Barry031261 v Barclaycard ***SETTLED IN FULL***

[caro]

You are right that they should not take action while indispute. This thread may be useful to you.
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...hlight=dispute

[Barry031261]

Hi Caro,

thanks for your response.
I have drafted a letter to Barclaycard and would welcome any suggestions prior to me sending it.

Thanks,
Baz


Barclays Bank PLC
Barclays Legal & Compliance
Litigation & Disputes
Level 29
One Churchill Place
E14 5HP

Your Ref: KJ/LIT – *****
My Ref: BBBW

22nd July 2006

Dear Mr Jeramiah,

Thank you for your letter dated 18th July 2006.

I note with some concern that you state that my Barclaycard account has been closed and is now a ‘dormant’ account. I had not been informed of this and I am very distressed by this statement.

Am I to understand that my account has been Defaulted? I must point out that, if it turns out I have been Defaulted on this account, it will become a subject of further legal action against Barclaycard.

I attach a letter (Item 001) dated 6th July 2006 which suggests that this is not the case as it clearly makes me an offer to pay a certain sum to obtain a ‘concession’ to my account and this offer carries a closing date of 25th July 2006.

Due to uncertainty about the current position of my account I will now require a copy of any Default Notice to be forwarded to me forthwith, along with any other supporting details that you hold, and as such I have attached a copy (Item 002) of my ‘Subject Access Request’ and a cheque for the statutory fee of £10.00 for full disclosure of details you hold on your files about myself. The original has been sent under separate cover by Recorder Delivery to verify your receipt. I will also require a true, signed copy of the Agreement signed by myself when this account was opened.

If, as I suspect, I have been defaulted on this account I will be lodging compliants with the Banking Ombudsman, The Office of Fair Trading and the Data Protection Controller and will issue Court proceedings in order to recover damages and compensation for Defamation of Character and the Removal of the Default from my Personal Data File..

Furthermore, and not withstanding your letter stated above (Item 003) is headed ‘Without Prejudice save as to costs’, shall be submitting as evidence along with any subsequent correspondence from yourself that verifies, or even suggests, that my account has been Defaulted along with any other data that I obtain as a result of my ‘Subject Access Request’ to substantiate my claim for damages.

I have also attached (Item 004) a copy of a Notice pursuant to s.10 of The data Protection Act 1998, the original of which has been sent to you under separate cover by Recorded Delivery to verify your receipt.

It should be obvious from this letter, but I will state the obvious anyway just to avoid any possible mis-understanding. I reject your offer of £500.00 for full and final settlement of my claim against Barclaycard.

Yours Sincerely,

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

[Robertxc]

Hi Barry, cooments in blue...

Originally Posted by Barry031261

Hi Caro,

thanks for your response.
I have drafted a letter to Barclaycard and would welcome any suggestions prior to me sending it.

Thanks,
Baz


Barclays Bank PLC
Barclays Legal & Compliance
Litigation & Disputes
Level 29
One Churchill Place
E14 5HP

Your Ref: KJ/LIT – *****
My Ref: BBBW

22nd July 2006

Dear Mr Jeramiah,

Thank you for your letter dated 18th July 2006.

I note with some concern that you state that my Barclaycard account has been closed and is now a ‘dormant’ account. I had not been informed of this and I am very distressed by this statement.

Am I to understand that my account has been Defaulted? I must point out that, if it turns out I have been Defaulted on this account, it will become a subject of further legal action against Barclaycard.

Don't you know for sure if your account has been defaulted? If not, get copies of your credit file from all the agencies and find out (you can do this online).

I attach a letter (Item 001) dated 6th July 2006 which suggests that this is not the case as it clearly makes me an offer to pay a certain sum to obtain a ‘concession’ to my account and this offer carries a closing date of 25th July 2006.

Due to uncertainty about the current position of my account I will now require a copy of any Default Notice to be forwarded to me forthwith, along with any other supporting details that you hold, and as such I have attached a copy (Item 002) of my ‘Subject Access Request’ and a cheque for the statutory fee of £10.00 for full disclosure of details you hold on your files about myself. The original has been sent under separate cover by Recorder Delivery to verify your receipt. I will also require a true, signed copy of the Agreement signed by myself when this account was opened.

A Default notice cannot be sent to a credit reference agency unless it's been properly served on you first. You seem to be suggesting that you've never received it. If this is the case, then you need to hunt about the forum for threads dealing with Defaults, which will give you strategies for dealing with it.

If, as I suspect, I have been defaulted on this account I will be lodging complaints with the Banking Ombudsman, The Office of Fair Trading and the Data Protection Controller and will issue Court proceedings in order to recover damages and compensation for Defamation of Character and the Removal of the Default from my Personal Data File..

All of this seems abit over the top considering you don't know for sure if you actually have been defaulted. It reads like you've stuck in the name of every banking body you can think of. Was the total amount of the default in dispute before the defaulted you? If so, then they have blatantly breached The Banking Code, and again, there are actions outlined elsewhere on the forum which can help you deal with it.

Furthermore, and not withstanding your letter stated above (Item 003) is headed ‘Without Prejudice save as to costs’, shall be submitting as evidence along with any subsequent correspondence from yourself that verifies, or even suggests, that my account has been Defaulted along with any other data that I obtain as a result of my ‘Subject Access Request’ to substantiate my claim for damages.

I have also attached (Item 004) a copy of a Notice pursuant to s.10 of The data Protection Act 1998, the original of which has been sent to you under separate cover by Recorded Delivery to verify your receipt.

