alanfromderby v Abbey - 2nd Claim - Judgement awarded

[alanfromderby]

It is a great feeling to be able to turn the tables.

I have just put in my request yesterday via e-banking, and am now awaiting their acknowledement. In hindsight though, I wish I had gone down the Data Protection Act route.

How long should we be giving them to send the statements ordered through e-banking before following up with a Data Protection Act request?

[BankFodder]

There is nothing to stop you sending a Data Protection Act request now. Send the money with it. Claim it back later

[joneshousehold]

Hey, greetings from fellow Derbian challenging the Abbey. Great staff at the local branch, shame about the manager and the rest of the remote customer service team!

Good luck with your quest. We actually already had our statements so could calculate the claim but I have tried asking for manual interventions anyway. No reply as yet but it has been only a couple of days.

It's always worth a try sending a request anyway. You could include a comment to the effect that you have applied on-line as well. The general view on the forum is that the Data Protection Act request is useful for the extra information you can try and get. When it is refused it is always good to have as something for the court if it should get that far.

Also it gives you an extra line of attack as you can report them to the Information Commissioner for a refusal.

[richardc]

And you should report them to Information Commissioner if they don't comply with your request.

[alanfromderby]

Hi, and thanks for the advice.

I have had mixed responses from branch staff locally. The ones who have been there for some time are great and very friendly. However, I do find that their response to anything out of the ordinary is to direct you to the call-centre telephones.

The best one recently though, was when I wanted to present a cheque for Special Clearance. The account I have has a five-day clearance time for cheques, and I wanted to request faster clearance for one cheque - the value of the cheque was such that I was prepared to pay the fee.

Anyway, I was told that it could take longer than five days if I used that system, due to "delays with the post".

I asked why the cheque could not be put through the normal system - as it would, if it had been put through a standard current account.

The reply came that "Abbey is not a clearing bank".

I asked how then it was possible that Abbey's standard current account quoted a three day clearance.

She replied that my account had a five day clearance time.

"That's not the point", I said. "You have accounts that offer a three day clearance, so why can't you process my cheque in three days if I pay for Special Clearance?"

"Because Special Clearance relies on the post and it can take as much as ten days"

At this point I gave up.

On another occasion I wanted to bank about twenty cheques at the counter...only to be told that this was "most irregular", and I should use the ATM - of course that adds another day to the processing time!

In the end though, I think all banks are as bad as each other. The patronising and unhelpful chap on the Nationwide advert shows to me the real attitude of the banks, and other financial institutions, that we are trying to take on.

However, within these unfeeling corporations, you do find some staff who care...and as I said at the start of this post, there are several at our local branch who do try to be as helpful as they can.

BTW...do you think there is any posibility of getting my money back from a local Coca-Cola Championship Football Club, after years of under achievement?

[joneshousehold]

Hmm - are you a season ticket holder too! I'm afraid we have the excesses of Messrs Sleightholme and Keith to pay for so there is no chance of a recovery of your money.

[alanfromderby]

Can somebody please clarify about the 8%.

On the spreadsheet it says that you should not request (or even mention) the 8% interest until you start the CC claim.

Does this mean that the bank would only have to refund the actual fees taken should they decide to settle within the 14+14 days?

Am I interpretting this correctly?

[dave]

Yes you are.

[joneshousehold]

Yes you are.

But there will be interest on the charges if the account is overdrawn or interest not received if it is in credit. Would these not also be recoverable and is the 8% not a reasonable 'estimate' of these. I am basing this on the 4% many banks advertise as their 'in credit' interest rates and the 6 to 8% authorised overdraft rates and sometimes over 20% unauthorised overdraft interest rates.
I saw another posting somewhere (can't recall where) by Maxie I think, that suggested a nominal figure of £10 per £100 of claim can be included and this is fairly well in line with the 8% calculation. Whatever the calculation it is still a figure that can be justified however it is calculated.
Hope this sounds logical, I have had a very large glass of wine. I just hope I am not moved to apologise with embarrassment tomorrow morning!!!!!

[alanfromderby]

Received letter this morning saying that my e-banking request for 6-years worth of copy statements had been received, and that as they have been archived they would be sent out "shortly".

Interestingly the letter comes from a chap called Antony Tarbitt, who has acquired the title of "Business Manager - Customer Account Service Excellence". Hmmm!

Using a "belt and braces" approach, I have also been able to confirm through track-and-trace that Abbey have received my Data Protection Act letter and payment.

The clock has started.

[alanfromderby]

Interesting to note that a few days ago I received a letter from Abbey regarding an unpaid DD. Usually these letters say that £35 will be taken out on a date to be advised on your next statement. This one said that a fee would be deducted, and that the amount and date would be notified on the statement.

This was sent before they would have received my request for statements, so I guess they are having some serious thoughts of what to do next.

[richardc]

Interesting. Let us know what your statement says when you get it.

[alanfromderby]

Received the first batch of printouts this morning - so I know what I will be doing this afternoon.

They appear to go back to the beginning of 2005, but come with a covering letter from their Data Protection Act Office that confirms they have passed the request through to the archive department, and that I should receive the microfiched copies of the remaining documents "in due course".

The clock is still ticking.....

[alanfromderby]

Actually, just had another look at the letter, and they appear to pulling a fast one. Effectively, they have converted my Data Protection Act request into a request for copy statements. The argument they are using is the microfiche excuse, and that they don't keep manual intervention information centrally, so they cannot easily supply it.

It is my opinion that "in due course" tends to mean "sometime, never". Time to get them back on my timetable:



Jackie Scott
Data Protection Consultant
Regulatory Compliance
Abbey House
201 Grafton Gate East
Milton Keynes
MK9 1AN

7th April 2006


Data Protection Act disclosure request

Dear Ms Scott

Account Number: xxxxxxxx

I am in receipt of your letter dated 4th April 2006, outlining that you could only provide me with printouts covering the last 13 months on my account, because any earlier information has been archived onto microfiche. Enclosed was a list of transactions and account detail covering that 13 month period.

My request was for a complete list of transactions and charges relating to our account since 1st April 2000 – in short, a list of charges with dates and amounts – alternatively, a complete set of account statements for that period will be acceptable. This should be retrievable from your accounting systems, and easy for you to produce. I will accept a computer print out of these transactions.

I am aware that you have been willing and able to provide other customers with a print-out of six years transaction information – and am happy to provide evidence of this to the Information Commissioner should it prove necessary. I would also draw your attention to Smith v Lloyds TSB Bank plc (2005) EWHC 246 (Ch).

This letter has been sent by first class recorded delivery, and therefore should have reached you by Monday April 10th – as you will be aware, as of this date you have just 26 days in which to comply with my request. As stated above, a complete set of account statements for the period in question will be acceptable; however, I expect this to be provided within the time period for Data Protection Act compliance.

Should there be any further attempts to delay compliance, I will be left with no alternative but to escalate this matter into an official complaint to the Information Commissioner.


Yours faithfully,