:D Want to get started ASAP :D

[ppauls150]

Hello all.
Please can people give me a step by step on what i do. I have been with the bank for near on 20 years now. I am soo glad i came across this site tonight i can't wait to get started. Main reason being the bank have taken the micky for soo long not just out of me but also my girlfriend and i reckon indivdually it works out for 6 years worth around 2 to 4 grand each. Yes i know people say your fault this and that but yes it is true but still i have always felt these charges just killed us from one month to the next and the only time we ever got out of it was to take a loan out to pay of the charges we were getting every month to stop the rot. I am really am going through this website best i can but i want to start asap on this and want to get that letter sent off, but need to know where to start exactly. Couple of questions also is 1, can i deliver these letter directly to the bank in person and also does it matter if it is my home branch or not? 2, can you claim back for all charges even if it was say a cheque for £100 that got paid and made you go over or is it just the ones less than what the actual charge was i.e £30. P.S can't wait to get started and hopefully get around 3 to 6 grand or maybe more back and also start telling everyone about this cheers for the advice in advance.

[paulclarkson1985]

Hi, and welcome.

I will try and answer your questions.

1st You need to know exactly how much the bank has taken from you over the last 6yrs.This can be done by checking all your bank statements (if you have them) if not you will need to send a Data Protection Act request to your bank along with the £10 fee they charge for this.

2nd Once you know exactly how much they owe you you can then send them your first letter (asking for it back.) You then wait 14 days for there reply before sending a 2nd letter LBA wait another 14 days and then file your claim with your county court or on the moneyclaim sight.

You really do need to spend a couple of days reading the facts at the beginning of the forum and also other peoples posts, also all the letter templates you will need are in the library section.

And yes you can take your letters to your branch if you post them it is wiser to send them recorded delivery.


All the best and good luck.

	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

	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

[ppauls150]

Is it important to get your contract that you made with the bank? and if so why and how do you get it? As i say mine was around 20years ago that i joined them.

[Loula]

Hi!

The contract is irrelevant. The bank is in breach of several laws if they make punative charges to your account.

Good luck with your quest.

Please keep us informed of your progress.

LOULA

[Seminole]

Welcome to the forum. Please read the FAQ and associated documents in the Library. This is important and you need to understand that, if you proceed, there is a chance that you will have to make your argument in front of a district judge in court.

You don't need the original contract from the bank (but you could have fun asking for it as part of a Data Protection Act request!).

Finally it may just be me, but please don't post in red as it's not the easiest colour to read.

[ppauls150]

Ok not too happy with whats happening with this claim but hope i got things going today almost 2 weeks ago sent letters to the bank recorded delievery and out of 10 letters sent to various companies which 8 of them were received by them the next day the only two that still havent been received are the LloydsTSB ones. Spoke to Royal Mail they said can take up to 3 weeks for them to get em even though the other 8 got them the following day. Ended up printing out the Data Protection Act again and physically taking them down to the Branch. Walked into the branch went to the cashier and asked to see someone in Private regarding a Private matter. They asked what it was about i said it is private and dont want to discuss it at the counter. She ended up being a pain if i didnt tell her exactely what it was regarding then she couldnt get the right person out to see us. So told her to anyone in charge will do.


Anyway after a long convo with her she got someone out and we went into the back. He asked us what we wanted with these so told him all about it and his reply basically was the bank has to make a profit and even though yes it is a machine that sends these letters out that they charge you for, it does cost money to pay people to write the programs for these computers and to buy the computers and so forth lol.

He also went on to say that they tell us that they are going to charge us this ammount also so it is not as if they hide the fact lol. Ontop of that aswell he also said we shouldn't listen to everything we see in the newspapers or what we read on the internet Lmao.

