MBNA Circumvented the Step by Step Guide

[tasadin]

Ok guys I hope you can help

I have sent of data protection act to MBNA for statements. They have repiled syaing charges are fair etc etc and supplied me with a breakdown of charges but not statements. The charges come to £560 pounds and they have offered me £215 as a settlement. Plus they returned my cheque for Data Protection and said if I want full statements I must fill in the form they have supplied and return it with another £10 cheque.

Now this link in the step by step says accept the money offered but only as partial settlement:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o.uk...tructions.html

but this link here says not to accept the money:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.c o.uk...repayment.html

MBNA have circumvented the step by step guide a bit here - maybe i should email them the link .

In all seriousness, should I take/not take the money as partial payment and now approach them with a request for full payment as at the second link posted or jump straight to LBA. I have read the step by step and the FAQ but the response received from MBNA was a little unexpected when all I requested was data protection info statements

[Glenn UK]

In my opinion what you shuold do is write back to them thanking them for the offer and accept it in partial payment but only if they have actually sent the cheque and you have it in your hand.

if you havent acutally got the cheque or money then i would wait till you do to accept or reject it.

They wrote to me but havent sent the cheque and havent actually said what the cheque was for.

In the mean time I would write back to them and restate your wish that they provide the data requested under the Subject Access Request and from the date you originally served it on them.

Since they have responded and offered you money they cannot be arguing they dont know who you are and cannot therefore provide the data until you prove who you are. Its nonesense.

When you write back i would resend the cheque too but i would be firm about my expectations about complaince with the 40 day deadline. As i understand the Data Protection Act you have to pay the fee up to a max of ten pounds, if they choose not to cash it thats theyre business. if you have offered it and confirmed your wish about the Subject Access Request, then they have to comply, if it ends up in court they cannot then say there was any confusin about who you were or your request under the DPA.

If they wish to dispute your identity then they have to respond to your intial Subject Access Request promptly and not leave it for a few weeks.

However, its your choice whether to fill in the form and return it along with your cheque.

JMHO

Glenn

[livelylad]

hi MBNA sent me statement and also didnt take the cheque. i phone them and asked for the cash back they offered half, i said no they gave me the full amount. i have given the name and number of the guy i dealt with he seems to be getting all the cases. He was very nice and helpful it cant help to ask for it back i think you might get it. Gareth Tunnicliffe 01244 672628 Customer Advocate.
if i have helped please click the scales in the top right corner!

[livelylad]

hi MBNA sent me statements and also didnt take the cheque. i phoned them and asked for the cash back they offered half, i said no they gave me the full amount. i have given the name and number of the guy i dealt with he seems to be getting all the cases. He was very nice and helpful it cant help to ask for it back i think you might get it. Gareth Tunnicliffe 01244 672628 Customer Advocate.
if i have helped please click the scales in the top right corner!

[Glenn UK]

LL

how big was your claim against MBNA?

Were you confident that all the charges were repaid?

Finally did you charge then any interest?

As far as I can make out they are settling anything which is straight forward and the claimant is happy to settle for just the charges.

If you want to claim back interest paid, or charge then contractual interest as is your right, then i wonder what their approach will be.

On a personal note, i wouldnt hold off doing anything in writng if its in your gameplan, but would carry on with that, as well as phoning if thats what you want to do.

JMHO

Glenn

[livelylad]

hi i settled for £745, all charges were repaid. i just settled for the charges and not the interest a mistake i know but i actually forgot. I agrre they may not be so helpful if you ask for the int but it cant hurt to ask.

[tasadin]

Originally Posted by Glenn UK

LL

how big was your claim against MBNA?

Were you confident that all the charges were repaid?

Finally did you charge then any interest?

As far as I can make out they are settling anything which is straight forward and the claimant is happy to settle for just the charges.

If you want to claim back interest paid, or charge then contractual interest as is your right, then i wonder what their approach will be.

On a personal note, i wouldnt hold off doing anything in writng if its in your gameplan, but would carry on with that, as well as phoning if thats what you want to do.

JMHO

Glenn

Just going for charges atm. I was just so suprised to get offered money in the letter but cheque to follow if I accept. I've taken the phone advice and rung but he was at lunch, will try again about 1400. But if i get no where I will continue with letters, its just which one to send next as I havent even done an initial calim and already they have offered cash. I think the next one should be an initial letter for the whole amount the more i think about it. About interest tho, it was my understanding that when you send the initial you do not claim interest, and that you only do if they knock you back and it heads towards court?!?!?

