1234 vs Alliance & Leicester

[1234debt]

Hi, I started a new thread as recommended by Perseus with hopes of getting some help with drafting a letter to A&L. I'll C&P what I wrote in the other thread...

My question is, I'm a single parent receiving income support and child benefit, I'm overdrawn on my account because the bank keep taking charges when there is no money in my account so it spirals into me having charges monthly (all because I took money out of the account the day it went in when I'd already phoned to check there was money in the account and they said yes and that I could take it out). I rang up customer services to talk about them unlawfully taking charges from benefits(that is all I have paid into the account because that is all I have and it's left me with no money at all so I opened up a PO account and had my benefits paid into there) and quoted the act(as in the first post) the lady got quite nasty and insisted I was wrong and that if there were charges due on the account they could take it from whatever money was in the account and basically it was my fault for being overdrawn when I have no overdraft agreement(even though I never go over by more than 10 pounds and they refuse to give me a buffer) and that I need to pay the money or my account will be closed. She got quite nasty with me and I didn't know what else to say as she just kept saying "you're wrong". I took the address of a person to write to concerning the matter so I was just wondering as I'm not using the account(but I'd like to be able to and don't want it to be closed) I don't need to write to them weekly and ask them not to take money out what should I say in my letter? All help will be gratefully received!


I just rang back and I think I spoke to the same woman again(she was a little more polite this time). She said they won't send me a letter as there is nothing worth sending! So I asked for her name and wrote out what she said verbatim.... "Any charges raised on my account will be taken from the account as and when they are raised in accordance with the account. Means by which I fund the account is my choice. They are not directly taking from my benefit but from the monies paid into my account" The only money paid into my account is my benefit though thanks again!


This morning I received a notice of intention to proceed with debt recovery action, I have seven days to pay back what is now £192.01 before the matter is put to their debt recovery section. As I said all the money that was going into the account was benefits and I paid back the mere pounds that I went overdrawn by, the amount of £192.01 is purely charges that I can't even afford to pay back. I was hoping someone could help me draft a letter to the Alliance & Leicester because quite frankly I'm lost and unsure what to say.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance

[younganfree]

Not too sure of my ground here, 1234, but maybe someone can add to the debate if I start it.

I think I'd be right in saying that if the account is put into DISPUTE then they can't send in the recovery guys. I'm hoping very much that someone can jump in here with advice on wording for you!

You say you don't want the account closed, but if it's o/d aren't you at risk of more and more spiralling charges? Wouldn't it be best for you to have the account closed to stop this happening? You've got your PO account so you don't have any wories about opening another one.