North Antrim Assembly candidate and Moyle Councillor, Orla Black has called for people living in North Antrim to help stop banks ripping us off by requesting their money back from unfair bank charges!

Speaking following the Stephen Nolan show last Thursday which was advising people on ways to approach banks for a refund of these unfair charges. Councillor Black said, “The four main banks in Northern Ireland, the First Trust, Bank of Ireland, Northern Bank and Ulster Bank are all charging excessive fees to customers for going into the red without authorisation from the bank.”

“Some of these banks have charged between £30 and £60 for being only a few pounds overdrawn.”

“Banks can only charge these costs in proportion to the actual costs they incur in sending a letter to a customer who is overdrawn or who has had a cheque that has bounced or a direct debit refused.”

“The cost of this administration is said to between £2.50 and £4.50 and it is disgraceful and unfair to customers to be charged a figure which is over 10 times the actual cost.”

Councillor Black said that the Northern Ireland Consumer Council has advised people that they can request a refund of any unfair charges levied to them within the last six years and totalling up to £2,000.

“I would advise anyone who has been overcharged by their banks to ask for a refund as soon as possible.”

“There a number of possible steps which people can take in order to begin this process.”

“Firstly people can either phone their banks or write to them asking for a refund with copies of the statements showing these charges.”

“If they do not have a copy of the statements they can write to the bank and request a copy of their full statements under Section 7 of the Data Protection Act along with £10.”

“If the bank does not respond within a certain amount of time or they refuse to provide a refund then you can issue proceedings under the small claims courts which can be done online at www.courtsni.gov.uk and will cost around £60 which will be refunded to you if you win.”