FOS or Court - Me v Alliance & Leicester

[juicylucy1]

Hi
Been reading many of the postings with much interest. I would like to thank everyone who has added information as this is probably the biggest reason I have continued. Not being the luckiest person alive, when I initially decided to take on the bank, I did think that it would be my luck that by the time my case came to the table the bank would have found a way out of refunding the monies.
I am at one of the final stages. I have done all the previous stages by the book and tomorrow is the date that the banks 14 days are up. I have had the get lost letters and in response to my "I will take you to court if you dont pay" letter I received a letter from the bank stating that they were looking into things. As of yet I have not received an offer of settlement.
It would be financially difficult for me at this moment in time to pay the court fee of £120 (£2,127 being claimed), so I have done some research into going to the FOS. It appears from postings on this site that there is 100% success rate from them without the cost of court fees. Also, I understand that if I lose by the FOS then I can still go to court, whereas if I lose in court there is no further to take the case.
Has anyone got any feelings on if this is the correct route?
Good luck to all of those who are currently awaiting the outcome and well done to those who have already taken on the banks and won. You are an inspiration to the rest of us.

[jansus]

We have had people post herewho have been very successful at FOS route - and others that have come here because they did not get offered enough on FOS. So really it is difficult to judge. I decided to take court route as at the time FOS was taking a long time and the court costs will be included in the settlement. However it is taking along time as all the courts seem to be inundated so I dont think I have gained anything in respect of time.Best of luck whichever way you decide to go

Jan

[juicylucy1]

Hi Jansus
Thank you for your advice. I have just posted off my complaint form and copies of correspondence to the FOS. Wait and see. I have decided to go down that route, purely because I would have to wait about another fortnight before I can spare the £120 for the court fees. So I will keep you posted on how long the process takes. I am about to start another claim now with Capital One. I might take that one down the court route (if they dont settle before) and see which appears to work better.
Jansus, how far along are you and what date did you start the court claim. I will be interested to see how long it takes to complete the process in court at the moment.
Best wishes
Lucy

[jansus]

I actually started the court claim in May- it was transferred to my local court from MCOL in june but I still have no date yet. I started the whole process in February but delayed some of the letters due to outside pressures.

you can see my thread Jansus v Alliance and leicester few pages back


If you click on someones user name when they post you can find their threads that way

Jan

[juicylucy1]

HI
Just an update. Got a letter today from A&L. One day too late. It contained a load of waffle plus the offer of £359 which they say is the difference between the charges paid and £12 that FOS agreed for credit cards. Am going to search the library and send the letter of rejection. Do I inform them that I did report them to the FOS? Not sure.
Thanks

[jansus]

You can modify the rejection letter to suit you - so if that is the way your are proceeding I am sure there is no harm in doing that. Then you have the back up of court later as long as you have followed all the proceedures.

Jan

[juicylucy1]

Hi
Just an update. Have just called the FOS regarding the new thread made - benefits being taken unlawfully. When discussing this with them, I did ask for an update of the complaint made to FOS regarding the bank charges. I can confirm that whilst this service is free to the customer the bank being investigated does have to pay the FOS a fee. The operative wouldnt confirm what this was, but I have read somewhere that this is in the region of £350. Really glad that I decided to take this route now, as this means that whatever the outcome of my case, the bank will have at least had to cough up £350!! I was informed that my case was about to be looked at by the FOS and that initially when investigating they contact the bank and ask for a copy of their file on the case. At this stage the banks sometimes settle. However, if this is not the case it is taking approximately 3 to 4 months to resolve a case, due to the heavy workload. I have to say, that the operative that I spoke to was very friendly, very informative and gave me the confidence that I will be kept fully informed as the case progresses. For anyone else considering their next move, it is worth considering the FOS, I was personally not in a position to pay the £120 court fee as I had hoped, and decided to go to the FOS mainly for this reason. It doesnt really appear that it will take much longer than court, as these cases appear to be dragged out now as so many people are applying, plus the bank has to pay the investigation fee. I am about to submit another complaint at the advice of the FOS regarding the unlawful denial to funds from WFTC and Child benefit. Thats another £350 they will have to pay!!!! Goody goody.