Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
After nearly two months I've finally got my statements from the Woolwich!
When I received no reply to my Subject access request I sent another letter reminding them that they had to reply within 40 days or risk being reported to the Information Commisioner.
I eventually got a general " sorry to hear you have a complaint we are refering this to a Case manager " reply . I sent another letter explaining that I wasn't making a general complaint ,reminded them of the Subject access request and confirmed I would report them if I did not receive the information requested.
Yesterday I received a 2 page reply from Lynn Worrell - Case Manager- Woolwich Customer Relations Team apologising profusely and stating " I am very sorry that you had to write again concerning your request for a refund for " unfair bank charges" . Funny that, as I never mentioned anything about refunds or bank charges being unfair in any of my letters sent so far . They seem to have predicted what my next letter would be !
They also suggested that the original copy statements had been lost in the post ( yeah, right!) and added " I am sure you can appreciate that due to recent media coverage regarding charges, we are receiving many such cases each day and we are dealing with these as quickly as possible. I am very sorry for the delay that you are experiencing and confirm we are liasing with the Data Protection Team in charge complaint cases.
In the first instance the Data Protection Team were requesting the copy statements directly from Woolwich Statements Department , but due to the volumes being requested they are now being directed to the Customer Relations Team at Clacton. Once we receive the request we are printing 5 years of charges from our system ( as they only hold 5 years) the preceding year we are printing in the form of a statement and sending to customers that have made this request.
In view of the time you have been waiting for this to be dealt with, I enclose 6 years of charges to you and confirm your complaint has now gone to our Head Office who are dealing with your refund request. If you need to contact us again regarding this matter the address will be :- Barclays
Head Office Customer Relations
Floor 10
1 Churchill Place
London
E14 5HP "
Nice to see they're being kept busy! It looks as if they owe me £633 so I'm now going to send them the letter they seem to have already anticpated.
It seems that the Woolwich's ability to predict the future has now spread to Barclays!
The same day that I was about to send off my first letter that actually mentioned unfair bank charges I received a letter from Mike Brophy at Barclays assuring me that he is committed to resolving my complaint as soon as possible.
Now if I get this sort of response to a simple " you have not complied with my Subject access request " letter I can't wait to see what they'll say when they actually get the letter complaining about unfair bank charges and requesting the money back.
I've come to the conclusion that these people are suffering from severe shell shock and that any mention of the word "charge" sends them into a completely frenzied state! Which is nice.
" I am sure you can appreciate that due to recent media coverage regarding charges, we are receiving many such cases each day and we are dealing with these as quickly as possible. I am very sorry for the delay that you are experiencing and confirm we are liasing with the Data Protection Team in charge complaint cases.
Their problem, not yours. The 40 day limit is set by law, and if they cannot work within the law then they should consider their position, and their ability to execute their responsibilities for being a data controller.
I was about to send my first letter requesting charges back when I learned in another forum that those on a debt management Plan are experiencing problems with their creditors when they try to claim the charges back. Creditors who had previously agreed to a dmp were suddenly tearing up the agreement and getting very heavy . Since the Woolwich had agreed to my DMP I really didn't want any more unpleasantness as I am slowly getting my affairs back in order with the help of the CCCS.
I decided not to take this any further so all the Woolwich had from me was a Subject access request which did not mention actually claiming anything back and a letter complaining about their non compliance with the Data Protection Act. Despite this as I mentioned before they wrote to advise me that my complaint about unfair bank charges was being looked into.
I was suprised to receive a letter today from Rose Frimet - Senior Case Manager at Barclays which said :
" May I say how sorry I am to learn that you feel the bank charges you have incurred are unfair.In your correspondence you referred to elements which you feel support your claim . Barclays is aware of the information you have drawn to our attention. I must inform you, however, that we disagree with your view."
The letter then goes on to explain about details of their terms and conditions etc and continues
" Despite my comments above in relation to your views, on this occasion, and without any admissions as to the basis of your complaint, I am willing to offer the sum of £320 towards the total amount you are seeking. This is with the cost and inconvenience inherent in a further dispute in mind and is intended as a gesture of goodwill"
Bizarrely, they seem to have responded to a letter that was never sent and have obligingly calculated half the amount I would have claimed had I actually sent the letter asking for my money back!
Even though this is half of what I am owed it exactly covers the amount I owe the Woolwich which means that I can pay them back , close the account and have one less creditor to owe money to.
I know I could fight on but given my circumstances this seems like a pretty good result so all I have to do now is send the acceptance letter back and wait for them to credit my account ! All this from just a Subject access request.
I'm sure there are some on here who will tut tut at what you have done but I fully understand everyone's circumstances are different and you can only do what is right for you. I too am on a dmp and am a little concerned at what might happen to my arrangment with the Woolwich but so far there has been no issue. Though in fact I am claiming about 3 times as much as I now owe them so there could be an arguement that says if they hadn't passed all these charges in the first place there would be no outstanding debt!
Anyway, good for you, and that's one less debt to worry about!
Woolwich Now Predicting The Future
I sent another letter reminding them that they had to reply within 40 days or risk being reported to the Information Commisioner.
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