chriszammett Vs First Direct | SETTLED

chriszammett · 15th March 2006, 10:49

... time to write my letter,

Wish me luck.

richardc · 15th March 2006, 10:53

Good luck - keep us posted!

chriszammett · 15th March 2006, 10:56

I will!

I was quite surprised how much I accrued. I'm now chuffed I kept all my bank statements back to 2000. I've missed the boat with one charge (early March) but the rest are valid as they fall within in 6 years.

Should I list them in my letter?

BankFodder · 15th March 2006, 11:18

Put the claim in even for the out of time one.
let them deal with that if they want.
Even include it in the court claim.

chriszammett · 15th March 2006, 15:16

Letter OK?

Address

Customer Relations Manager
FIRST DIRECT
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD

Request for repayment of charges

Dear Sir/Madam,

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXXX

I am writing to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 years. 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.

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 am frankly shocked that you have operated my account in this way as I had always reposed confidence in your integrity and expertise as my fiduciary.

I calculate that you have taken over a period of 6 years £1354.50, details of which can be found attached.

I hope that you will enter into a sincere dialogue with me about this matter and I am writing this letter to you on the assumption that you will prefer to do this than merely respond with standard letters and 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 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 expiry of the second deadline.

Yours faithfully,

Chris Zammett

rivendale0506 · 15th March 2006, 15:18

If that is the template letter from the library then I am sure it is fine..many people have used it successfully...

chriszammett · 22nd March 2006, 16:34

Sent the letter off on Monday, clock is ticking.

chriszammett · 27th March 2006, 11:03

Got the standard reply back over the weekend, they have until next monday to reply again before the notice before action is sent...

chriszammett · 28th March 2006, 19:21

I got another standard-ish reply again today, saying they will not refund the charges. This is before my initial 14 day deadline.

Within the letter is also a statement about escalating my concerns and it gives another contact.

Couple of questions, (a) shall I send my notice before action letter tomorrow, or wait until the end of the initial 14 day period I set them and (b) shall I send it to the new contactt (Customer Relations Manager) or the same person that sent me the letter, or both.

It also states that issues that cannot be resolved go to the financial ombudsman - oh no they don't, they go to court!

cheers
chris

monkey_uk · 28th March 2006, 20:24

1. They still have time to respond positively, wait untily our deadline has passed. You want to prove to the judge that you have been more than reasonable in your efforts to resolve the matter without court action.

2. Send it to both, why not?!

chriszammett · 28th March 2006, 21:40

thanks - I'll wait then.

chriszammett · 29th March 2006, 11:39

Can a mod move this to the First Direct section? Might be more useful there.

Thanks

Edit (monkey_uk): *DONE*.

chriszammett · 31st March 2006, 15:46

Letter before action - ok do you think?

Mr C Zammett
XXXXXXXX

Deborah Malins
Customer Relations
FIRST DIRECT
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD

31/03/06

Letter before action

Dear Ms Malins,

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXX

Thank you for you letter dated 27/03/06. I appreciate your response to my letter, however I still feel that First Direct have acted unlawfully in respect of the charges to my account.

Therefore I am writing to you again to ask you to refund to me the charges which you have levied from my account over the last 6 years. 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 calculate that you have taken over a period of 6 years £1354.50, details of which can once again be found attached.

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.

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

I have also sent this letter to Rober Kernaghan.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Zammett

chriszammett · 31st March 2006, 15:53

and the letter before action to Robert Kernaghan:

Mr C Zammett
XXXXXXX

Robert Kernaghan
Customer Relations Manager
FIRST DIRECT
40 Wakefield Road
Leeds
LS98 1FD

31/03/06

Letter before action

Dear Mr Kernaghan,

ACCOUNT NUMBER: XXXXXXXX

I am writing to you in response to a letter from Deborah Malins dated 27/03/06.

I 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.

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 calculate that you have taken over a period of 6 years £1354.50, details of which can once again be found attached.

I require repayment in full of this money. If you do not comply fully within 14 days then I shall begin a claim against you for the full amount plus interest plus my costs and without further notice.

I have also reponded to Ms Malins separately.

Yours sincerely,

Chris Zammett

chriszammett · 3rd April 2006, 11:02

anyone? these are due out today...

chriszammett · 3rd April 2006, 18:29

well i've posted them anyway.

14 days until I issue court action

monkey_uk · 3rd April 2006, 22:05

Sorry Chris, not sure how I missed your thread!

The letters look fine to me.

Good luck, be sure to keep us posted as I'm in the earlier stages of a claim with FD (just had a reply to my prelim letter, see my own thread).

chriszammett · 10th April 2006, 12:37

Got the standard reply at the weekend from Robert Kernaghan. Will file claim with money claim next Monday (as per schedule).

Seems as though First Direct are going to go all the way in most cases now. Don't really want to end up in court, but if that's what it takes, so be it!

chriszammett · 10th April 2006, 12:55

PS - shall I send a letter to him saying I'm going to claim on Monday, or just go ahead with it?

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