Dessie v Abbey ***SETTLEMENT REACHED***

[Dessie]

Just been through all my statements for the past 4 years and used the spreadsheet to total up the charges. Since April 2002 I have paid £6116 in bank charges! A mixture of bad management to start with and then trying to juggle a bank account as the Abbey take more and more each month. They have now frozen my bank account and are making me pay back an amount against the outstanding charges each month before transferring the remainder to my savings account.

I know the limit on small claims is £5000, so is it worth putting in 2 claims when it goes that far or should I just strip down the claim so that it is under the £5000 in the first place?

[Dessie]

I've had a think and I've decided to go with 2 claims, 2002/2003 and 2004/2005, after all the money is mine so why should I go for less!

[jonni2bad]

There is a point you need to be aware of.... I have amalgamated recent posts on this subject into one response for you....

"If someone has a claim against a bank arising from, in this case, unlawful levy of penalty charges that have occured in the course of business, they all have to claimed at once, as they arise from the same facts. The facts being that they were levied for breach of contract. The reason for the breach e.g returned DD, bounced Cheque is not the matter at law; the matter at law is breach of contract and flowing from that are the charges a genuine pre-estimate or a penalty.

However, there is a way they could be broken up. If a series of charges arose, and those became the subject of a dispute and while that was ongoing or afterwards another set of charges occured that arose from the same set of circumstances than a second action could be brought.

However, nothing actually 'wrong' with trying, but it could cause problems later.

People should not be scared of the fast track - its the normal/standard procedure for cases going thru the system. There is no reason why a lay-person could not do a case themselves like on the small claim track. But a word of warning - costs are recoverable in a fast track, but limit is only up to £750 so it isn't the end of the world.

Fast track has its advantages - mainly that the judge will order standard disclosure - and the banks definitely don't want this as "Stephen" discovered with the Abbey."

If you are going to attempt a sever, your best bet would be to choose the time frame that would allow your fist claim total to be just short of £5000 rather than, say, just splitting it in half. If, for any reason, you are later unable to claim for the 2nd part, you will have recovered the largest part possible in stage 1.

John

[Dessie]

OK, I understand that, it has been running through my mind that it was all referring to the same dispute and thus would be treated as the same 'case'.

I wont be greedy and will trim down the claim, seeing as I cant afford to go beyond the small claims court to go for the lot.

[jonni2bad]

OK - in that case make you claim £4900 for instance.

If there is not problem later then you can still make a second claim.

I would not be tempted to make the first claim much lower in the hope that they don't notice, I think it's likely to have little effect on their actions - they either will know what to do or won't - if shouldn't depend on your claim value.

Hope that makes as much sense reading as it did writing!

[Dessie]

Thanks Jonni

Letter is going off on Tuesday

[Dessie]

Letter posted this morning for a claim of £4985.00

[jonni2bad]

Nice one...

Will keep an eye on your posts for further info.

Best of luck

[Dessie]

Letter received today from 'Complaints'

Dear Mr XXXXXXX

Thanks you for contacting us and I am sorry that you have been so unhappy that you felt you must complain.

One of my team will be responsible for investigating your complaint and I have enclosed our complaints leaflet, which explains our procedure for doing this. High quality customer service is of great importance to us at Abbey and we will do everything we can to resolve your complaint in a timely and satisfactory manner.

I know it is important to you that we resolve your complaint quickly, but we want to do a thourough investigation and sometimes this can take time. If we have not contacted you before then, we will write to you in 4 weeks to let you know what is happening.

Although I do not know what the outcome will be, I do hope that we will be able to find a solution you are happy with.

Yours sincerely

Marc Winder
Head of Complaints

A few thoughts:
1. 'so unhappy' - no sh*t Sherlock!
2. Complaints leaflet = a very badly photocopied document on Abbey letterhead, they must have run out of the original document!
3. The final sentence about them finding a solution that I will be happy with - are they admitting that I will get what I want already?

[Dessie]

Oh, and I had a call from Abbey Debt Management yesterday asking why there hadnt been any money paid into the account this month. The girl on the phone seemed totally unphased after I had explained that my salary was being paid elsewhere as I was disputing the charges on my account.

Abbey are the owrst so good luck!

Lou xxx

[Dessie]

Standard fob off letter received today - charges not unfair, you should have said at the time blah blah blah.


14 days or else letter in the post tomorrow

[Dessie]

Well, it's gone. Just completed the Moneyclaim online stuff.

[Karnevil]

:d Good Luck !

[janetblay]

Dessie

I have just received a copy of a standard letter the same as yours regarding my complaint with Black ink mark down the side of the letter. Its obviously a standard reply. What did you do after this letter? Did you give them time to investigate your claim?

[Dessie]

As everyone else has done, just follow YOUR timetable.

As you said it is a standard letter, they have probably just filed your letter without even reading it. Their reply is to make you wait 8 weeks by which time they pronbably wouldnt get back to you anyway, they are hoping you will drop it or forget to take it further.

[Dessie]

Payment accepted, claim being served.

14 days from then til judgement day lol

Ok so it will be more like 28 days but the wheels are in motion.

[Tina&Gaz]

ooohhhh good luck keep us posted!