It should be obvious from this letter, but I will state the obvious anyway just to avoid any possible mis-understanding. I reject your offer of £500.00 for full and final settlement of my claim against Barclaycard.

Yours Sincerely,

I think you can say everything you need to in this letter in about 20% of the words. I recommend that before you send it you do two things:

1. Check EXACTLY what the status of your credit history is. Only put FACTS into your letter.

2. Have a good look round the forum and find out what you can actually do about a default. In particular, check out The Banking Code (section 13.6, I think).

3. If they have defaulted you, get in touch with the court imediately and see about amending your claim to include its removal. this will mean that if they want to settle out of court they will have to remove it. Be careful about doing this if the amount of the default is for more than the charges you're claiming. YOU MUST DO THIS STRAIGHT AWAY, BEFORE THEY OFFER TO SETTLE IN FULL. If you wait until after they've offered settlement in full, they'll turn up in court and the judge will force you to settle, or throw your case out. THIS IS IMPORTANT.

4. Keep letters short, accurate and to the point. Avoid phrases like "I suspect", all it does is expose your lack of knowledge of the situation.

Good luck!

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

[Barry031261]

Thankyou Robertxc for your comments.

I have checked my Credit File with Experian and it is clear of Defaults, at the moment!

I did receive a Notice of Default from Mercers as stated in an earlier post but I am denying any knowledge of this as I am hoping that the threat of legal action in relation to this notice will be enough for them to settle in full. If they proceed with the default in the knowledge that the account is in litigation then I will have them banged to rights. My Subject Access Request should also reveal this Notice of Default which again puts them in an awkward position, i.e. they will have to provide this to me as part of my request. Surely they know that the action they are taking is contrary to the Banking Code?
Also, the s.10 I am sending should give them notice that I am requesting no further action on any 'alleged' pending Notice of Default. Again, if they continue they will be clearly seen to be acting illegally.

These are just thoughts and I do value your opinion. I don't wish to do anything that will jeopodise my position.

Baz

	The Banking Code Follow this link to read the Banking Code in full. Ofen ignored by its subscribers, half-heartedly monitored and poorly enforced

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

	Credit Report Click link to open in new window.

[johnfower]

Hi Barry, just wondering how your claims doing?

[Barry031261]

Hi folks,

Well today is was the date for my court hearing but I had a very anxious call from Barclaycards solicitors yesterday pleading with me to accept a fax as confirmation that they will deposit the full amout of my claim into my bank account by CHAPS payment before the close of business yesterday! And would I please cancel the hearing!

They really, really do NOT want to go to court!!!!!

Today I checked my balance and, sure enough, the money has been deposited!

Court case closed, bank balance increased, new court papers will be issued today for charges they have applied in the 4 months its taken them to settle my claim.

I wonder how they will play this the second time round? Should be fun to find out tho!!

To anybody currently pursuing Barclays, Barclaycard or Woolwich: Sit tight, play hard and you will WIN!!

[Tinkerbelle]

Excellent and well done!

Tinks

[Mrgreengenes]

This has been a great thread to read. It is surprising that Barclaycard went right to the wire for only £400 plus interest and court fees.

My claim is for £739 and they have just offered me £275 being the difference between my charges and "the £12 fee recommended by the OFT"

My thoughts on this will be posted in my own thread.

Anyway congratulations on your victory.


Don't let the fatherless chillen get ya!

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.

[ryjayel]

Wow!

Well done for holding your ground, I'm really impressed! I too am pursuing BC for just shy of £500. I have sent prelim (landed 22nd) but no response yet. I am amazed they responded to you so quicly but your success had reaffirmed my self belief so thankyou!

Congrats

Ryjayel

[Deedee73]

WEll DONE HUN! WOOO HOOOO.

[Brad Smith]

excellent...well done barry

[misspickles]

congrats! am about to take them on feeling much better now!
Miss P x

[I hate barclaycard]

THANKYOU!!!!!!!!!!!! only in first stages, just sent follow up to Subject Access Request - regarding microfiche rubbish, then ill wait my 40 days!
SO NICE TO READ A SUCESS STORY.
well done for standing your ground! you done us all proud!!!!!!

	Subject Access Request A Subject Access Request is a demand which you can make to any organisation to disclose any personal information which they hold on you. The right to disclosure of data is provided by the Data Protection Act. There is no time limit. The organisation is obliged to reveal everything they have about you - which you ask for - as far back as you ask for. There are very few exceptions. It does not matter whether the data is held on microfiche, in an archive, on tape, in a cardex system, in sound recordings or in screen notes. Some companies are saying that they do not have to disclose where it would be difficult to do so - "disproportionate effort". This is untrue. Disproportionate effort refers to something else under the Act. If you are seeking bank charges information then you should ask for "all data held on you" and you should make it clear that you want everything as far back as it goes. Do not be put off by excuses. Do not accept being fobbed off. It is not in your bank's interest to make full disclosure to you. This means that it is in your interests to get it. If you have not started gathering your bank charges information yet, then you should start now. There will soon be a big rush once the OFT test case has been settled. Get all of your bank account informtion as far back as possible. At least as far back as 1995. If your bank says that they don't keep data as far back as this, don't accept it. Be persistent. They've got what you need in some form or other.

[jadebarton]

hi barry, well done.
I am at the prelim stage with barclaycard and am aiming to pursue contractual interest. I note from one of your post in a letter that they sent to you that their standard rate of interest is 17.9% i wonder if this is the amount i should be claiming contractual. its been very difficult trying to calculate the amount i should apply so that post may have been some help.

thanks

jade

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.