Closey v Woolwich ***WON***

[closey]

Data Protection Act deadline was 01/05/06- nothing received, then on 02/05/06 six years of bank statements arrived.

I have added it up and it comes to: £1965.

I haven't yet put these charges into the spreadsheet to work out the 8%APR.

I will be sending off the first LBA this week, also pointing out that they broke the law by taking 41 days to send my bank statements.

	Small Claims kit by Lawpack Sue your bank as many times as you like with just one Small Claims kit by Lawpack. Follow this link to read the review. The kit contains everything you need: instruction manual, templates, examples, forms and a comprehensive CDRom. Applies to England and Wales

[bram stoker]

Best of luck.

[closey]

Letter sent today:

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 years. In addition would also like an explanation as to why you broke the law by taking more than 40 days to issue my bank statements. I have not, on this occasion reported you to the information commissioner, however, I expect you to act more professionally and within reasonable timeframes from this moment forth.

I now understand that the regime of fees which you have been applying to my account in relation to direct debit refusals, exceeding overdraft limits and so forth are unlawful at Common Law, Statute and recent Consumer regulations. If you say that they are not then please demonstrate this by letting me have a full breakdown of the costs to which you have been put to as a result of my breaches in order to reassure me that your penalties really do reflect your costs.

It has been confirmed that your particularly high level of penalties are considered to be unfair per se, by the OFT who reported on the 5th April 2006, and are therefore presumed to be unlawful in the absence of specific proof to the contrary.

Your responsibilities

I would draw your attention to the terms of the contract which you agreed to at the time that I opened my account. It is an implied term of that contract that you would conduct yourselves lawfully and in a manner which complies with UK law.

I consider that your repeated representations that your charges are fair and reasonable are deceptive and that they have deceived me into agreeing to pay them.

Your concealment of the true nature of your charges has prevented me from asserting my right until now.

Amount owed

I calculate that you have taken £1965 in levies.

Target dates re resolution

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter - I am writing this letter on the assumption that this is preferable than mere standard response letters/leaflets.

I will give you 14 days to reply to me accepting unconditionally my request in principle and letting me know a date by which I will receive payment.

If you do not respond, or you do not respond positively within this time period, I shall send you a letter, before any action, giving you a further 14 days in which to reflect. I believe that these targets are more than sufficient for a large company such as yours with dedicated staff and departments.

After that, there will be no further communication from me and I shall issue a claim at the expiration of the second deadline.

Looking forward in earnest to hearing from you.

	The Direct Debit Guarantee • The Guarantee is offered by all Banks and Building Societies that take part in the Direct Debit Scheme. The efficiency and security of the Scheme is monitored and protected by your own Bank or Building Society. • If the amounts to be paid or the payment dates change, we will notify you three working days in advance of your account being debited or as otherwise agreed. • If an error is made by us or by your Bank or Building Society, you are guaranteed a full and immediate refund from your branch of the amount paid. • You can cancel a Direct Debit at any time by writing your Bank or Building Society. Please also send a copy of your letter to us. This is a term of your banking contract and you can sue on it.

	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.

[bram stoker]

Good letter.

Why are you not reporting the lack of comlpiance with your Data Protection Act request to the Information Commissioner? The more pressure we put on the banks to behave in a correct manner, the better.

[closey]

In fairness to them (and I am fair!) there is a major problem with post in our area (which has been in the local press) and to be honest I actually don't think it's fault (the day I received their letter I received a Christmas card from my aunt!).

[bram stoker]

In addition would also like an explanation as to why you broke the law by taking more than 40 days to issue my bank statements.

Then is this correct? They might get the hump if they did issue within 40 days.

[closey]

What is correct is that after the 40 days were up the statements arrived a day later. As it was one day and knowing that the post is crap and gave them grace. I will never know the truth of when they sent the statements as there was no covering letter. I feel however it is worth mentioning in my letter because I can only go by what happened, which WAS receiving them late.

