Claim Back Unfair Credit Card Charges
Back in April 2006 the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said that credit card companies were wrong to charge as much as £35 for sending letters and other administrative charges that cost the companies only a few pounds at most.
Although the charges weren’t made illegal most card companies reduced their charges to, a still very high, £12.
What the OFT report does mean is that customers can claim credit card charges that are unfair.
At the very least, for each £35 charge, you could get at least £23 back, you may even be able to get all of the £35.
When you sign a credit card agreement you are entering into a contract with the company. Going over the limit of the agreement is a breach of contract and the company can legally enforce payment.
The credit card company can cover costs caused by the breach of contract, the amount itself plus administration charges. However if it trys to charge you more than this amount it is considered ‘penalty charge’ and this cannot be legally enforced.
You can try to claim back any excessive charges, which the law would class as penalties, such as £20 charges for letters.
To claim back unfair charges you will need to review old statements and add up all charges that could be considered excessive. If you don’t the statements and cannot find them online ask your bank directly for a list of all charges showing what the offence was, the date and the amount. The credit card company should provide this information in 40 working days.
Once you’ve all the information you need write to the credit card company, giving details of all unfair charges and request that they pay back these charges.
For more information on claiming back credit card charges take a look at:
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