By Aaryn @
Pimp My Strides
I like word of mouth news. Some of the most valuable information I receive is "From a guy, who knows a guy"....and the latest peice of financial gossip this week promises to be a little gem!
My sister tells me that (according to a friend of her boyfriend) United Kingdom High Street Banks may not be as entitled to charge their excessive fees as most people think they are.
That just because a banks' terms & conditions say the bank has the right to charge say £30 for you going overdrawn, does not actually make it so. And just because all banks apply these overly large charges to thousands of peoples' accounts, on a daily basis, doesn't necesarily make it legal.
Well, having been on the receiving end of a few too many of these charges Delfi decided to dig a little deeper. Turns out this latest tipbit is from a number of reputable websites who are successfully getting their message out to UK consumers (and their boyfriends).
This article from the UK's biggest Money Saving site covers both the main legal points and offers guidance to UK consumers about how to claim back up to 6 years worth of bank charges.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cgi-bin/viewnews.cgi?newsid1141050760,24632,
It also contains important links to other sites dedicated to protecting our comsumer rights who reporting on this important issue - and are fighting our corner against banking institutions that has been delivering far less financial support & service than they actually have the ability to
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/
http://www.penaltycharges.co.uk/
I was completely shocked to read that these dubious charges are netting UK banks and credit card providers etc... an estimated £3 billion per year!
Add that to the huge sums of money banks make taking 5-7 days to 'transfer' monies between accounts so that they can generate interest on our money to keep for themselves. But still we've barely glimpsed the tip of the financial services' money-making iceberg. Finally 'the powers that be' are cracking down on the banking world and working to reign in established, but unethical financial practices.
Delfi and I have decided to do our own personal little experiment. Over the next few weeks we are going to put the advice on these websites to the test and try to claim back charges applied to our personal accounts over the last few years. See if we can't reduce that £3billion by a few important pounds...Ours!
We'll keep you posted on the results!