[livelylad]

thats correct, if you dont get the full amount offered send the initial letter. But he might give you the full amount pm to let me know please.

[Glenn UK]

FWIW

You can claim back the charges, any interest you have actually paid and you can then either claim contractual interest at the highest rate they would charge you for borrowing their money or you can wait till it gets to court and ask for Sec69 interest which is 8%.

Its worth remebering that you calculaute the interest from the day the charge and any interest paid was applied. It is then compounded on a daily basis untilt he debt is repaid.

The impact of this is that the debt they owe you can be signciantly more than the charges and interest already paid alone.

So before you accept any offers make sure you know what you could be asking for and make sure you are happy with whatever you settle for.

HTH

Glenn

[tasadin]

Originally Posted by Glenn UK

FWIW

You can claim back the charges, any interest you have actually paid and you can then either claim contractual interest at the highest rate they would charge you for borrowing their money or you can wait till it gets to court and ask for Sec69 interest which is 8%.

Its worth remebering that you calculaute the interest from the day the charge and any interest paid was applied. It is then compounded on a daily basis untilt he debt is repaid.

The impact of this is that the debt they owe you can be signciantly more than the charges and interest already paid alone.

So before you accept any offers make sure you know what you could be asking for and make sure you are happy with whatever you settle for.

HTH

Glenn

Thanks for the info Glenn, but.... in the FAQs it says i cant claim interest until it goes to court... are you saying that i should be working out the interest for the charges they have made to my CC and if so what rate and which spreadsheet? I have got a little confused here because from the reading I have done i thought it was 8% and only when going to court.

[Glenn UK]

The FAqs may need amending the issue of contractual interest is a relatively new idea.

The fact is you can claim back what you have paid in respect of the charges.

If you incurred charges on a cc account you have paid interest and you can reclaim that.

When it comes to claiming additional interest there are two options. the first is to claim the contractual rate of interest and this is based on the idea that if they can charge you interest at a particular rate then you should be able to return the favour if they use your money.

There is provision in law for cases where there is no contractual rate of interest such as sueing over faulty goods, and in that case you can apply tto the court for Section 69 County court Act interest which is applied at 8%.

Clealry uor contracts with banks and cc companies do have contractual interest but the game is to decide what rate to apply and why? If you use the banks moeny withou asking first they charge an excess o/d fee tpyically around 28% for the pleasure.

CC companies dont appear to do the same thing, however, if you withdraw cash from a machine you pay something similar to that.

So you have to decide if you culd argue that the taking of charges from your account unlawfully is siilar to the ideas I have used, if you think its a reasonalbe comparison you should ask the defendant or their reprasentatives and ultimately the court to consider it too.

JMHO

Glenn

[bevo]

How long did it take MBNA to come back to you after your request for statements? I may be getting ahead of myself but I sent them a letter on 10 August but I have not heard anything and my cheque has not been cashed.

[tasadin]

Originally Posted by bevo

How long did it take MBNA to come back to you after your request for statements? I may be getting ahead of myself but I sent them a letter on 10 August but I have not heard anything and my cheque has not been cashed.

I sent my initial Data request on 30 July, and received a letter within 7 days saying we are on it and you will hear from us in 28 days. Today I received the letter saying the above about copies of statements and here is a list of the charges etc.

[bevo]

Thank You I will check it was received by them.

[tasadin]

Alright so given the letter I received above which was a reply to my Subject Access Request request, which didnt supply statements just gave charges and also offered me £210 settlement, i have drafted the following and I just want to make sure I haven't missed anything as i have had to cobble together two templates.

LETTER BEFORE ACTION
Section 7 – Data Protection Act 1998

Dear Sir/Madam

Account: XXXXXXXX

I am in receipt of the documents that you have supplied in response to my Data Protection Act information request dated 29 July 2006. The disclosure of personal data is incomplete in that at least the following documents are missing.

You have failed to provide a complete list of transactions and charges from commencement of the above account to date.

This is not an exhaustive list by any means, it is just an example of some of the information I am missing.

Accordingly, I have to tell you that you have not yet complied with your obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998.

You have a further 9 (nine) days to comply. I have enclosed my £10 cheque to cover the costs for information release under the Data Protection Act.


Further, I acknowledge receipt or your letter dated 29 August 2006 in which you have offered £210 as a goodwill payment in full and final settlement for my complaint. I shall not be accepting any offers until such time as you have provided the information requested above.


Yours faithfully,


or should I be sending two seperate letters one to say Subject Access Request request unacceptable and another to say not accepting your offer until all paperwork received?