Penalty charges are charges levied to a customer’s account when they have gone over their agreed limits; however these charges are often excessive and do not reflect the true costs incurred by the bank or credit card company.
Why not request our FREE no obligation claim pack by clicking
here.
Bank-Smart currently offers claims management services for the following claim types:
Personal bank accounts
Credit Card accounts
Mortgage accounts
Business accounts/credit cards
Loan Accounts
Store Cards
PPI (payment protection insurance)
Council tax rebates
GAP Insurance
Credit/HP Policies
Personal Injury
Extended Warranties
Whole of Life Policies
Child Tax Credit Refund
CIS Refund
Mileage Refund
Expenses Refund
Mechanics Refund
Why choose Bank-Smart?
In 2006 Bank-Smart became one of the first claims management companies to deal specifically with the reclaiming of penalty charges and mis-sold financial products.
Since then we have taken on over £50,000,000.00 in claims and continued to grow from strength to strength. We receive consistently favourable reviews and client recommendations currently account for over 80% of our new business.
Utilising some the world's most highly skilled analysts and programmers we have developed one of the most efficient and effective claims management processing systems
of any claims management company in the UK. To view a demo of our online claim monitoring system, click
here.
At Bank-Smart we manage your claim for you, we are able to prove to the court or FOS that your penalty charges are unfair and have the banks return your money for the last six years.
To sign-up with Bank-Smart, click the 'Apply Now' button at the top of the page and let Bank-Smart get to work in reclaiming your financial and other claims.
Bank-Smart are regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of claims management activities and registered with the Data Controller reference number Z9702452.
Personal bank accounts
Unfair personal bank account charges have been imposed on millions of people throughout the UK.
Bank-Smart are experts in reclaiming client’s 6 years worth of unfair bank charges with interest. We have recently helped Mr & Mrs S to claim a staggering £17,837 in court on just one of their claims.
The legality of these charges is currently being investigated in a high court test case, recently announced by the Office of Fair Trading. The FSA has informed banks that they don’t have to deal with bank charge complaints until the case has ended.
However, the recent news should not put off customers from reclaiming their bank charges. You can only reclaim the last six years of charges and should you wish to secure your older charges, it is crucial that you contact Bank-Smart to calculate your charges and make a formal complaint NOW.
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Credit Card accounts
On 5th April 2006, the Office of Fair Trading stated that credit card default charges have been set at a significantly higher level than is legally fair. The OFT has estimated that across the industry this has led to unfair penalty charges charged on credit cards, currently in excess of £300 million a year.
Where credit card default charges are set at more than £12, the OFT will presume that they are unfair.
Bank-Smart are able to negotiate with the credit card companies, taking them to court if necessary, and reclaim your charges.
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Mortgage accounts
If you have incurred penalty charges and late payment fees on your mortgage Bank-Smart can help to get these charges returned to you. Not only penalty charges but exit fees as well. Over the last five years, mortgage lenders have been increasing their Mortgage Exit Administration Fees (MEAF) and levying excessive penalty charges to mortgage accounts where a missed repayment has occurred.
If you are one of the 12.5 million people in the UK that have switched mortgages lenders in the last five years, you have probably been charged a mortgage exit fee and may be eligible for a refund.
The FSA has stated “if a past customer who has paid a higher fee to exit complains, he or she can expect a refund of the difference between the actual fee paid on exit and the original fee quoted”.
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Business accounts/credit cards
Your business could be entitled to reclaim thousands in unfair bank and credit card charges. Research by Business Moneyfacts has found that even though the 2002 Competition Commission carried out an investigation into unfair bank charges, there had been an increase in the costs charged to small and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
Bank-Smart are experts in helping small businesses recover unfair charges and can help you providing your annual turnover is less than £1 million. There is currently no delay in processing business accounts or credit cards. If you have a business account or credit card with penalty charges, click the 'Apply Now' button at the top of the page and let Bank-Smart get them back!
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Loan accounts
Banks have been levying excessive penalty charges to loan accounts, where for example, a missed repayment has occurred or you have made a late payment. As with bank accounts and credit cards these charges can be unfairly high and we want to help you get them back. All it takes is your signature on a simple form and we will do the rest. Please ensure that you have checked your loan account and that there are penalty charges to reclaim. Please ensure that your loan has penalty charges as it is not unusual for loan providers to debit the penalty charges from your current account which may result in a minimum fee invoice being issued if no charges are found on your loan.
Bank-Smart are able to negotiate with your loan provider and reclaim your charges.
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Store cards
If you have been levied a penalty charge for an arrears letter, missed repayment or late payment fee on your store card, you may be eligible for a refund. As with all claims, simply apply online and we will send you the documents that require your signature within 24 hours.
Bank-Smart are experts in reclaiming store card penalty charges and have a proven track record in professional and efficient claims management.
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Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)
It has been estimated that the payment protection insurance (PPI) business has an estimated 20 million policies in force and produces annual revenue in excess of £5 billion.
The mis-selling of PPI by banks and insurance companies has been a huge problem for many years. The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) have called it a ‘Protection Racket’ and has made a ‘Super Complaint’ to the Office of Fair Trading.
