Bank Charges Tool Step by Step

This page was last updated on: 29/04/2008
 

UPDATE TO TOOL

Step 6 on this tool has now been updated to provide a full comprehensive description of how to file your claim to the court.

Before you start...

This page is part of the "Reclaiming Bank Charges for Personal Accounts".
You may find it useful to read the article before you start these steps...!

Please note

These letters only apply to personal bank accounts. If you would like to find out more about letters for business accounts click here.

 

Hot News Link

If you are claiming back bank charges you should read the hot news article: 'OFT Bank Charges High Court Test Case'. This does not apply to credit card claims.
You must still register your claim - we explain more in the Q & A below.

Step One Checking Your Personal Details
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Please check your personal details below. It is important you make sure these are all correct as the bank will use them when replying.

If you change any fields, make sure you remember to click update.

Step Two Selecting a Bank Account
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Please select the account you would like to generate the letters for.

If you have not added any of your bank accounts yet you can do so below by clicking "Show/Hide Bank Account Manager".

 

Select Bank Account

Please select the bank account you would like to use.


Bank Name
Account Number
Sort Code
 
 


Step Three Create Letter 1
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You need to complete steps one and two before you can create letter 1.

Now you are ready to generate Letter 1. When 'Generate Letter 1' is pressed you will receive the letter as a PDF to the email you registered with at DebtWizard. You can also view the PDF online or download it to your desktop.

Make sure you have selected the right bank account from step 2 before you generate this letter.

 

For more info about Letter 1 read the Reclaiming Bank Charges article.
See an example of Letter 1.

 

Generate 'Letter 1' PDF
 

Step Four Inputing your charges
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For letter 2 you will need the charges you are claiming back.

Make sure you have selected the right bank account in step 2 and input your charges below into the calculator.

There are three different options you can choose

  1. Let DebtWizard calculate the interest rate (will calculate the compound interest of your charge at the rate of 8%)
  2. Enter your own rate (will calculate the interest at your own desired rate)
  3. I am not claiming interest on this charge (the calculator will not add any interest to your charge, and it will not add any interest for this charge into Letter 2)

 

Don't worry about saving these figures as they are saved automatically when you put them in; you can always come back at anytime to finish them off.


Add Bank Charge
 
 
If you let us calculate the interest we will use the standard 8% base rate.

 
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Totals
 
 

Step Five Creating Letter 2
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You need to complete steps one, two and four before you can create letter 2.

Now you are ready to generate Letter 2. When 'Generate Letter 2' is pressed you will receive the letter as a PDF to the email you registered with at DebtWizard. You can also view the PDF online or download it to your desktop.

Make sure you have selected the right bank account from step 2 before you generate your letter.

 

For more info about Letter 2 read the Reclaiming Bank Charges article.
See an example of Letter 2

 

Generate 'Letter 2' PDF
 

Step Six Creating Letter 3
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You have two ways of filing your claim;

  • On line at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
  • In person at your nearest county court

  • Filing your claim on line at www.moneyclaim.gov.uk

    After completing the standard questions in the form you will come to the ‘Particulars of Claim’ section, insert the following; Please note, there is no set format for the wording, as this is new we may need to tweak it a little bit as we learn more about the fallout of the Luton case, however this should suffice.

    Important, you will be limited to a maximum of 1080 characters (including spaces) and 24 lines.

    The text below has a total of 1089 characters; this should reduce to less than 1080 when you replace the blue text with your details.

    1. Between (insert date of first and last charge) the Defendant applied default charges to the Claimant's current account, (insert account number). 2. Claimant claims these charges are unlawful because they are a breach of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 which state: 'A term is unfair if it requires any consumer who fails his obligation to pay a disproportionately high sum in compensation.' A charge is deemed to be penalty and it does not reflect the Defendant’s true costs. 3. Claimant wishes to claim interest as per S.69 County Courts Act 1984 of 8% per annum from the date when charges were first applied until judgment is made. 4. Claimant asks the court to enter judgment in their favour for the sum of (insert total amount of charges) plus interest and costs. 5. If the Defendant is successful in acquiring a stay on proceedings citing the test case in the High Court then the Claimant requests that the Defendant can no longer apply further charges as to do so would cause the Claimant undue hardship, anxiety and further compound their debt liability.


    When you initially file on line you are unable to supply any further information to support your claim other than what is required to start the proceedings. If you wish to produce additional information to demonstrate your hardship and strengthen your request for the Court to rule that the bank must stop applying any further interest or charges to your account then you can do this in section G of The Court Allocation Questionnaire.

    click here to view the questionnaire.

    Please note that you will be sent this form by the Court once they have received your claim form on line, you do not need to download it here. We have simply illustrated the relevant section you need to go to.

    In person at your nearest county court

    When filing at Court in person you can add additional documentation to support your claim and in particular you can cover more on the hardship angle to strengthen your case for the Court to rule that the bank must stop applying additional charges until the outcome of the High Court test case.

    For further help and information on how to do this option click here