. If not take your claim to the Ombudsman and explain the whole situation and they should help.

I understand this is a deep subject that i have merely touched on, any question please post in comments section and i will answer them.

A topic that people keep discussing with me is Premium Bonds. Are they worth it? Will i make more money than in a savings account? How often will i win? What will i win? Many questions people ask.

The simple answer to it all is in the long run you are unlikely to gain as much money as if it was in a high interest savings account. The way it works is instead of earning interest on the money you have in an account, you get entered into a draw where you can win money. For every £100 you have in your account you get one entry into the draw. So the more money in there the more likely you are of winning. You are allowed to have a maximum amount of £30000 in your account. Odds wise though if you work out the chance you would win and how much over certain periods of time, it is not as much as if it was interest.

I will give you some examples compared to a high interest savings account...


1. £100 over a year, you are likely to win nothing!
    Savings account you would now have £108 a gain of £8

2. £1000 over a year, you are likely to win nothing!
    Savings account you would now have £1080 a gain of £80

3. £10,000 over a year, you are likely to win £100 WOW!!!!
    Savings account you would now have £10,800 a gain of £800

4. £30,000 over a year, you are likely to win £400!
    Savings account you would now have £12,400 a gain of £2400

Now what about over more time...

1. £30,000 over 5 years, you are likely to win £1500!
    Savings account you would now have £44,080 a gain of £14,080!!!!

2. £30,000 over 10 years, you are likely to win £2500!
    Savings account you would now have £64,767 a gain of £34,767!!!!


I will let you make your own mind up if its worth it.....