[bram stoker]

Originally Posted by closey

What is correct is that after the 40 days were up the statements arrived a day later. As it was one day and knowing that the post is crap and gave them grace. I will never know the truth of when they sent the statements as there was no covering letter. I feel however it is worth mentioning in my letter because I can only go by what happened, which WAS receiving them late.

Cool. Good luck.

[closey]

Received letter from Barclays:

'I am sorry that you are unhappy with the charges you have incurred. Your comments are receiving attention and one of my team will contact you again by 12 June.

Blah Blah

Mike Brophy

I'm sticking to my timescale

[Mumofthreeboys]

Originally Posted by closey

Received letter from Barclays:

'I am sorry that you are unhappy with the charges you have incurred. Your comments are receiving attention and one of my team will contact you again by 12 June.

Blah Blah

Mike Brophy

I'm sticking to my timescale

My DH got exactly the same letter from Mike Brophy only difference is he will contact us by of 5th June, but the deadline of the LBA is 26th May!! They'll be in court way before June - good luck.

	Small Claims kit by Lawpack Sue your bank as many times as you like with just one Small Claims kit by Lawpack. Follow this link to read the review. The kit contains everything you need: instruction manual, templates, examples, forms and a comprehensive CDRom. Applies to England and Wales

[closey]

Good luck to you as well!

[Mumofthreeboys]

Have you read my thread? DH of Mumofthreeboys v Woolwich.

[closey]

Just read it. Sounds like a right old nightmare. I will be expecting the same! I'll watch your case with interest.

	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.

[closey]

Yesterday I received a reply from barclays. Seems to be the standard reply offering me just under half of my claim amount as a 'full and final settlement'.

Err, I don't think so Barclays.

Reply send to both customer services and to my local branch:

'I write in reference to your letter dated 19th May.

I confirm that I accept your offer of the sum of £950 as an interim payment against the full amount requested, but not as a full and final settlement. Please contact me so that I can confirm which account I would like this to be paid into and to confirm a date by which this payment will be made.

I now give you a further 14 days from the date of this letter to return the remaining £1015 (total amount £1965) and confirm what date payment will be made.

Failure to respond positively to my request, within this time frame, will leave me no alternative than to issue a claim. After that there will be no further communication from me.

Looking forward in earnest to hearing from you'.

	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.

[closey]

Yesterday I received the following letter:

I am sorry you remain unhappy with our response to your complaint and note that whilst you are accepting the amount offered, that is £950.00, you will be seeking the remaining balance in the County Court.

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify the amount was in full settlement of your claim. I am therefore unwilling to adhere to your request to reimburse you with the amount offered, and it is with regret that you will now be proceeding to the County Court for the full amount.

I appreciate this is not the response you have been hoping for, but I trust I have clarified the banks position.

Signed from - Joanna Carney.

OK - I need some advise here. I will wait until the full 14 days is up and file with Money claim. I am thinking that the best tact would be to file against my local branch of the woolwich, rather than the Barclays address these letter come from. Does anyone agree/disagree/have an view on this?

	County Court guidebook by Judge Patricia Pearl Follow this link to read the review of this excellent Small Claims Guidebook. This comprehensive and very accessible guide will take you through the process of suing or defending a claim. This guide will help you take control of your litigation and make you more confident about doing it yourself. Applies to England and Wales

[bram stoker]

I vote local branch.

[closey]

Thanks Vampiress. That is what I thought.

[Mumofthreeboys]

Closey, I agree with Vampiress.

I filed my MCOL 29th May and I put the Woolwich, Bexleyheath.

Hope this helps, MOTB

[closey]

As Lloyds have now filed their defence a couple of days before I could have served a judgement and Smile aren't playing ball with my account, I'm going to have to hold fire with this claim, I just don't have £80 spare, and that is down to the banks

[closey]

Moneyclaim filed online today.