Bank Charges for Over 60's ??

sofaqueen

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice for my folks!

My dad is 66 and my mum is 65, both on the state pension. Dad recently showed me a bank statement that they rec'd with 19e worth of charges on it!! I told him that I dont pay charges etc and that I'd ring their bank and enquire....

Turns out that my parents should have been exempt from any bank charges once my dad turned 60!!! I explained that we never got any notification to this effect. The girl I spoke to rectified the situation straight away. So its sorted now..

But then I asked about a refund for the last six years... to which she replied that because my dad didnt notify them that he had turned 60, he was not entitled to a refund. I said surely you would have his dob on record etc, why should he have to notify you..

long story short, she said no to the refund, but I could write to the manager if I wanted, but not to hold out any hope!!

Any advice? I think I will write to the manager anyway, it cant hurt!!

Ok so, all feedback welcome.... Im not very good at writing official type letters... so feel free to change.... thank you!!


Dear Mr XXXX


I am writing on behalf of my parents, Mr and Mrs xxxx in relation to bank charges incurred by them over the last six years.

I recently contacted AIB in relation to the excessive bank charges incurred on my parents accounts, and was told by a Customer Service Representative that my parents should not have been charged any banking fees when they reached 60 years of age onwards.

I explained that my father will turn 67 in December of this year, and my mother will turn 66 in November, and that they were never notified of this. The Customer Service Represntative updated the accounts accordingly, so from this day forward, my parents will not incur banking charges.

I then enquired as to how I recoup the banking charges paid in error by my parents. I was advised that as I had only notified the AIB this week, that they would be unable to refund any charges paid by my parents over the last six years.

I find this high irregular and possibly illegal. My parents paid charges in error and should be entitled to a full refund. I would be grateful if you could arrange this refund as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely


Ms XXX XXX

Cookie_Monster

add in the date and rough time of call, it may have been recorded so they can reference.
obviously add the details of the account(s) also so it can be checked.

other than that it sounds good to me, post it don't email. letter have a much greater effect.

nlgbbbblth

Get a letter from your parents authorising you to discuss their account with the bank. Attach that to the above letter.

How long is "over 60s pay no bank charges" rule in force? Your parents may not be entitled to a full redund.

dotsman

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Get a letter from your parents authorising you to discuss their account with the bank. Attach that to the above letter.

Definitely. You won't be able to do diddly squat without authorisation from the account holders.

With regards your letter, I would certainly remove the second and third last sentences. There is no legal issue here, and you are basically asking the bank to refund the charges as a gesture. When dealing with companies, insinuating or threatening legal action etc only forces them to respond in kind. As they did nothing illegal, they will only tell you to f off in this regard.

The main point here is where exactly does the "over 60's get free banking" come from. From looking at their brochure, this is simply something they offer to customers.

AIB Website wrote:

If you are aged 60 or over, or are a joint party to an
account held by a customer aged 60 or over, you are
eligible to apply for ‘60 Plus’.

See here for the full wording.

As you can see, it is clearly up to the customer to apply for this special offer. Like any other business, they are not going to chase down their customers and force them to avail of any special offer. It's up to the customer to avail of it.

As said, you can chance your arm and politely ask for a refund, but it will be purely (expensive) goodwill on the bank's part if you do get the refund.

BuffyBot

Indeed - you can ask, and they might be nice enough to help you out, but there is no obligation on their part to do so, nor is there some sort of legal imperative for them to do so.

They did not pay charges in "error" - well, not an error on AIB's behalf, anyway. Nor have they done anything illegal from what you're describing. The offer of fee-free banking for the over 60's was there, but it is your parents who needed to pick it up and ask for it. It is not AIB's job to seek them out.