Credit and Banking Charges

27th April, 2015

Banking Charges

Be aware that banks are not allowed to charge more than £10.00 for providing copies of documents which come from one source i.e. bank statements relating to one account, credit card statements on one card etc.. This is pursuant to the Data Protection Act 1984.

Any request written to a bank or building society should be in the following terms:-

“We hereby request copies of all statements relating to bank account number………pursuant to Section 21 (1) (b) of the Data Protection Act 1984 which states that an individual is entitled to be supplied by any data user with a copy of the information constituting any such personal data held by that user. A data user is not obliged to supply such information except in response to a request in writing and on payment of such fee not exceeding the prescribed maximum as the user may require. This currently is £10.00 pursuant to the Data 1987/1507 Reg.2. This is so regardless of the number of pages.

“Accordingly we confirm the foregoing and enclose our cheque for £10.00.”

Credit card charges

When making any purchase over £100 for any type of goods or services, but particularly those in high risk industries, for example buying kitchen units, booking holidays or buying a new car etc., always use a credit card.

Under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, if the goods or services never materialise, for example the holiday company with whom you have booked goes bust before you have started your holiday, the credit card company is obliged to refund you the full payment you have made. It should be noted, however, that this protection only applies to purchases where the contract of value is up to £30,000, not for purchases above that value.

The same applies if goods you have purchased can be shown to be defective or faulty, such that you are entitled to reject them under the Sale of Goods legislation.

Please note that it does not apply to transactions under £100, nor does it apply to transactions where you use a debit card rather than a credit card.

If you pay for something partly by cash and partly by credit card, then as long as the credit card part of the transaction is more than £100, then the credit card company is liable to refund the cost of the entire transaction if, for example, the consumer never receives the goods for whatever reason.

For more information please contact Trefor Jones on 01244 405525 or email [email protected]

You might also be interested in...