Recouping Unfair Penalty Charges from Abbey:
The steps to take to recover all unfair penalty charges applied to your account by Abbey:
Using templates in the Consumer Action Group library will aid you enormously in getting bank charges refunded - you need to be a registered Consumer Action Group user to access the library and resources.
Step One: The first step in getting penalty charges refunded is submitting a DPA request to Abbey. This involves Abbey providing a full transaction history on your account, and specificaly highlighting all instances of when unfair bank charges have been applied, as well as any evidence of manual intervention in the account in respect of bank charges.
Step Two: Once your transaction history has arrived (usually in the form of statements) you can calculate the total value of penalty charges applied to the account.
Step Three: Send a preliminary request for a refund from Abbey, outlining your belief that unfair bank charges are unlawful, and that you expect a full refund. This will usually be met with a standard letter of refusal by Abbey, who will maintain that the bank charges are lawful, fair and transparent.
Step Four: A second letter to Abbey, a letter before action, giving the bank the opportunity to reconsider their position regarding penalty charges, and putting them on notice that you will raise a claim in court if the unfair bank charges are not refunded within fourteen days.
Step Five: Again, Abbey will likely refuse, and therefore you will need to raise a claim. Along with the claim form, requesting a full refund of the bank charges, you will need to provide a schedule detailing where the penalty charges have been applied. Your claim should also include a request for interest, pursuant to s.69 of the County Courts Act, in respect of unfair bank charges.
Step Six: Abbey will have 14 days to acknowledge the claim, which they usually do. They will then send a letter, indicating that Abbey believes the bank charges are fair, transparent, and fully defensible in court. Therefore Abbey would not be refunding any unfair bank charges to your account.
However, Abbey will indicate that they are mindful of the management time and costs associated with litigation in respect of penalty charges, and therefore they will be likely to make a payment for the full amount, representing the unfair bank charges applied, and requesting that the settlement remain confidential.
Step Seven: A final letter, informing them that the offer made is not satisfactory, and that you fully expect the refund of bank charges to be unconditional, and that you will therefore seek to recover the penalty charges in court. At this point Abbey will be very likely to settle for the full amount of unfair bank charges applied to your account.
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