If you feel you were mis-sold PPI, also called personal loan protection, credit card payment protection, mortgage payment protection insurance or accident, sickness and unemployment protection, you can make a claim for compensation and could be awarded for the premiums you have paid, often amounting to thousands of pounds.
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Council Tax Rebates
The current council tax bands were assessed on April 1st, 1991. Unsurprisingly, many of these assessments are out of date and in a lot of cases, were inaccurate in the first place. Once we have received your completed authority form we will hand
your claim to our team of experts who will investigate your current council tax banding and determine whether or not there may be a case for a refund. If you agree, we will prepare your claim documents and progress your claim for a refund.
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GAP Insurance Policies
GAP insurance policies are generally sold alongside car finance and can often be unwanted, not required and in many cases, not even valid. Many car owners have been sold expensive GAP insurance policies without even knowing that it was being added to their car finance loan or have been unable to claim in the event of an accident. Where you believe that you were mis-sold a GAP insurance policy Bank-Smart can claim
for a refund of policy premiums on your behalf, produce all the required documentation to progress your claim and manage the entire process from start to finish. Policy premiums of £4,000+ are not uncommon.
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Credit/HP Agreements
Credit/HP (Hire purchase) agreements can often produce penalty charges in the same way as credit cards and bank accounts. Where you believe that you have been charged excessive late payment fees, returned cheque fees or charges for failed direct debits Bank-Smart
can prepare your claim and manage the process from start to finish. Don't forget that you can check the status of all your claims at anytime by logging into the secure online Bank-Smart client area of the website.
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Personal Injury
If you have suffered an injury in an accident, however minor or major your injuries, then maybe you
should consider the possibility of making a personal injury claim. Personal injury claims can be complicated,
time consuming and may require an understanding of the law but with the help of specialist solicitors the process can
be made much simpler, easier and takes the pressure off you to produce the documents required to complete your claim for compensation. Bank-Smart can put you in contact with authorised
solicitors who are trained and specialised to help with your particular personal injury claim,
taking away the pressure of finding a qualified and suitable solicitor yourself. If you have any queries regarding
the submission of a personal injury claim please do not hesitate to contact a claims advisor by emailing
claims@bank-smart.co.uk.
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Extended Warranties
Extended warranties are often overpriced, difficult to claim on and can be sold using high-pressure selling tactics.
If you have been sold extended warranties costing over £250 each and you believe that these may have been mis-sold
you could be due a refund. To request a no obligation claim pack simply go to the Apply Now page and complete the short online form.
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Whole of Life Policies
Have you been mis-sold your Whole of Life Insurance Policy?
Whole of life Insurance and Investment linked policies can be expensive
and as policies age premiums can increase significantly. Many consumers
are unaware of these increases at the time the policy is taken out and
the need for increased payments can cause problems after
significant sums of money have already been paid into the policy. Many providers
will stop your policy if you fail to keep up repayments and your premiums could be lost.
If you are struggling with repayment due to increased premiums that were not made clear at the
start of your policy, you may well have been mis-sold the product and may be due a refund or compensation.
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Child Tax Credit Refund
Do you have any children born between 1986 and 2003? If the answer is yes you could be due up to £1,500!
You are eligible to claim if you have had a child born between 6th April 1986 to 5th April 2003,
the child lived with you for part (or all of) 2002 and 2003 and you worked and paid tax in part or all of the period from April 2001 to March 2003.
Remember, your marital status does not affect your claim. You may claim if you were married, living with a partner or single, however either you or your partner had to earn over £6000 in either the 2002 or 2003 tax years.
Rest assured that the allowance does not affect any current child tax credit or WFTC claim.
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CIS Refund
Have you ever been on the CIS scheme and not submitted tax returns? If this applies to you, you may be interested to know that the average CIS refund is over £1,000.
If you have other years that you have been on CIS but not claimed please indicate this on the Bank-Smart CIS claim form so we can maximise the size of your refund.
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Mileage Refund
Do you use your own car for business and are not fully reimbursed by your employer. If the answer is yes, then you could be due a refund
in the range of £900 - £1,600 per 10,000 miles!
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Expenses Refund
Do you incur expenses or need to buy equipment to do your job and are not fully reimbursed by your employer. If the answer is yes, then you could be due a refund
in the range of £150 - £400 for every £1,000 spent!
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Mechanics Refund
Do you buy your own tools for your work and your employer has not reimbursed you?
If this applies to you and you have spent more than £2000 in total since you started buying your own tools
you could be due a refund. The average mechanics refund is £800.
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To see a demo of the online claim account system, click
here.
If you have any further questions please don't hesitate to contact us using the
email address below. We aim to answer all emails within 24 hours and are
always happy to help, whether you choose us to claim back your penalty charges or
not.
If you are unsure as to which charges can and cannot be reclaimed please email a claims advisor before submitting your application using
claims@bank-smart.co.uk.
Bank-Smart are regulated by the Ministry of Justice in respect of claims management activities, authorisation code CRM4036.
E-mail:
info@bank-smart.co.uk