Thought aint going to get into a debate with him about it lol. He then also asked me what did the Manual Intervension mean in the letter, so told him the people who actually deal with the letter will know and also under the Data Protection Act which says you cant be charged more than a tenner for your statements that the bank can actually charge you more cause it is a lot of statements that we need (6 years worth) so told him no but he said yes they can. So said well if thats the case then so be it and if they want to save time dont bother giving us the statements just the charges will do He said it might take a while so told him thats alright you got 40 days so that should give you enough time

Last but not least he said they will debit the account for the tenners for the Data Protection Act i said thats alright would rather give you the cheques with them just incase they decide when they get the letters to send us letters saying they cant process our claims without the cheques just cause you tell us that it will be debited and would rather not take the chance on that happening to which he gave us the look of :S (dont be so silly) lol so i said you never know

[ppauls150]

Originally Posted by ppauls150

Ok not too happy with whats happening with this claim but hope i got things going today almost 2 weeks ago sent letters to the bank recorded delievery and out of 10 letters sent to various companies which 8 of them were received by them the next day the only two that still havent been received are the LloydsTSB ones.

Post arrives this morning both mine and the Girlfriends statements and reports on our account arrive. One Problem is obviously dont know what i am looking at on the reports and the statements they have sent through only go up to 2001 and then the rest are just actual bank charge reports as opposed to statements for the other 4 years but that is not a problem as we can view our statements online for that period anyway and we really don't need statements just the charges. One thing that got me on my statement is that it says 07-oct-04 customer came in concerned we appear to have charged him some £400 over the last 3 months. I have empathised with him and confirmed that we do not wish to levy these level of charges at all :S. We spoke about how to avoid charges controlling acc better etc.... Still not happy that i will not waive any of these. Wanted to close acc but seemed to change mind and left banch PaulR.

[ppauls150]

What i do need to know now going through the early parts of these statements before the charges went up a few years ago and also can i claim for these kind of charges. CHG O/DRAFT USAGE FEE £40...... CHG O/DRAFT USAGE FEE £15...... CHG O/DRAFT USAGE FEE £10..... CHG O/DRAFT USAGE FEE £5...... Can i claim for these kind of charges or does it have to be over a certain ammount??

[ppauls150]

Also just some info for people... With the statements that i got back it looks like again a template letter with someones name on it but on both of the letters one for me and one for the girlfriend were exactly the same and by the same person but was not signed by that person. Also when i look at the reference Number at the top of the letter my reference number is 506 and the girlfriends is 507. Wonder if this is the actual ammount of these letters with the statements so this is how many people have asked for them so far?

[BankFodder]

You can claim for any charges which wer levied in respect of breaches by you of the banking contract, a long as those charges are in excessive of their administrative costs.
basically, include verything which relates to excessOD or bounced cheques etc unless they are regaulr monthly charges for agreed services.

Sounds as if you are doing all the right things.

I would aslo put in an Subject Access Request for any charges going back more than 6 years. There are grounds, in y view for claiming beyond 6 years. One user has obtained a default judgment for charges going back about 10 yrs.

However, deal with your 6 year claim first.

Send the prelim letter - 14 days
LBA - 14 days
Then send the Glad Tidiings

	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

	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.

[ppauls150]

Who and what address do i send my Prelimilary Approach Letter to???? Have had several problems and want to make sure it goes to the right person and address.
Cheers

[Loula]

Address it to the bank manager at your branch, even if that is no longer local to you.

If you do not have the bank managers name, just write to Dear Sir.

LOULA

[ppauls150]

Can people please read and let me know what they think before i send monday morning.

Mandy Horton
Service Recovery Centre
125 Colmore Row
Birmingham
B3 3SF

4th May 2006

LETTER BEFORE ACTION

Dear Madam
Sort Code: xxxxxx
ACCOUNT NUMBER: xxxxxxxxx
Your Ref: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Please read carefully and would like a personal response and not another standard letter.
I would like to kindly thankyou for your response to my previous letter and would also like to say even though you highlighted a few things regarding the charges going on my account, I am frankly shocked that within a day of sending me a letter stating that you will look into my concerns that I raised you send a response which obviously you mustn’t have looked into to be giving me a quick response within 1 day. What even more frustrates me is that this is a serious issue and all you send me are standard letters which every person who has a similar claim going ahead with yourselves, which just goes to show that there are no individual case and everyone is getting treated the same way.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
I am unhappy that your decision to print off the standard letters on your system and send the response within 1 day of my concerns raised are not satisfactory enough for me and in your standard letter you mention I could send my complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service regarding these kind of matters but this will not be the case and as I stated in my first letter that if a FULL REFUND is not given for these Unlawful Charges that you have put on my account I will have no alternative but to start legal proceedings for the amount charged over the last 6 years plus court costs plus Interest. so I will not be backing down and if a FULL REFUND is not given from yourselves within 14 days I will have no alternative but to see yourselves in court.

