Has anyone ever done this successfully, or have any advice on how to go about it?

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com has some good stuff on this kind of stuff.

a former line of work - i can assist

PM me or check out that site it's cool.

cant or dont the banks stop your account tho if you do attempt to reclaim?

just a story believed by mugs.
bankophobia is huge - they're chunts the lot of them

are you calling me a mug mr.K?!!

you decide

Here you go, three letters to be sent in order, I know these have worked in the past, but you must have the courage of your convictions and legit reasons to.

here goes with letter one....................

Letter One
This letter asks your bank to send you a list of all the default charges (on unauthorised overdrafts and unpaid direct debits) applied to your account in the last six years.
You only need send this if you want your money back and have not kept bank statements.
You can ignore this letter and go straight to Letter Two if you already have details of all the default charges you have paid.
The bank must supply this information under the Data Protection Act 1998. If your bank makes a charge for this information, the charge cannot be more than £10.
Check through carefully and insert your personal information where indicated in red.
Remember to delete this box before you print out your letter for the bank.


[INSERT TODAY’S DATE]

[INSERT YOUR HOME ADDRESS]

[INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK]
[INSERT THE ADDRESS OF BANK]

Re: Account number [INSERT YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER]
Dear Sir/Madam,
I request that [INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK] provides me with details of all default charges for unauthorised overdrafts and unpaid direct debits and standing orders I have paid in the last six years.
I understand that [INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK] is obliged to provide this information under the Data Protection Act 1998.
I look forward to hearing from you within 40 days.
Yours faithfully



[SIGN YOUR NAME]
[TYPE YOUR NAME]





..............and letter 2
Letter Two
This letter politely tells your bank that you are a loyal customer and you want to be paid back default charges (on unauthorised overdrafts and unpaid direct debits) applied to your account in the last six years.
Check through carefully and insert your personal information where indicated in red.
If the bank refuses, a stronger letter is the next step (see Letter Three).
Remember to delete this box before you print out your letter for the bank.


[INSERT TODAY’S DATE]

[INSERT YOUR HOME ADDRESS]

[INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK]
[INSERT THE ADDRESS OF BANK]
Re: Default charges on account number [INSERT YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER]
Dear Sir/Madam,
I refer to default charges which have been applied to my account by [INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK], amounting to [INSERT THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE BANK CHARGES].
I have been a loyal customer of [INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK] for [INSERT THE AMOUNT OF TIME YOU HAVE BEEN A CUSTOMER WITH YOUR BANK]. I have always maintained my account well and believe that the charges applied to my account do not reflect the cost to the bank of my account going into unauthorised overdraft.
I therefore ask that you repay the amount of all these charges, [INSERT THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE BANK CHARGES].
I am happy for you to contact me on [INSERT YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER] to discuss the matter.
Yours faithfully



[SIGN YOUR NAME]
[TYPE YOUR NAME]



and finally.................

Letter Three
This letter tells your bank that you are unhappy with default charges (on unauthorised overdrafts and unpaid direct debits) you have paid in the last six years and you will go to the small claims court if they do not give your money back.
You only need to send this letter if you have already written to the bank explaining that you are a loyal customer (Letter Two), and that letter did not get a result.
Check through carefully and insert your personal information where indicated in red.
The fourth paragraph (beginning ‘I am only prepared…’) is very important. It protects your position in the instance of you losing at the small claims court, and shows that you are acting reasonably.
If your bank still refuses to pay back your money, the small claims court is the next step (see the factsheet on our website).
Remember to delete this box before you print out your letter for the bank.

[INSERT TODAY’S DATE]

[INSERT YOUR HOME ADDRESS]
[INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK]
[INSERT THE ADDRESS OF BANK]
Re: Default charges on account number [INSERT YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER]
Dear Sir/Madam,
I refer to default charges relating to unauthorised overdrafts which have been applied to my account by [INSERT THE NAME OF YOUR BANK], amounting to [INSERT THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE BANK CHARGES].
I wrote to you on [INSERT THE DATE OF YOUR LAST LETTER TO THE BANK] asking that you repay these charges as a gesture of goodwill to a loyal customer. Since you have not done so, I intend to take the matter further and claim the amount of [INSERT THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE BANK CHARGES] through the small claims court.
The basis for this request is that under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations and/or the law of penalties, the small claims court could declare such charges unfair and therefore unenforceable.
I am only prepared to pay the charges on the condition that the bank agrees to repay me the full amount if the small claims court finds in my favour and declares the charges unenforceable.
I look forward to receiving your response within seven days of the date of this letter or I will issue proceedings in the small claims court to reclaim the full amount of charges, plus interest and costs.
I am happy for you to contact me on [INSERT YOUR TELEPHONE NUMBER] to discuss the matter.
Yours faithfully


[SIGN YOUR NAME]
[TYPE YOUR NAME]




Hope this helps you mate

I once was round a mates house who was 34k in hock with his bank. This was a mixture of an unathorised overdraft of £9'000 (he cashed a load of eurocheques) a loan and a substantial credit card debts. The bank had been calling him daily but he had been ignoring the calls and I was trying to talk him into dealing with it.

