Engineers can claw back bank charges

London - Hundreds of engineering businesses throughout the UK stand to gain thousands of pounds by reclaiming money owed through wrongly calculated debit interest and other bank charges, according to finance experts at Hampshire-based BlueStone Audits.

Until recently it has been extremely difficult to assess losses accruing each year. However, BlueStone has now acquired new software that, it claims, can calculate over-payments of interest and other charges going back 30 years. All results are then independently examined by three auditors to ensure accuracy.

Wrongly calculated charges typically arise because banks do not clear transactions within three days as they state, leading to extra debit interest on overdrawn accounts. These errors will be compounded if an account is brought over its agreed overdraft limit and penalty charges are incurred.

In addition many accounts are found to contain a multitude of mistakes because of human error and system failures affecting the true level of interest charged. All this has a daily impact on the performance of an account, so every day the mistakes can get worse.

BlueStone Managing Director Ed Tackas said: “During the past 12 years of operation our auditors have never once come across an account that has been right. In this economic climate, where every penny counts, this could be a lifeline for companies.”

“We are currently working on one case where the amount involved is just short of £300,000. This sort of cash can make or break even a significant sized company. But any company paying £800 or more a month in charges should investigate.”

Tackas estimates that on a typical overdraft facility for a company with a turnover exceeding £2million a year the error could be as much as £3,000 a quarter - £72,000 over a six year period. Once errors have been audited banks typically settle within 8 – 12 weeks.