[insert your name

and address]
[insert date]
[insert name and
address of bank]

Request for Reclamation of Funds Taken Whilst Under

Hardship
Account number: [insert bank account you are writing to reclaim from]
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am writing to request that you repay all the charges in relation to direct
debits, unauthorised overdrafts and standing orders that have been applied to
my account in the past six years.
I believe the fact that I have been incurring bank charges goes contrary to the
aims of the Lending Code (Section 9) and Banking Conduct of Business
Sourcebook (section 5.1.4: in particular, a firm should deal fairly with a
banking customer whom it has reason to believe is in financial difficulty).
My personal situation has been affected by the charges leaving me in financial
hardship and I am writing to request that you take the following grounds into
consideration:
[Now you need to tell your own story... Explain why you think charges
were unfair in your own words (see examples below). You should try
and include examples which demonstrate as many of the following
points as are relevant:]
Cant pay for necessities. Youre struggling to meet basic necessities
eg mortgage, council tax, food, utility bills
Cant pay debts. Youre struggling to make loan and credit card
repayments
Income eaten by charges. Your incomes being eaten up by repaying
charges (eg youre being asked to pay 50 of charges from a 100
weekly benefit income)
Payments regularly returned. Your payments regularly get returned
unpaid as youve not enough money in your account
Substantial drop in income. For example, youve lost your job,
started a lower paid job, needed to take parental or carers leave, your
partner has died, youve separated from your partner, youve started full
time education or you/your partner has been/gone to prison
Disability or illness. Youve needed to increase spending on something
due to a disability or serious illness
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 Going bankrupt or into debt management. Youre going bankrupt,

getting an IVA or Debt Relief Order or are in a debt management plan
Living off credit. Youre living off credit and regularly need to increase
your credit limit
Regular credit card cash withdrawals. You are using regular cash
withdrawals from credit cards to make ends meet
Frequently over overdraft limit. You frequently go over your
overdraft limit. In earlier incarnations of hardship rules this was explained
as having more than 500 of charges a year so that seems a good
benchmark
Bank charges have hurt your situation. The charges have
contributed to making your financial hardship situation materially worse
The charges are disproportionate. If you unintentionally slipped over
your limit by a few pounds and the charge is a lot higher than the
offence eg you go 1 over but charged 35.
You are / were stuck in a cycle of charges you cannot break out
off. If youve had charges on charges, and were stuck in a trap of not
being able to clear them before new daily or monthly fees are added on
top.
[Delete these instructions when youve written your section]
The charges total [insert total of all charges] and I ask that you repay me
the full amount.
[Use this below sentence if you want to include interest or delete if
you dont]
Plus, as I believe I have been unfairly deprived of the money I have calculated
[insert total of interest] interest at the statutory rate, the amount a court
would award and I ask that this be added to my claim to give a total of
[insert total of charges plus interest].
I have attached a full schedule of the charges with this document.
I look forward to a full response to this letter within 14 days and if I do not
receive a satisfactory response I intend to pursue my complaint to the Financial
Ombudsman Service or small claims court at the earliest opportunity.
Yours faithfully,
[insert your signature]
[insert your name (printed)]
[Include a list of charges and be sure to keep a copy for yourself]

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