A+L reduce account package - help

[Beanie1]

Hi folks

Seperate issue to bank charges (but thats gonna happen as £800 a lot of money in a year !!!).

Basically they sent a letter advising that they may review the account if the account is overdrawn over the limit again. This was a couple of months back.

Now this has not happened at all.. weve been good little model citizens and maintained the account correctly.

Today the Wife goes to take £20 out of the bank and told that it was declined due to insufficient funds. She phones them to be told the our overdraft facility has been withdrawn and the cheque guarantee card is no longer valid and we have been reduced to a standard cardcash account as opposed to a current account. Can they do this without any prior warning? no letters have been sent to us and we havent been charged for about 3 months now !! Any help would be appreciated.

[alice-rose]

Hi Beanie,

It looks to me like this is an issue you need to take up with the
Financial Ombudsman.
I think it may well be worth a letter, explaining the situation.
even if you decide to close this account, at a later date, once you have settled your claim.

It is like inverted intimidation.

has this happened since you have commenced proceedings against alliance & leicester

I think you probably need to seek advice from a moderator on this one.

good luck with your claim

alice x

[Beanie1]

Hi thanks for the reply... I havent even sent a Subject Access Request off yet so not related to bank charges.

The Mrs has complained and they have "sent an email" to the department that deals with this to see if they can reinstate the overdraft.. Wouldnt mind if it was only £50 but £250 is a lot of money to me at the mo.

[alice-rose]

hi beanie,

so glad to hear your wife has complained about the situation.

Lets hope you get a good result.

I suppose this has made you all the more keen to get started with your Claim !

If funds are tight for you,
you can go down the Financial Ombudsman route to reclaim your bank charges. this will not cost you anything, and I am led to believe is getting good results.
In fact Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert is saying this is the preferred option at the moment.

If you claim via the Courts,
this will cost you, but you get your Court cost back when you win your claim.

If you go onto mcol - that is money claim on line
you can find out exactly what the cost would be for your claim.. Its on a sliding scale. the more you claim, the more the court costs.

You can claim back 6 years, with interest,
so it is well worth doing.

How far back do your bank charges go with Alliance & Leicester ?

It is essential you read as much as you can on this forum.

Everyone on here is very friendly so if you have any questions
just keep asking.

If you go into the Library on here
you will find a template letter, which you can download,
to request your Subject Access Request

I wish you good luck with your claim.

and if you need any help we are all here to help you.

alice x

[Beanie1]

Hi Thanks

Cant go down the MCOL route as in Scotland and no mailing address in England. Looked into all that with the BOS and Halifax. I kinda know the process anyway but always good to refresh my knowledge. Only been with A+L for about a year and a half but at £30 quid a time charges it soon mounts up.

Gonna give their complaints procedure a bash and if no joy then pursue thro FOS.

Cheers