I’m sure you don’t require me to remind you that we both have a duty to attempt to mitigate this matter outside the courtroom in the first instance.

Of course, if you do decide to defend this matter; I will require from you a full comprehensive breakdown and analysis on your justification for such charges. Please understand, it is of no interest to me whether your charges are in line with other lending institutions. I will not entertain this explanation as a justification/defence.

Since a FULL REFUND has not been given I have no further alternative to re-iterate what I said in my previous letter outlining the following.

I now understand that the regimes of ‘fees’ which you have been applying to my account in relation to overdraft and late payments you charge 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 £2069 in Unlawful charges.

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

Furthermore, I shall submit a Consumer Credit Act 1974 complaint to the OFT upon the basis that you have failed to comply with the OFT's direction of 5 April 2006 and are therefore not a 'fit and proper person' to hold a consumer credit license under the 1974 Act. If you do not understand what this means then seek advice from your legal department.

Yours faithfully,

	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.

[ppauls150]

Also the bank keeps stating that when i opened my account i agreed to the charges. I was 11 when i opened up my ac**** which was 18 years ago so shall i ask them also to send me through a copy of the contract that i signed when i opened up my account? would this matter aswell if it went to court?

[reload]

Might be worth a go ppauls150 - I was a similar age when I opened my account. Now, my memory aint that great, but I could almost swear they used to list the fees as 'penalty charges' - which could get them in to very hot water

[ppauls150]

Ok after asking them politely to not send us the box standard letter as that is insulting our intelligence they still did it to me and my girlfriend this morning.
sorry your unhappy bla bla bla nothing we can add to our previous letter bla bla bla this is the banks final response bla bla bla and if your dissatisfied go to the FOS. Now can i start court proceedings on these people even though the letter was only sent the 4th May.? I cant believe that only one company out of about 6 has offered me anything. I am sure i am going to end up in court with at least one of these financial institutions.

	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.

[ppauls150]

Well File has now been started with Moneyclaim so lets just hope that they pull their fingers out and give me and my girlfriend our money If anyone else files a claim then maybe look at using this template as it fits in the box on the moneyclaim website.

The claimant has an account with Defendant over xx years,which is run on their standard terms and conditions.The claimant is claiming £xxxx taken by the defendant in the way of charges for last 6 years.The bank's charges are a disproportionate penalty and therefore unenforceable as they are contrary to common law. Further,as a disproportionate penalty they are invalid under the Unfair(Contracts)Terms Act 1977 s.4 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999.Para.8 and sch.2(1)(e).In the event that the charges are not a penalty then they are unreasonable within the meaning of the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 s.15 The bank has been asked to justify their charges but they have declined to do so.The claimant claims interest under s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 at the rate of 8% a year from the date of each charge to xxth May 2006 of £xxxx and also interest at the same rate up to the date of judgement or earlier repayment at a daily rate of £x.xx

	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.

[ppauls150]

Well as i thought, the banks acknowledged the claim on MoneyClaim yesterday and reading through this website noticed that they tend to do that then the following day send you the letter offering to settle the claim but also asking for the confidentiality thing. Just goes to show anyone reading this do go ahead with taking them to court, i am not saying they wont actually defend the claim but they never seem to and like this website says you should win as they are in the wrong.
Hope this thread helps people and best of luck.

[ppauls150]

i was reading through the letter that that LloydsTSB solicitors sent me and though i have to keep the letter confidential and not reveal any of the details it got me thinking that they said they have sent the letter without prejudice confidential and privileged and is only between me them and the bank. Now if this is the case can this letter ever ever be shown in court by them if i wish to persue any more charges that get applied to my account in the future?