I haven't been around much to update my money tree blog because (of course), I've been busy making money.. lol. I discovered network marketing and the power of residual income but more about that another time. Today I want to pass on some important information to anyone who like me for whatever reason has been subject to bank charges any time in the last six years.

People incur bank charges for a number of reasons and these range from tens of pounds to several thousand pounds when you add them all up.

Failed direct debits, standing orders and unpaid cheques as a result of insufficient funds all carry a fee (depending on the bank) previously around £25 to £35 per offending transaction. This can quickly spiral out of control if several payments go unpaid and you can find yourself in a situation where you are paying charges on top of charges for being overdrawn without authorization (not to mention interest charges).

Earlier this year the Office of Fair Trading ruled these bank charges to be unfair under the unfair terms in consumer contracts regulations 1999. As a result there has since been a flood of successful claims against the high street bank and credit card companies to recover the charges (going back 6 years) PLUS interest.

There are several free sites where you can find out all the information you need in order to claim your charges back. There is a procedure you have to follow and you need to take all of the steps to success but all the templates and letters you need are available for you to use.

The first step is to find out exactly how much you have paid in charges over the last six years. If you have all your bank statements then great. If not you are entitled (under the data protection act to receive duplicate copies of all your statements (again going back six years) for the affordable sum of £10 in total.

I wont go into the whole procedure here but will direct you to the site I used www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk As mentioned earlier all the letters, templates and step by step help you need are there. In addition you will find a fantastic forum with hundreds of case studies along with success stories and lots encouragement to spur you on. The site is run completely free and it's suggested that you come back (once your claim is successful) and make a donation of 5% which I feel is completely fair since it's money you never thought you would have in the first place and they are doing such a great jobs to show everyone how to claim.

With the help of the consumer action group yours truly was able to claim back more than £2.5k in charges and interest for the last six years. So if you have incurred charges do visit the site and take action to get your money back as soon as is humanly possible and like me you will eventually receive a nice little lump sum to do with as you please.

Come back and let me know how you get on.

Best wishes,
UKWG