He lived in a rented house and had no assets worthy of the name so the bank were pretty powerless. The had already defaulted him so his credit was fooked anyway.

Next time they called I took the call: Hello I'd like to speak to Mr Steve x. Speaking says I. After a couple of security questions they got down to brass tacks.

them Mr X, what payment you can make towards your debt?

me Ermm not much. I've been out of work for a while and I am now on unemployment benefit. Once I get a job then obviously I will start making payments.

them But Mr X, we need a substantial payment immediately to prevent the matter going to court.

me I haven't got any money.

them But Mr X, you have to make a payment within the next couple of days or I can't help you.

me I haven't got any money. Oh hang on, I've got a fiver.

them A fiver! to be frank Mr X thats not going to be enough.

me It's all I've got. I know its not going to make much of a hole in the debt but its every penny I have.

them I'll need to discuss this matter with my colleague, I'll call you back in 30 minutes.

me Ok


Half an hour later as good as their word they were back on the phone.

them Mr X, have you considered how you are going to make this payment.

me Look, I offered you every penny I had in the world but you didn't want it.

them Mr X, five pounds simply isn't enough to stop this matter going legal.

me It was five pounds but now its only £3.60.

them £3.60?

me Yes £3.60, I bought a pie.

them Pardon.

me Yes, I was hungry so I've just bought a mince pie from the butchers shop. I've got £3.60 in the world but its yours if you want it but you'd better get round before tea time.

them I'll take advice from my colleague and write to you today Mr X.


Eventually, I got them to agree to £15 a month.

I followed the advice on moneysavingexpert,com and got most of them back decided only losing about£200 was better than going all way to court.It took me couple months and all the letters but worked,couple other people i know got them back as well including a mate who hadnt used a specific account for years,but still had few quid on it ,he got over £1300 back.Go for it costs you £10 to get statements and then stamps for your letters.So as long as you ger over £10 and expenses back it a victory of sorts as most had given up on the charges over the 6 years you can claim back.

Credit Management is something I was involved in for 20 years, I'm a fckuing nightmare to deal with if I take someones debt on and deal with the utilities in particular.

Point is if you make an offer, the creditor has to accept it. If they take you to court when you've made an offer, you just re-iterate your offer in Court and the creditor then has to explain to an irate Judge (and it IS a Judge in County Court) why they've brought the case when it could have been settled out of court. Court time is very expensive. In this instance you won't be given a CCJ (County Court Judgement) which is the thing that shags your credit up. By the way if you HAVE got CCJs and you've paid up in the meantime, go and spend 50p (yes 50P) on a Certificate Of Satisfaction and hey presto!! Clean credit record. No-one tells you that.

BUT!!!!! If you make the offer you'd better make sure you stick to it through hell and high water because they'll have you if you default and a judge will be particularly annoyed that it's YOUR fault the case is before him.

The worse thing you can ever do is ignore it and hope it goes away. It won't, there's bounders like me out there.

It's not about the money, the banks are terrified of one of these cases getting to court as a test case. Should they lose, and they probably would, they would have to refund everyone they've charged and they would have to do it automatically and unilaterally. It would cost them billions in one hit.

Thanks for the above info folks. I've printed it out and plan to start from letter two after checking my statements. Lloyds TSB have just charged me £90 for going £45 over my overdraft, the twats.
There's a few more there somewhere as well.
I only heard last month that you could reclaim money and so the timing of this is perfect

Write to them (recorded) and demand information on all the bank charges they have stuffed you with during the last five years before you claim.

I've managed to collect all of my statements bar about 2, when I wasn't using this particular account and there were no charges. Do I need to have every last statement before I make a claim, or can I just apply for the charges I have on the ones I've got here?

I got an email from a company doing this.Have filled in the on line form and am waiting for a reply.

My bank have charged me for being overdrawn the previous month and that has made me overdrawn that month so they charged me again

one of my electricians is just in the process now......up until yesterday his solicitor/mediator....who ever represents him was issuing a court summons to his bank......will let you know the outcome but he seems pretty confident

Here's a similarly trick. My bank charged me 2.99 for 'text banking' but I hadn't had any texts. This took me over my OD limit and they charged me 35 quid. I am scrupulous about not paying the bloodsucking leeches any money although I sail quite close to the wind some days, better in my hand than their opulent coffers I always think. So I got on the horn and asked what the chuff they were up to and I got this arrogant waonker asking me what my problem was. So I told him and he said I hadn't REFUSED text banking so they had provided the service and I had to pay for it. To cut a long story short, when he read back the mobile number, it wasn't mine. Cue Kev threatening the apocalypse if they'd given my banking information to a third party through sheer incompetence etc etc and full refund of all charges AND an overdraft extension so I can spend even more of their cash.

Same with monthly fees if you don't get over a grand in a month. Tell 'em to fu ck off. What they're actually saying is that they can't make any money INdirectly from you so they're going to make it directly.